In Greek and Roman mythology, several goddesses are distinguished by their perpetual virginity. These goddesses included the Greek deities Hestia, Athena, and Artemis, along with their Roman equivalents, Vesta, Minerva, and Diana. In some instances, the inviolability of these goddesses was simply a detail of their mythology, while in other cases virginity was also associated with their worship and religious rites.
In Greek myth, Hestia was one of the six children of Cronus and Rhea, the first of their three daughters, and thus the eldest of the twelve Olympians. [lower-roman 1] [1] She was the elder sister of Zeus, Poseidon, Hades, Hera, and Demeter, and was revered as goddess of the hearth and of domestic life. [2] She was courted by both Poseidon and Apollo, but rejected them, and swore a vow of perpetual virginity by her brother, Zeus, who bestowed upon her a share in the honour of all temples. [3]
The Romans identified Hestia with Vesta, who was likewise regarded as goddess of the hearth and hospitality. Her worship is said to have predated the foundation of Rome, [4] and her temple stood in the forum, between the Capitoline and Palatine Hills. [5] It was tended by the Vestal Virgins, a college of priestesses said to have been instituted by Numa Pompilius, the second King of Rome. Like the goddess herself, the Vestals swore an oath of celibacy, which they were obliged to keep for the duration of their service, a term of thirty years, although they were free to marry afterward. The breaking of this vow was considered a greater offense than mere dereliction of duty; a Vestal who negligently allowed the sacred flame to be extinguished would be scourged, but one who violated her vow of celibacy would be punished by death, usually by being entombed alive in an underground chamber inside the Colline Gate. [6]
Athena was generally regarded as the daughter of Zeus by his first wife, Metis, the goddess of prudence. [7] [8] She was a goddess of wisdom and war, agriculture, domestic activity, industry, law, and justice. Most traditions make her a virgin goddess, immune to the charms of romantic love or marriage; one of her most common epithets is Parthenos, "the maiden", [lower-roman 2] and her most famous temple from antiquity—still partially extant—is the Parthenon of Athens. In one tradition, Athena repulsed an attempt by Hephaestus to force himself upon her, and sent him fleeing. [lower-roman 3] [8] Callimachus and the Pseudo-Apollodorus relate a myth that Teiresias was blinded after witnessing Athena naked in her bath; [lower-roman 4] a similar tradition was attached to Artemis and the hunter Actaeon. [9] [10] Athena is always dressed in Greek statuary, and at Athens her statue was fully covered when carried in public festivals. [8] In some traditions, Athena received sacrifices of bulls, rams, or cows, [11] but in others only female animals, excluding lambs. [12] [8] According to the Suda, after the site of Troy was reoccupied, to atone for the rape of Cassandra by Ajax the Less in the temple of Athena, Locrian maidens were sent as sacrifices to Athena, each year down to 346 BC. [13] [8]
In Roman mythology, Athena was identified with Minerva, who shared many of the traits and characteristics of her Greek counterpart. [14] In relating the Judgement of Paris for Roman audiences, Ovid varies from the Greek traditions regarding Athena by describing Juno, Minerva, and Venus, stripped naked for the Trojan prince's evaluation. [15] Although still regarded as a virgin goddess, the only manner in which this seems to have been reflected in Minerva's worship is that her sacrifices were to be calves that had been neither whipped nor yoked. [16]
According to most traditions, Artemis was the daughter of Zeus and Leto, and the twin sister of Apollo. [17] [18] She was closely associated with her brother, some of whose attributes she shared, and according to one myth was also his wife. [19] However, in all traditions Artemis was a maiden goddess, and fiercely protective of her chastity; her priests and priestesses were similarly expected to lead pure and unblemished lives. [18] [20] In one well-known myth, Artemis transformed the hunter Actaeon into a stag after he discovered her bathing in the woods, so that no man could boast of seeing her naked; he was then torn to pieces by his hounds. [21] [22]
The Roman goddess Diana, with whom Artemis was equated, was of undoubtedly of ancient worship, but the original nature of her cult remains mysterious. [23] From the earliest period she was revered at a sacred grove near Aricia in Latium. At Rome, Diana was regarded as a special patron of the plebeians, and her temple on the Aventine Hill was built by Servius Tullius, the sixth Roman king. [24] [25] Diana was said to spurn all men who sought her hand, that she might remain a virgin forever. [23] Men refrained from entering the temple of Diana that stood in the Vicus Patricius, although according to Plutarch, this was the result of a superstition, rather than any express prohibition; men freely entered other temples consecrated to Diana. In his Roman Questions, Plutarch relates that a man was torn to pieces by dogs after assaulting a woman who was worshipping at the temple. [26]
Athena or Athene, often given the epithet Pallas, is an ancient Greek goddess associated with wisdom, warfare, and handicraft who was later syncretized with the Roman goddess Minerva. Athena was regarded as the patron and protectress of various cities across Greece, particularly the city of Athens, from which she most likely received her name. The Parthenon on the Acropolis of Athens is dedicated to her. Her major symbols include owls, olive trees, snakes, and the Gorgoneion. In art, she is generally depicted wearing a helmet and holding a spear.
Actaeon, in Greek mythology, was the son of the priestly herdsman Aristaeus and Autonoe in Boeotia, and a famous Theban hero. Through his mother he was a member of the ruling House of Cadmus. Like Achilles, in a later generation, he was trained by the centaur Chiron.
Ares is the Greek god of war and courage. He is one of the Twelve Olympians, and the son of Zeus and Hera. The Greeks were ambivalent towards him. He embodies the physical valor necessary for success in war but can also personify sheer brutality and bloodlust, in contrast to his sister, the armored Athena, whose martial functions include military strategy and generalship. An association with Ares endows places, objects, and other deities with a savage, dangerous, or militarized quality.
In ancient Greek religion and mythology, Artemis is the goddess of the hunt, the wilderness, wild animals, nature, vegetation, childbirth, care of children, and chastity. In later times, she was identified with Selene, the personification of the Moon. She was often said to roam the forests and mountains, attended by her entourage of nymphs. The goddess Diana is her Roman equivalent.
In Greek mythology, Callisto was a nymph, or the daughter of King Lycaon; the myth varies in such details. She was believed to be one of the followers of Artemis who attracted Zeus. Many versions of Callisto's story survive. According to some writers, Zeus transformed himself into the figure of Artemis to pursue Callisto, and she slept with him believing Zeus to be Artemis. She became pregnant and when this was eventually discovered, she was expelled from Artemis's group, after which a furious Hera, the wife of Zeus, transformed her into a bear, although in some versions Artemis is the one to give her an ursine form. Later, just as she was about to be killed by her son when he was hunting, she was set among the stars as Ursa Major by Zeus. She was the bear-mother of the Arcadians, through her son Arcas by Zeus.
Diana is a goddess in Roman and Hellenistic religion, primarily considered a patroness of the countryside and nature, hunters, wildlife, childbirth, crossroads, the night, and the Moon. She is equated with the Greek goddess Artemis, and absorbed much of Artemis' mythology early in Roman history, including a birth on the island of Delos to parents Jupiter and Latona, and a twin brother, Apollo, though she had an independent origin in Italy.
In ancient Greek religion, Hera is the goddess of marriage, women and family, and the protector of women during childbirth. In Greek mythology, she is queen of the twelve Olympians and Mount Olympus, sister and wife of Zeus, and daughter of the Titans Cronus and Rhea. One of her defining characteristics in myth is her jealous and vengeful nature in dealing with any who offend her, especially Zeus' numerous adulterous lovers and illegitimate offspring.
In ancient Greek mythology and religion, Leto is a goddess and the mother of Apollo and Artemis. She is the daughter of the Titans Coeus and Phoebe, and the sister of Asteria.
Zeus is the sky and thunder god in ancient Greek religion, who rules as king of the gods on Mount Olympus. His name is cognate with the first syllable of his Roman equivalent Jupiter.
In ancient Greek religion and mythology, Hestia is the virgin goddess of the hearth and the home. In myth, she is the firstborn child of the Titans Cronus and Rhea, and one of the Twelve Olympians.
Metis, in ancient Greek religion and mythology, was one of the Oceanids. She is notable for being the first wife and advisor of Zeus, the King of the Gods. She helped him to free his siblings from their father Cronus' stomach by giving him an emetic and, when she was swallowed by Zeus after it was foretold that she would bear a son mightier than his father, helped their daughter Athena to escape from his forehead.
Rhea or Rheia is a mother goddess in ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, the Titaness daughter of the earth goddess Gaia and the sky god Uranus, himself a son of Gaia. She is the older sister of Cronus, who was also her consort, and the mother of the five eldest Olympian gods Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Poseidon and Zeus; and Hades, king of the Underworld.
In ancient Greek religion and mythology, the Muses are the inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the poetry, lyric songs, and myths that were related orally for centuries in ancient Greek culture.
In Greek mythology, Peitho is the personification of persuasion. Her Roman equivalent is Suada or Suadela. She is typically presented as an important companion of Aphrodite. Her opposite is Bia, the personification of force. As a personification, she was sometimes imagined as a goddess and sometimes an abstract power with her name used both as a common and proper noun. There is evidence that Peitho was referred to as a goddess before she was referred to as an abstract concept, which is rare for a personification. Peitho represents both sexual and political persuasion. She is associated with the art of rhetoric.
In ancient Greek religion and myth, Nemesis also called Rhamnousia, was the goddess who personified retribution for the sin of hubris; arrogance before the gods.
In ancient Greek religion and mythology, Phoebe was one of the first generation of Titans, who were one set of sons and daughters of Uranus and Gaia. She was the grandmother of Apollo and Artemis, and the witchcraft goddess Hecate. According to myth, she was the original owner of the site of the Oracle of Delphi before gifting it to her grandson Apollo. Her name, meaning "bright", was also given to a number of lunar goddesses like Artemis and later the Roman goddesses Luna and Diana, but Phoebe herself was not actively treated as a moon goddess on her own right in ancient mythology.
In ancient Greek religion and mythology, the twelve Olympians are the major deities of the Greek pantheon, commonly considered to be Zeus, Poseidon, Hera, Demeter, Aphrodite, Athena, Artemis, Apollo, Ares, Hephaestus, Hermes, and either Hestia or Dionysus. They were called Olympians because, according to tradition, they resided on Mount Olympus.
In Greek mythology, Nike is the goddess who personifies victory in any field including art, music, war, and athletics. She is often portrayed in Greek art as Winged Victory in the motion of flight; however, she can also appear without wings as "Wingless Victory" when she is being portrayed as an attribute of another deity such as Athena.
In Greek mythology, Eros is the Greek god of love and sex. His Roman counterpart was Cupid ('desire'). In the earliest account, he is a primordial god, while in later accounts he is described as one of the children of Aphrodite and Ares and, with some of his siblings, was one of the Erotes, a group of winged love gods.
In Greek mythology, Gaia, also spelled Gaea, is the personification of the Earth. Gaia is the ancestral mother—sometimes parthenogenic—of all life. She is the mother of Uranus (Sky), from whose sexual union she bore the Titans, the Cyclopes, and the Giants; as well as of Pontus (Sea), from whose union she bore the primordial sea gods. Her equivalent in the Roman pantheon was Terra.