Artemis In Sophocles Oedipus The King

Many Greek goddesses and gods were worshipped in the play Oedipus the King by Sophocles. One in particular caught my attention, Artemis. Artemis is a goddess that is still worshipped today in certain societies, although it is rare. The goddess’ life, myths, and ways to be worshipped are quite different compared to the norms of modern society. Artemis’ life in the beginning was simple. Artemis was born in Delos as the daughter of Zeus and Leto. She was born with a twin named Apollo. As Artemis got older she found things she enjoyed like the moon and environment. With these found things she became the goddess of the moon, the hunt, and the natural environment. When she confronted her father, Zeus, on potential pursuers, she asked him for eternal virginity. This lastly made her the goddess of virginity and chastity. Artemis is found in many myths within Greek legend. In the myth of Actaeon, he was a hunting companion of …show more content…
One popular way was to bring things like incense and animal sacrifices to the her temple as offerings. Every year, at least once, the worshippers would take a statue of Artemis and walk it through sacred cemeteries. During these walks. the women would follow and lavishly decorate the statue. The modern day ritual consists of lighting a goddess candle with Artemis’ name engraved into it, creating a circle of moon, mother, animal, and silver symbols. After this is created one would like four candles in each direction. When this is accomplished, one would light the goddess candle and begin the chant to Artemis: “This candle I dedicate to thee, light the way to I might see, your presence I do call, Mother nurturer to us all, Hail Goddess Artemis.” When this is finished one would ask if the goddess would ask if she has a message. After this is completed, one would clean up the area that they performed the ritual in. These rituals may seem unorthodox, but to the believers of this religion, it is a normal