Diana

"Diane Chasseresse," School of Fontainebleau. The painting shows Diana while hunting. The peculiar crescent moon on her forehead symbolizes her being a moon goddess. Click on image for full size (74K JPEG) Image courtesy of Corel Corporation.

Diana was the goddess of the Moon, and she preferred the company of young goddesses. She was also known as the goddess of the hunt.

Romans identified Diana with the Greek goddess Artemis.

"Diane Chasseresse," School of Fontainebleau. The painting shows Diana while hunting. The peculiar crescent moon on her forehead symbolizes her being a moon goddess. Click on image for full size (74K JPEG) Image courtesy of Corel Corporation.

Diana was the twin sister of the god Apollo. Her father and mother were Jupiter and Latona.

She was always surrouded by young beautiful attendants, who used to hunt with her. Romans identified Diana with the Greek goddess Artemis. As Artemis, she was also a moon goddess.

"Diane Chasseresse," School of Fontainebleau. The painting shows Diana while hunting. The peculiar crescent moon on her forehead symbolizes her being a moon goddess. Click on image for full size (74K JPEG) Image courtesy of Corel Corporation.

Diana was an ancient Italian goddess of woodland. In Capua and in Aricia, a locality near Rome, there are still shrines dedicated to the old Italian goddess. Her shrine in Aricia was on the shores of the lake Nemi. For that reason, she was named Diana Nemorensis, Diana of the Woods. The rites dedicated to her were particularly brutal.

Human sacrifices were offered to the indigenous goddess. Diana's priest was an escaped slave. Every new priest had to kill their predecessors to obtain their offices. At Capua, people believed that the preservation of the city depended on the fate of a long-lived hind sacred to the goddess.

As the result of the influence of the Greek colonies in southern Italy around the sixth century BC, Diana became identified with the Greek goddess of woodland Artemis acquiring the attributes of this latter. For the Greeks, Artemis was also the personification of the Moon and her twin brother Apollo was associated with the Sun. Her father and mother were Jupiter and Latona.