Artemis
From Legendary Journeys
Artemis, Goddess of the Hunt and Harvest was a Greek goddess and daughter of Zeus. (YH: "Inn Trouble") She was the patron goddess of Syros. (HTLJ: "The Apple") She was also the patron goddess of many Amazon tribes, including the Shimax. (HTLJ: "Love, Amazon Style") She was also goddess of the Moon. (XWP: "Hooves and Harlots") She was also considered "the Greatest of all Olympians." (XWP: "To Helicon and Back")
She considered herself a "jock," and often fought with her sisters Athena and Aphrodite. She was at able to do over 10,000 push-ups a day, but she became out of shape and could only do 10,000. (HTLJ: "The Apple")
Amazon legend purports that the Amazon Nation was founded by Artemis. (XWP: "Path of Vengeance") Dead Amazons would be burned in a funeral pyre and immediately be sent to Artemis. (XWP: "Hooves and Harlots")
- Amazon High and Lifeblood show the true origin of the Amazons, and Artemis is not present. She may have gotten involved later or acted behind-the-scenes.
Ares foresaw the breakup of the Amazon Nation into separate tribes, and warned Artemis of this, but she did not prevent it. (XWP: "Path of Vengeance") After separate tribes were created, Artemis gave the Shimax tribe a remnat of the Cronos stone in order to prevent certain gods from taking over the tribes. (HTLJ: "Love, Amazon Style")
According to an ancient story, King Liberius affronted the goddess by hunting in her sacred forest. She turned the king into a deer for a brief period, before realizing he had learned from his mistake and transformed him back. (XWP: "Is There a Doctor in the House?")
One of her devotees was Kora, who prepared her harvest offerings for Delos. When Strife and Discord stole Artemis's harvest offering, Kora was put in charge of investigating the theft. This was one of the first times that Hercules noted that the Gods can be unfair. He was framed for the theft by Strife and Discord, but Hercules was able to convince her that he did not steal the food and proved that it was Strife and Discord. She severely punished the two gods for their theft. She rewarded Hercules, Iolaus, and Jason with a melon, full of dinars. (YH: "Inn Trouble")
The basilisk Ruff was placed under the protection of Artemis on her sacred island. (YH: "Mysteries of Life")
When Iolaus was chosen to judge a beauty contest between Artemis, Athena, and Aphrodite, Artemis offered Iolaus the ability to be a greater warrior than even Hercules, or the greatest wrestler or runner. In the end, Artemis lost out to Aphrodite. (HTLJ: "The Apple")
Velasca blamed Artemis for the decline of the Amazon Nation and, as God of Chaos, destroyed her temple. (XWP: "A Necessary Evil")
When Hera released several Titans, Artemis turned Gabrielle into a giant bird in order to enlist the help of Xena in combatting these Titans. She joined Zeus, Iolaus, Xena, Gabrielle, Aphrodite, and Ares in fighting the Titans, but was transformed into a pig by Hera. This was later reversed. (The Battle for Mt. Olympus)
After her bow was stolen from the Temple of Artemis by Autolycus, she sent Hermes to contact Hercules about retrieving it. Autolycus sold it to Discord. Hercules later returned the bow to Artemis. (HTLJ: "Porkules")
Priestesses from her temple attempted to kill Xena and Eve in order to prevent the Twilight of the Gods. (XWP: "Eternal Bonds")
She was the mother of Bellerophon. (XWP: "To Helicon and Back")
When Xena invaded the Great Hall of Olympus, Artemis attempted to kill her with two arrows, but Xena caught them, and threw them both back, killing the goddess. (XWP: "Motherhood")Bellerophon, perhaps mistakenly, blamed Amazons for abandoning her during the Twilight and swore on his mother's grave to avenge her death. (XWP: "To Helicon and Back")
After her death, she visited her brother Ares, now mortal, in a dream and told him of the Amazon's secret ambrosia. (XWP: "Coming Home")
[edit] Powers
- Artemis possesses most of the abilities of a god. He has shown superhuman and cannot feel pain or be killed unless affected by Hind's blood or more powerful gods such as Dahak. Artemis can teleport around Earth and to Mt. Olympus at will. she possesses special arrow that can turn any mortal or godinto animal . she is also an expert archer
- Artemis was portrayed by Rhonda McHardy and Josephine Davison.
[edit] Appearances
- YH: "Inn Trouble"
- HTLJ: "The Apple"
- Hercules and Xena - The Animated Movie: The Battle for Mt. Olympus
- XWP: "Motherhood"
[edit] Background Mythology
Artemis was the daughter of Zeus and Leto and twin sister of Apollo. Her Roman counterpart was named Diana. She was also the goddess of wild animals and childbirth safety, and was actually a virgin goddess. She had cults in Sparta and Ephesus. She was actually born on Delos. In some myths, she killed both Adonis and Orion. She punished her virgin companion Callisto by turning her into the Big Dipper (Ursa Major). She also punished Agamemnon, Iphigenia, and Niobe. She helped raise Atalanta and was involved in the Trojan War (on the side of Troy).
