Artemis Statue Analysis

This particular statue of Artemis that I came across was hard for me to distinguish at first. In the statue, she looks to be a young girl and not a goddess. The one distinguishable aspect of this statue that after I read the informational card gave it away it was her was the deer next to her. One of Artemis’ many attributes are animals, in other paintings and sculptures she might be seen with a deer-skin cape or a bow and arrow to show that she is the goddess of the hunt.

Like many other gods and goddesses, she has quite a dramatic birth story. Artemis was conceived by Zeus, the god of the sky, and Leto, a Titan goddess. There was such a great deal of drama behind this pregnancy because Zeus was married to Hera and had cheated on her with

Leto. Hera had found out about the affair and was enraged and filled with jealousy. Leto knowing that she needed to find a place to give birth and protect her babies, went on a search to find somewhere to settle and have her children. Finally, after wandering for a while, Leto goes to the Island of Delos and they allow her to come and give birth. While Artemis was Leto’s daughter she was also a twin, and her brother was Apollo. Leto was in labor with Artemis and Apollo for 9 days and nights and was unable to give birth to her children because the goddess of childbirth, Eileithyia was not there. This was a punishment from Hera because Eileithyia was her child and disallowed her from going to help Leto. While being banned from her mother Eileithyia eventually is able to sneak away with the help of Iris and goes to help Leto give birth. Once she arrives Leto is finally able to give birth to her babies and Artemis and Apollo are born.
Since Artemis’ twin brother was Apollo I believe that she is left in the shadows. I found myself intrigued by her life and wanting to know more about her and know more of her myths. Going the through the textbook I found a story about her and how she was so dedicated to staying pure. Artemis was a devoted virgin goddess and was dedicated the staying one. In the story of Artemis and Actaeon, you can understand more about her dedication to being pure. In the textbook, they start out explaining how Actaeon is a hunter. He went on a long journey with some of his other huntsmen in search of big game on a mountain that was known to have many beasts. Close to where Actaeon had come was a scared vale called Gargaphië. This was where Artemis would sleep and bath when she was tired from hunting. One day Actaeon wandered in the vale while Artemis was bathing, her nymphs trying to protect her, surrounded her body with all of theirs but could not cover all of her up in time. Artemis was mortified and had no weapons near her so she threw water on him causing him to turn into an animal. After realizing what was happening he fled and was eventually attacked by other animals, inevitably fulling the curse that Artemis apparently had put onto him (MLS 223-224). This story shows how she would do whatever it would take to keep the purity that she valued so dearly.
I felt the statue is a good description of the goddess she is. Having her portrayed with a deer shows she is the goddess of the hunt but I also felt the statue showed a young girl and not a goddess. This took me awhile to understand the connections that this statue could have to her stories but also understand her attributes in a different setting.