Diana

The Roman equivalent of the Greek Artiemus. In the Roman pantheon her parents were Jupiter and Latona whilst in Greek mythology they were Zeus and Leto. She was the twin sister of Apollo, born on the sacred island of Delos. In her Roman aspect, Diana was also the goddess of hunting and she had two particular shrines in Italy: one at Aricia oe the shores of Lake Nemi. where she is known as Diana Nemorensis (Diana of the Woods), and the other at Capua under the name of Diana Tifatina (where she is the goddess of the crossroads and often associated with Hecate). In the eastern Empire her major shrine was at Ephesus, the temple of Artemis (one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World) and the location of the well-known biblical reference where the mob shouted 'Great is Diana of the Ephesians' against St Paul's teachings (Acts 19, 34),.

At Ephesus Diana was represented with a great many breasts and other symbols linking her with Cybele. The cult of Diana at Nemi, where she is often associated with Taurian Artemis, welcomed human sacrifices and her priest, known as the Rex Nemorensis, could be replaced by whoeverer killed him. This forms a core element of Sir James Frazer's great study The Golden Bough.

In Roman mythology, Diana was an ancient Italian goddess, in later times identified with the Greek Artemis, With whom she had various attributes in common, being the virgin goddess of the moon and of the hunt, and as such associated with the crescent moon, bow, arrows, and quiver. The name is a feminine form of Janus. She seems to have been originally the patron divinity of the Sabines and Latins. She was worshipped especially by women, as presiding over births, no man being allowed to enter her temple.

[ See: Diana and Virbius ]

[ See: Diana as a Goddess of Fertility ]

[ See: Dianus and Diana ]