stuff about Artemis/Diana

[Briton]

Hi. I don't feel any great connection to the Greek or Roman pantheon, but something about this goddess fascinates me. Please, where can I read about her in detail? I'm pulled towards her in fascination and want to know more. The idea of a virginal female hunter is strange, but not virginal in a "sexy" way, but in a "got other things more interesting to me" sort of way. She seems to me to break the mould of female roles in any current society, let alone prehistoric. Along with Silvanus, she is probably the only deity I am interested in. For that matter, stuff on Silvanus would also be appreciated! I'm not a fan of syncretism but they are deities I could imagine having devotions for at my shrine, even if they are just to be representing forces of the world.

[habbalah]

The problem with finding stuff about Silvanus/Sylvanus is that one of the tabletop games (I think AD&D) adopted Him into their pantheon. But here's a bit of what I could find on Him:

Lore
Preview for a book about Him.

[DavidMcCann]

This is a good place to start for both of them:
http://www.theoi.com/

Artemis is not the only "virgin goddess", of course: there's Athena, Hestia, and Hekate. The Greek word parthenos didn't mean virgin in the English sense, but a woman who was mature but unmarried; in one Greek writer we get a pregnant parthenos. As you say, they were goddesses with other interests. In the case of Artemis, her interests are
> wild animals
> childbirth and children
> the coming of age of girls (her brother Apollo being responsible for the boys)
> war: the Spartans sacrificed to her immediately before a battle

At Ephesus ("Great is Diana of the Ephesians!") she was the patron of the city and was she served (like most great goddesses in Asia Minor) by eunuch priests. Ephesian Artemis was adopted as the patron of Marseilles and the historian Xenophon built a temple to her on his farm.

[monsno_leedra]

I would dispute the idea of her just covering the coming of age for girls. Figure the stealing of the cheese at Orythia (Sparta) for instance was part of the male rites of coming of age for boys at her temple. Granted that is probably an influence of the Taurian aspect that is present and in some capacity is also present at Nemi in Italy as an aspect of the Rex Nemorensis due to the conflating of Diana and Artemis.

Here is the thread I created that has a bunch of resource material regarding Artemis / Diana http://www.paganforum.com/showthread...nal-names-pt-1

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Just my personal opinion but I tend to think people confuse her association with children as being about coming of age more than being about taking their place and assuming their roles in Hellene society. So yes it is a coming of age but it's also more of a dropping of childhood mannerisms and behaviors and accepting adult responsibilities and expectations in that they pass from a wild and savage state to a refined and civilized or social state. It also co-insides with Artemis' associations with being wild, wilderness spots and places outside of civilizations and societies even though she is given a number of cities.

[Briton]

I was aware she was not the only one, it just so happens to be a part of her identity. Virginal was the wrong word, but we know what we mean, regarding her oath. I will read the links and come back.