Artemis

"Brother, you do not help my Hunters. You do not look at, talk to, or flirt with my Hunters. And you do not call them sweetheart."

- Artemis

Artemis (Άρτεμις in Ancient Greek) is the virgin goddess of wilderness, animals, hunting, moon, dawn, frost, birth, children, maiden dance & song, sudden death, disease, healing, good health, ritual purification, Amazons and Hyperboreans. She was the patron goddess of children and virgins. She only watched over female children while her brother watched over the boys. Her Roman counterpart is Diana. She is the daughter of Zeus and Leto and is the full-blooded sister of Apollo and a half sister to Athena, Aphrodite, Hermes, Ares and Dionysus. She and Apollo are known as the "Twin Archers". Artemis' handmaidens are chaste maidens who have turned their back from the company of men and have taken a pledge, which if Artemis accepts, then they will be part of the Hunters, and will become immortal and serve her, most especially during a Hunt. Artemis is portrayed by Ona Grauer in The Lightning Thief (film).

History
Artemis was the first born child of Zeus and Leto. Her mother was forbidden by jealous Hera to give birth anywhere on the earth but the floating island of Delos provided her much needed sanctuary. Immediately after her birth, Artemis helped her mother deliver Apollo for which she is sometimes called a goddess of childbirth.

When she was three years old, Artemis asked her father to grant her a wish. She desired (among other things) a silver bow and to be called many different names. She held a passion for hunting and wanted to roam the wilderness forever. As he held a special pride for his daughter, Zeus granted her wish. He also took a vow on the River Styx that he would never force her to marry or have children.

Artemis once befriended a huntsman named Orion. As they spent more time together, Artemis began to fall in love with the demigod. Jealous of their relationship, Apollo sent a scorpion to kill Orion. When the scorpion succeeded, Artemis was devastated by the loss. To honor him, Artemis sent both Orion and the scorpion into the sky as constellations.

Many stories were told of Artemis defending her virginity from others. Many such as the giant Otus, had tried to seize her for his wife. Other such as Actaeon were punished for seeing her nude form. Many of Artemis' myths placed her in the role of an avenger. She is said to have caused quick deaths to her victims with her silver arrows.

The Titan's Curse
Artemis makes her first appearance in the The Titan's Curse. She helps Percy and his friends when they face the manticore at Westover Hall and goes a mission west to hunt the Ophiotaurus, and promises Percy that she will look for Annabeth while hunting for this monster. She is captured along the way by the General, Atlas, and is used as a way to lure Percy and his friends West to save Annabeth and was convinced to hold the sky, in pity to Annabeth. Artemis cannot simply stand by and allow a young maiden to die, and she takes the sky from Annabeth)

As Percy, Thalia, and Zoë arrive to rescue her, Zoë giving her life to stop Atlas from stabbing Artemis. Meanwhile, Percy takes the sky from Artemis so she can fight Atlas, as Percy was no match for the Titan. During the fight, Artemis forces Atlas back and he is eventually pushed back under the sky as Percy rolls out of the way. Artemis, Percy, Thalia and Annabeth return to Olympus for the winter solstice. She is the first to suggest plans for war preparations against the Titans, and appears fair and honest, as she is horrified at the vote whether or not to destroy Percy, as he risked his life for them.

The Last Olympian
Artemis appears again in The Last Olympian, when she battles Typhon. Her Hunters help the Campers of Half-Blood Hill fight against Kronos' army. One of her hunters, Thalia, had a statue of Hera fall on her legs during The Battle of Manhattan. In the council, after Kronos was defeated, she convinced Hades to sent her desceased Hunter to the Elysium.

Appearance
She can appear as whatever she likes, but chooses to be the average age of her Hunters, which is around twelve to sixteen, though in the film she is seen as a full grown woman. She has auburn colored hair and eyes as silvery as the moon, and is incredibly beautiful. Percy describes her face as breathtakingly beautiful. Her cabin is number eight at Camp Half-Blood, which is mostly noted for its silver color and silver aura that shines during the night when the moon rises.

Diana
Artemis has the ability to change her appearance into her Roman counterpart, Diana. As Diana, she becomes more disciplined, warlike, and militaristic.Though a maiden, it is possible that she has another group of hunters dedicated to her and an honorary cabin at the Roman Camp Half-Blood in San Francisco. The Greeks envisioned Artemis as a fierce and independent goddess of chastity and hunting. The Romans depicted Diana additionally as the goddess of the moon.

Personality
Artemis cares deeply for maidens, as they are her kin. She has a group of female Hunters whom she leads. Although a reasonable character of her own, Artemis has misandry, or prejudice agaisnt men, evident by her comtempt and little respect or liking of them. (It said in The Titan's Curse that she likes turning males into jackalopes). Artemis is an excellent hunter, but does have pity on her prey so she seeks to kill quickly. However, she shows no pity for her hunters if they break their oath. Though she holds a deep prejudice against men, she is typically reasonable and willing to acknowledge them if they prove their worth, as she does with Percy, and also appears to have mellowed in her level of distaste for other men, tolerating Percy, Grover and Nico in her camp and around her hunters, even to keeping her contempt out of her voice and mannerisms at times. Artemis' prejudice against men in the books is in opposition to Artemis in the myths where she only took the maiden vow so she may be able to do things one her own (the only way women could be independant in ancient Greece was to take a maiden vow), but in the myths Artemis had no real problems with men; such as bringing Orion with her hunting.

Artemis is also a rather independent and rebellious goddess, going against Zeus's orders and keeping contact with her hunters and their search for Percy in the Lost Hero (Possibly not even knowing Hera took his memories and sent him to Roman Camp Half Blood. Since she spends so much time with her hunters, she has a strong understanding of mortals, especially compared to the other gods.

Powers
As the goddess of the hunt, Artemis probably possesses advanced hunting abilities such as speed, precision and the ability to disguise herself along with many other powers. She was strong enough to go toe-to-toe with the greatest Titan warrior Atlas. She can also transform people and objects into things associated with hunting (eg. once she turned a helicopter into a flock of birds). Because the hunting of wild beasts is within her domain, Artemis is able to help heroes more directly than other gods by saving them from powerful monsters if she wishes. She uses this loophole to bypass the ancient laws against direct interference and aid Percy during the Titan's Curse.

She may also have unspecified moon-related abilities, as she is also goddess of the moon. She possesses a silver chariot similar to Apollo's sun chariot, drawn by deer. She can turn spirits of people into constellations once they release it, as she did with Orion and Zoe Nightshade.

Artemis presumably possesses the standard powers of a God.

Artemis' chariot can fly. The legend of Santa Claus' sleigh comes from it. Artemis' chariot is made out of silver and pulled by four golden horned deer. The bridles of her chariot are made out of silver as well.

As the goddess of the Hunt, she can replenish the animals she shoots.

Goddess of the Hunt and the Moon
Artemis has two sides of her, the fierce and lively goddess of the Hunt and the mysterious and serene goddess of the Moon. In her two sides, she is mostly seen as the the Goddess of Hunt, where she wears a short tunic with her hair into a ponytail, holding a bow and quiver and mostly with her golden stag. When she is the Goddess of the Moon, she wears a long gossamer dress and has her hair held up.

Artemis was officially the goddess of the Hunt, but because the Titans have fallen, the Titan Selene's position as the Titan of the Moon was turned over to Artemis, the same with Helios to Apollo.

The Hunters
The Hunters are Artemis' handmaidens, young maidens who given the gift of immortality, the skill of archery and strength. The hunters also had a choice to be this way. A hunter must not fall in love or rather more specifically, lose her maidenhood, for she loses her immortality as a result and die, or she will die in battle. They are the closest thing to children Artemis has.

Notable Hunters

 * Zoë Nightshade (deceased)
 * Thalia Grace
 * Bianca di Angelo (deceased)
 * Phoebe

Leto
Artemis, along with her twin brother, Apollo, showed great love for their mother, Leto. An example of this is shown when Queen Niobe insulted Leto and Artemis and Apollo sought revenge. They killed Niobe's 7 daughters and 7 sons. It is said that Artemis spared the youngest daughter of Niobe.

Apollo
Artemis is mostly seen as to be annoyed and distant from Apollo, maybe because of her strict attitude towards men and him for being so carefree. Though in most parts they are shown to be arguing, Artemis and Apollo show a strong bond between siblings, as depicted in The Titan's Curse when Apollo breaks the law in helping Percy to save Artemis.

Being a Virgin Goddess
Artemis is one of the virgin goddesses on Mount Olympus besides Athena and Hestia.

Hestia, Athena, and Artemis made an oath on the River Styx to Zeus saying that they would not marry and would stay virgins for eternity.

Artemis is one of the goddesses that make up the triple goddess symbol:


 * The Maiden -waxing moon- Artemis, represents the huntress on earth
 * The Mother -full moon- Selene, represents the moon in the heavens
 * The Crone -waning moon- Hecate, represents the underworld

 In Greek mythology, there are many goddesses associated with the moon. These include Selene, the personification of the moon itself, Artemis, the goddess of the hunt, and Hecate, the goddess of witchcraft.

Together Artemis, Selene and Hecate embody the phases of the moon. Many depictions of Selene show her wearing a crescent moon, and one of Hecate's symbols includes the dark circle of the new moon.

The Lightning Thief
Artemis was played by Ona Grauer. She was only seen once in the film, in the throne room of Olympus on the Summer solstice.

Trivia

 * Originally Artemis was the goddess of Dawn and Frost. Although after a while her dominion over both went to Eos as she was the dawn personified.
 * In myth, the sole reason Artemis was sometimes considered a goddess of the moon was because others perceived her to be either Selene or Hecate.
 * In The Titan's Curse, it is said she likes to turn boys who see the Hunters' camp into jackalopes.
 * In The Titan's Curse, she had found a respect for Percy and even called him a 'man' instead of a 'boy' after she and Annabeth were rescued. This respect went so far as to have the Hunters search for Percy.
 * Artemis, being the goddess of Hunt, has a collection of furs belonging to many creatures, some maybe extinct since Percy didn't know some of them that were hanging in Artemis' tent.
 * She has temples or shrines in Olympus as seen in The Last Olympian when Thalia stated this after seeing Kronos destroy a shrine to Artemis.
 * A minor planet, (105) Artemis, a lunar crater, the Artemis Chasma and the Artemis Corona (both on Venus) have all been named after her.