07/01/2026
Artemis appears as both relentless huntress and unwavering guardian, one of the great figures of the Greek pantheon.
She moves through the night as moon-bearer and through forests as sovereign of wild creatures, presiding over fruitfulness, birth, and the untamed rhythms of life.
She stands as Lady of the Beasts, woodland goddess, bull goddess, lunar presence, and eternal virgin,
self-contained, unassailable.
Among the gods, she remained untouched by Aphrodite’s spells, her autonomy intact.
Her figure often converges with that of the Roman and Italian Diana. Scholars argue over precedence, yet the kinship is unmistakable. For many, the two blur into a single being: Artemis–Diana, a shared archetype of wild sovereignty and feminine power.
As a huntress, she roamed mountains and forests with dogs, wild animals, and mountain nymphs at her side.
The tale of Orion ends under her watch. Accounts vary: defiance, transgression against her companions, an attempted violation, each version circles the same boundary he crossed. Artemis sent a scorpion to strike his heel, sealing his fate. Later, when Orion was set among the stars, she granted the scorpion the same celestial permanence, balance restored even in the sky.
The artwork evokes this presence vividly:
a painting by the Flemish historical painter Joseph-François Ducq, titled Diana, the Roman name for Artemis.
The image holds her as goddess of the hunt and wild animals, poised between elegance and ferocity, human gaze meeting something older, watchful, and entirely her own.