---
title: Diana
author: Donald L. Wasson
source: https://www.worldhistory.org/diana/
format: machine-readable-alternate
license: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/)
updated: 2023-05-16
---
# Diana
_Authored by [Donald L. Wasson](https://www.worldhistory.org/user/DWasson/)_
Diana was the goddess of childbirth, the fertility goddess, the goddess of the moon as well as the patron goddess of wild beasts in [Roman mythology](https://www.worldhistory.org/Roman_Mythology/). However, she is best known as the goddess of the hunt, with her sacred animal being the deer. Her equivalent in [Greek mythology](https://www.worldhistory.org/Greek_Mythology/) is [Artemis](https://www.worldhistory.org/artemis/).
As with many of the myths surrounding the gods, both [Roman](https://www.worldhistory.org/disambiguation/Roman/) and [Greek](https://www.worldhistory.org/disambiguation/greek/) [mythology](https://www.worldhistory.org/mythology/), those concerning Diana vary from source to source and often appear conflicting. Timelines and locations are frequently at odds. Often, a particular myth might be pieced together from a number of sources. Besides the classics of [Greek literature](https://www.worldhistory.org/Greek_Literature/), such as [Homer](https://www.worldhistory.org/homer/) and [Hesiod](https://www.worldhistory.org/hesiod/), the best sources for Roman mythology are [Ovid](https://www.worldhistory.org/ovid/)'s *Metamorphoses* and [Virgil](https://www.worldhistory.org/virgil/)'s *[Aeneid](https://www.worldhistory.org/The_Aeneid/)*. Through these works, [Roman literature](https://www.worldhistory.org/Roman_Literature/) was able to provide a rich sense of tradition and history tied to a past replete with legends.
### Birth & Family
Diana was the daughter of [Jupiter](https://www.worldhistory.org/jupiter/) and Latona (the Roman equivalent of [Leto](https://www.worldhistory.org/Leto/)), the goddess of dark nights. Unfortunately, Latona incurred the wrath of a very jealous [Juno](https://www.worldhistory.org/Juno/). The wife of Jupiter was well aware of her husband's wandering eye. In a fit of temper, Juno banished the pregnant goddess to earth, declaring that no one, mortal or immortal, was to show her any pity. Driven by Juno's rage, she wandered the countryside tired and thirsty. Exhausted, she finally came to the seashore where she made an appeal for help to [Neptune](https://www.worldhistory.org/Neptune/) ([Poseidon](https://www.worldhistory.org/poseidon/)'s Roman counterpart), [god](https://www.worldhistory.org/God/) of the sea and Jupiter's brother. Hearing her plea and ignoring Juno's threat, he sent a dolphin to carry Latona to the island of [Delos](https://www.worldhistory.org/delos/) where she gave birth to Apollo and Diana.
The Greek poet Hesiod in his *[Theogony](https://www.worldhistory.org/Theogony/)* made a reference to the birth of the twins: "And Leto joined in love with Jupiter who holds the aegis and the offspring which she bore was lovelier than all the sons of heaven: Apollo and Artemis." (53) In another hymn Hesiod wrote of Artemis: "goddess with distaff of [gold](https://www.worldhistory.org/gold/)… for what is pleasing to her is the bow and to kill the beasts on the mountains…" (65)
### Niobe & [Orion](https://www.worldhistory.org/Orion/)
In most works of [Roman art](https://www.worldhistory.org/Roman_Art/), Diana is depicted armed with a bow and quiver of arrows, and according to most accounts, her skill with the bow unquestionably equaled that of her twin brother Apollo. This skill can best be seen in the myths of Niobe and Orion.
One day the proud mother Latona casually boasted that her children excelled in beauty, intelligence, and power. Niobe, daughter of King [Tantalus](https://www.worldhistory.org/Tantalus/) took exception to this boast. The conceited mother of 14 – seven boys and seven girls – taunted Latona for only having two children. In an act of spitefulness, Niobe forbade any of her subjects to worship either Apollo or Diana; she even destroyed their statues. Latona was enraged and told Apollo and Diana to kill all 14 of Niobe's children. Obeying their mother's wishes, Apollo killed the seven boys while Artemis killed the seven girls. Showing pity for the weeping Niobe, the gods turned her into a statue that was placed on Mount Sipylus where her children were slain.
[  Apollo and Diana Attacking the Children of Niobe Jacques-Louis David (Public Domain) ](https://www.worldhistory.org/image/17419/apollo-and-diana-attacking-the-children-of-niobe/ "Apollo and Diana Attacking the Children of Niobe")In the Greek version of the myth, there is some variation. Niobe is the wife of the king of [Thebes](https://www.worldhistory.org/disambiguation/Thebes/), Amphion, and she is furious because a festival, mostly for [women](https://www.worldhistory.org/disambiguation/women/), is being held in Thebes that celebrates Leto's two children by [Zeus](https://www.worldhistory.org/zeus/). Throughout the celebration, offerings are made to Leto at her [temple](https://www.worldhistory.org/temple/). Of course, Niobe, being the mother of 14, has no honors bestowed on her. To irritate Leto, Niobe boasts that her children are more beautiful and powerful and asks her people to honor her, not Leto. To further annoy Leto, she plans to cancel next year's festival. However, for now, the nights are filled with hymns, but one night there are no hymns. Leto is in tears, and Apollo and Artemis swear to avenge the insult to their mother. The seven boys fall one by one to the arrows of Apollo. Even as her sons lay dead on the ground before her, Niobe brags that she is still better for she still has seven daughters. Hearing this, Artemis eliminates the seven girls, one in her mother's arms.
### Endymion
Choosing never to marry, Diana received permission from her father to remain a virgin, joining [Vesta](https://www.worldhistory.org/Vesta/) and [Minerva](https://www.worldhistory.org/Minerva/) as the only virgin goddesses. One night as the goddess of the moon drove her milk-white horses across the sky, she spied the young, beautiful shepherd boy Endymion asleep on a hillside. Taken by his beauty, she stopped her [chariot](https://www.worldhistory.org/chariot/), bent down, and gave the young boy a kiss. Partially awakened, he briefly caught a glimpse of the goddess but believed it was only a dream. Night after night, Diana returned to the boy and gave him a kiss – a spell seemed to keep him from waking. Fearing that his beauty might be marred by toil and exposure, Diana caused him to fall into an eternal sleep. Taking him to a cave at Mount Latmus, she visited him every night.
### Orion
In a second myth, Orion and his dog were hunting when they spied Diana's nymphs, the seven Pleiades ([Atlas](https://www.worldhistory.org/Atlas/)' daughters). As he approached them, they fled, but he followed. Eventually, exhausted, the nymphs could go no further and asked Diana for help. She turned them into pigeons. Flying away, they became a constellation.
[  Orion Unknown Artist (Public Domain) ](https://www.worldhistory.org/image/6243/orion/ "Orion")Orion soon found love in Merope, the beautiful daughter of the king of Chios, but to marry her, he had to perform a heroic deed. Not willing to wait, Orion kidnapped her instead. He was caught; his punishment was blindness, he was forced to wander the earth alone and helpless. Hoping to find a cure, he finally came to the cave of the Cyclopes who felt pity for the blind youth. They took him to see the Sun whose radiance restored his sight. He returned to his hunting. It was while he was out hunting that he met Diana. Their mutual love of the hunt fostered a love affair, of which her brother did not approve. One night Apollo challenged his sister's ability with the bow. He told her to hit a small target far out in the sea. Diana, of course, hit it, but the target turned out to be Orion out for a nightly swim. In her grief, she turned Orion and Sirius into a constellation.
### Actaeon
One of the best-known myths of Diana is that of Actaeon. After completing a long journey across the skies, the moon goddess and her nymphs would go on the hunt. One day they came across a mountain pool and decided to go for a swim. Meanwhile, Actaeon and his friends were hunting deer. In his *Metamorphoses* Ovid (43 BCE to 17 CE) relays the story: ... "the young Actaeon with friendly speech thus addressed his comrades of the chase as they fared through the trackless wastes." They come across a vale – the sacred haunt of Diana. It was while Diana and her nymphs were swimming that Actaeon happened to wander into the grotto. The nymphs tried to shield Diana. "... she stood aside a little and cast back her gaze and though she would of fain have had her arrows ready what she had she took up, the water, and flung it into the young man's face." He was now free to tell his friends what he had seen, but he could not: he grew the horns of a stag, his hands became feet and his arms were changed into legs. He tried to flee but the hounds buried "their fangs in his body till there was no place left for further wounds." (48-50)
[  Artemis / Diana Timothy Tolle (CC BY) ](https://www.worldhistory.org/image/684/artemis--diana/ "Artemis / Diana")### The [Trojan War](https://www.worldhistory.org/Trojan_War/)
The Trojan [War](https://www.worldhistory.org/disambiguation/War/) found Diana at odds with the Greeks. [Agamemnon](https://www.worldhistory.org/disambiguation/Agamemnon/), the arrogant commander of the Greek forces, had insulted Diana, claiming to be a better hunter. Diana, angry at his impudence, stilled the waters, preventing the Greek ships from sailing. The soothsayer told Agamemnon that the only way to appease the gods was to sacrifice his eldest daughter Iphigenia. Realizing he had little choice he sent for his daughter, telling her she was to marry the Greek hero [Achilles](https://www.worldhistory.org/achilles/). Upon her arrival, she was immediately taken to the altar to be sacrificed, but Diana intervened, replacing her with a deer. She would become a priestess at Diana's temple. With the winds restored, the Greeks sailed to [Troy](https://www.worldhistory.org/troy/).
Virgil's (70-19 BCE) *Aeneid* tells of the Trojan warrior [Aeneas](https://www.worldhistory.org/Aeneas/) who, after the fall of Troy, escaped and sailed away initially landing at [Carthage](https://www.worldhistory.org/carthage/) and then settling in [Italy](https://www.worldhistory.org/italy/). A prophecy foretells that his descendants ([Romulus and Remus](https://www.worldhistory.org/Romulus_and_Remus/)) will establish the [city](https://www.worldhistory.org/city/) of [Rome](https://www.worldhistory.org/Rome/). In their travels across the peninsula, Aeneas and his fellow Trojans arrive at the Tiber River and the kingdom of Latium. They end up in a war with them, initiated by Juno, and as the war progresses, an ally of Latium and leader of the Volscian forces, Camilla, is killed by Arruns. Diana is heartbroken, for Camilla was a favorite of hers. She tells one of her nymphs, Opis, of her affection for the fallen warrior:
> Camilla goes forth to war and its savagery. She's dear to me, girl, beyond all others; and yet the weapons she's girding cannot save her… (276)
Diana tells of Camilla's father and his plea to the goddess to save his infant daughter. He tied her to his spear and prayed:
> O kindly Diana the Virgin, patron of woodlands, I, her father, vow this child to your service. Yours the first weapon she holds to, a suppliant, fleeing the foe. I invoke you, O goddess – accept her for yours, whom now I commit to the chancy breezes. (276-277)
Diana added: "She was well-pleased to serve Diana alone, to remain a virgin forever, worshipping chastity and the chase." (277) To avenge Camilla's [death](https://www.worldhistory.org/disambiguation/Death/) Opis was sent to earth:
> Take my bow and quiver: draw out an avenging arrow: with it, exact retribution in blood for me from the man who wounds and profanes her hallowed flesh. (277-278)
### Conclusion
Like her brother Apollo, as well as others across the Roman [pantheon](https://www.worldhistory.org/Pantheon/), Diana survived the wrath of Jupiter's wife Juno. Never wanting to marry, she remained a virgin and became the goddess of the hunt, a powerful goddess with a bow and a quiver of arrows, the equal to her brother. Although she could, on occasion, show affection, she was more prone to display a darker side to her personality. She showed no mercy in eliminating the seven daughters of Niobe, Agamemnon's bravado cost him his daughter, and Actaeon saw the goddess as she swam only to lose his life to his own hounds. And when Camilla was killed, the goddess of the hunt sought revenge. Diana was a strong, powerful goddess, an equal (and in some ways greater) than any of the other gods and goddesses.
#### Editorial Review
This human-authored definition has been reviewed by our editorial team before publication to ensure accuracy, reliability and adherence to academic standards in accordance with our [editorial policy](https://www.worldhistory.org/static/editorial-policy/).
## Bibliography
- [ Fry, Stephen. *Mythos.* Chronicle Books, 2019.](https://www.worldhistory.org/books/1452178917/)
- [Berens, E.M. *Mythology.* Crestline Books, 2020.](https://www.worldhistory.org/books/0785838414/)
- [Guerber, H.A. *Classical Mythology.* Fall River Press, 2018.](https://www.worldhistory.org/books/B0BBPMVP3P/)
- [Hesiod & Stallings, A. E. & Stallings, A. E. & Stallings, A. E. *Works and Days .* Penguin Classics, 2018.](https://www.worldhistory.org/books/0141197528/)
- [Homer & Richardson, Nicholas & Cashford, Jules & Richardson, Nicholas. *Homeric Hymns .* Penguin Classics, 2003.](https://www.worldhistory.org/books/0140437827/)
- [Nigel Rodgers & Hazel Dodge. *Roman Empire.* Metro Books, 2023.](https://www.worldhistory.org/books/1435104552/)
- [Ovid & Raeburn, David & Feeney, Denis. *Metamorphoses .* Penguin Classics, 2004.](https://www.worldhistory.org/books/014044789X/)
- [Virgil & Fagles, Robert & Knox, Bernard. *The Aeneid .* Penguin Classics, 2010.](https://www.worldhistory.org/books/0143106295/)
## About the Author
Donald has taught Ancient, Medieval and U.S. History at Lincoln College (Normal, Illinois)and has always been and will always be a student of history, ever since learning about Alexander the Great. He is eager to pass knowledge on to his students.
## Questions & Answers
### What is Diana goddess of?
Diana was the goddess of the moon and the hunt, the patron goddess of wild beasts, and the fertility goddess, the goddess of childbirth.
### Who is the Greek equivalent of Diana?
In Greek mythology, Diana's counterpart is Artemis.
### Who is Diana's brother?
In Roman mythology, Diana's brother is Apollo.
## Cite This Work
### APA
Wasson, D. L. (2023, May 16). Diana. *World History Encyclopedia*.
### Chicago
Wasson, Donald L.. "Diana." *World History Encyclopedia*, May 16, 2023. .
### MLA
Wasson, Donald L.. "Diana." *World History Encyclopedia*, 16 May 2023, .
## License & Copyright
Submitted by [Donald L. Wasson](https://www.worldhistory.org/user/DWasson/ "User Page: Donald L. Wasson"), published on 16 May 2023. The copyright holder has published this content under the following license: [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/deed.en). This license lets others remix, tweak, and build upon this content non-commercially, as long as they credit the author and license their new creations under the identical terms. When republishing on the web a hyperlink back to the original content source URL must be included. Please note that content linked from this page may have different licensing terms.