Artemis vs Diana

Artemis vs Diana

Artemis

Diana

For being two of the more well known goddesses in Greek and Roman mythology (respectively), before researching these goddesses, I wouldn't have known much more about them other than they are the goddess of the hunt. However, like it always is with ancient mythology, there is a hell of a lot more to them than that.




Some General Stuff
These goddesses were goddesses of hunting, wild animals and childbirth. They were also the patron and protector of young girls. They are one of the virgin goddesses and swore to never marry.

Lets start with their names.
Apparently its not allowed to have a name with no meaning behind in it ancient mythology. As Artemis is one of the three virgin goddesses, her name is related to virginity and the Ancient Greek word for "unharmed" or "pure". This is according to Plato. This may not even be necessarily true as scholars apparently cannot agree of the name's actual meaning. The name Diana is a lot simpler. Her name is similar to the Latin words dium ("sky") and dius ("daylight").

Statue of Apollo, Versailles

Family
Unlike many gods and goddesses, Artemis and Diana can at least be sure of their parentage. Most accounts state that Zeus and Leto are Artemis' parents and their Roman counterparts, Jupiter and Latona, are Diana's parents. It is also sure that the twin brother of both these goddesses is Apollo, who shares the same name in both of the pantheons. It is also said that the goddesses were born, like all of the main gods and goddesses, fully grown and that they were born 9 days before their twin.


History
When the Romans conquered much of what is now Europe, they adopted hellenism, such as their gods. That would explain why these two goddesses are so similar.  However, it was only when the worship of Apollo was first introduced into Rome that Diana became conflated with Apollo's sister Artemis. She also had an independant in Italy even before this.

Virginity
This is an interesting topic because it is slightly different for both of the goddesses. Artemis was not originally considered a virgin goddess and had consorts. However, this is only in the very ancient myth of Artemis, not the more standardised one. Diana, on the other hand, is the opposite. She started off being the virgin goddess when she was associated with Artemis, but in later times was considered to have consorts as the Roman worship of Diana increased.