Diana
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A Roman fresco of the Roman goddess Diana with her bow and arrow, from Stabia, near Naples, Italy. Diana was the sister of Apollo so could both heal and wound. Sudden deaths, especially those of women, were believed to be caused by her arrows.
In Roman mythology, the goddess of chastity, hunting, and the Moon; daughter of Jupiter and twin of Apollo. Her Greek equivalent is the goddess Artemis.
The huntress was depicted as an athlete bearing a bow and arrow, and sometimes a shield against Cupid's love darts. Hounds, stags, and nymphs were her companions, including Callisto transformed as a bear. Her symbol was the crescent moon, and she was often associated with the Moon goddess Selene.
WorshipDiana may have derived from a woodland deity who became associated with agriculture, evolving into a fertility goddess as represented by the many-breasted Diana of Ephesus. One of her chief shrines was at Aricia, in the Alban hills, where she was worshipped with Virbius, a woodland god. In Rome, the Temple of Diana on the Aventine was reputedly founded by Servius Tullius, traditionally an early king of Rome (579–534 BC). |
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