Artemis (or Diana, depending on who's telling it) is the goddess of the hunt, fiercely independent and famously uninterested in men. One day she's bathing with her nymphs in a secluded pool; a space that's meant to be private, sacred and absolutely not for male eyes.
Actaeon, a mortal hunter, wanders in by 'accident'. Depending on which version you read, he's either unlucky, nosy, or just in the wrong forest at the wrong time. Either way, he sees her naked, which is a massive no (as one of the Virgin goddesses seeing her naked was sacrilege)
Artemis angrily splashes water on him which turns him into a stag, and therefore wont be able to tell anyone of what he saw. Then, in the ultimate irony, he's chased down and torn apart by his own hunting dogs. By Diana tries to stop him telling the story, yet the transformation makes the story unforgettable. Her attempt at erasure preserves the myth.
Artemis (or Diana, depending on who's telling it) is the goddess of the hunt, fiercely independent and famously uninterested in men. One day she's bathing with her nymphs in a secluded pool; a space that's meant to be private, sacred and absolutely not for male eyes.
Actaeon, a mortal hunter, wanders in by 'accident'. Depending on which version you read, he's either unlucky, nosy, or just in the wrong forest at the wrong time. Either way, he sees her naked, which is a massive no (as one of the Virgin goddesses seeing her naked was sacrilege)
Artemis angrily splashes water on him which turns him into a stag, and therefore wont be able to tell anyone of what he saw. Then, in the ultimate irony, he's chased down and torn apart by his own hunting dogs. By Diana tries to stop him telling the story, yet the transformation makes the story unforgettable. Her attempt at erasure preserves the myth.
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