The nature of many goddesses in myth goes to multiple roles or symbolic elements. The Greek goddess Artemis is an excellent example of this. Strongly identified with the moon, Artemis has a variety of other functions in ancient Greek culture. She represents virginity, the hunt, nature, and is as well turned to for childbirth. Artemis very much represents the independent maiden, unconcerned with men and devoted to the wild. It seems hardly coincidental that she is the twin sister of Phoebus, the god of the sun (Alexander, 2014, p. 91). While some accounts of Artemis also associate her with the dark arts, this is not usually stressed. Then, while other Greek goddesses are linked to the moon, Artemis may be said to be the primary such goddess in the culture.
The character of Artemis as both powerful and representing a woman’s ownership of her body is seen in the myth of Actaeon. There are a number of versions of this myth, but most are based on one scenario. The human hunter Actaeon, while pursuing his game in the forest, accidentally comes upon Artemis nude and bathing in a pool. She is enraged by the intrusion and splashes water at his face, challenging him to dare to tell anyone that he has seen the goddess in this state. The water is a spell, Actaeon is transformed into a stag, and his own dogs chase and kill him (Alexander, p. 92). Then, and famously, Artemis plays a crucial role in the Trojan War, and one also centered on her anger at being minimized. Because Agamemnon, the leader of the Achaean army, is foolish enough to claim that he is a better archer than Artemis, she prevents the winds from blowing and his fleet is unable to move. It is also Artemis who demands that he sacrifice his daughter, Iphigenia, to atone for his insult (Alexander, p. 92). Her power to control the winds then goes to Artemis’s multiple functions and power as the moon goddess, and links to the moon’s role in the tides.
The Celtic goddess Cerridwen is extremely similar to Artemis, but with some differences. While Cerridwen does preside over the moon, she is more identified with the cycles of life and death, and is thus more a maternal figure. She is as well more associated with occult forces, and has vast knowledge of both healing and harming arts. With Cerridwen, voice, craft, and deep wisdom dominate, and wisdom not associated with masculine deities. With both goddesses, the moon then becomes a “feminine” force, or is symbolic of a woman’s power in general. That the moon represents the night or darkness also adds to the supernatural or occult roles of the goddesses. Cerridwen, for example, presides over death itself; in one myth, she gives her cauldron to Bran the Blessed, which has the power to restore dead warriors to life (Frankel, 2010, p. 46). Like Artemis, then, this moon deity inspires awe and fear as much as she is worshiped as a benevolent goddess. At the same time, there is a dark aspect to Cerridwen not usually attached to Artemis. Cerridwen far more represents female power as a direct challenge to masculine deities.
While identified as a moon goddess, the Aztec deity Xochiquetzal is even more complex in terms of roles than Artemis or Cerridwen. In a sense, her status as moon goddess encompasses so many functions, she is as well a supreme female deity with authority over all facets of life and death. In Aztec myth, Xochiquetzal is symbolic of the moon, the arts, nature, childbirth, and sexuality. Interestingly, these roles are assumed through multiple marriages to male deities. For example, she marries the god of the sun but, as the moon and changing in cycles, she then represents how sexual impulses lead women and men away from their true partners. Other myths have her as the mother of more than one solar god (Milbrath, 2010, p. 51). In all accounts, however, what is stressed is her intense relationship with the sun, which goes to the Aztec fascination with astronomy and the effects of the stars on the earth. Xochiquetzal may then be seen as more expanded in her roles than Artemis, even as that goddess has multiple functions. With Xochiquetzal, there is more an emphasis on the moon as an elemental force guiding life, just as her presiding over, or representing, sexuality is removed from the virginity associated with Artemis. There is also a more fearful aspect to this goddess, in terms of her demanding human sacrifices (Milbrath, p. 51). The Aztecs slaughtered virgins to appease her, suggesting again the link to female chastity.
Lastly, there is the great Egyptian goddess Isis to consider, who may be said to expand even on Xochiquetzal’s roles, and consequently those of Artemis and Cerridwen. Isis is strongly linked to the moon, but she as well represents the primal power of the earth. The goddess is symbolic of life itself, which connects her to the maternal authority of the other deities, as well as to sexuality. Like Artemis, however, she is bound to the sun god of the culture, Osiris, who is both her brother and husband. She is also associated with occult powers; when she is separated from Osiris, for example, she uses charms and spells to find her mate (Bonnefoy, 1992, p. 252). Isis is so embedded in Egyptian myth, however, that she is more elemental that Artemis. She is alternately revered as a life-giver and the keeper of death, and cults of Isis spread far beyond Egypt, just as her presence is very much tied to Greek myth (Bonnefoy, p. 252). Ultimately, then, Isis represents the moon goddess Artemis in its most expanded form.
- Alexander, R. (2014). Myths, Symbols and Legends of Solar System Bodies. New York, NY: Springer.
- Bonnefoy, Y. (Ed.) (1992). Greek and Egyptian Mythologies. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
- Frankel, V. E. (2010). From Girl to Goddess: The Heroine’s Journey through Myth and Legend. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Co.
- Milbrath, S. (2013). Heaven and Earth in Ancient Mexico: Astronomy and Seasonal Cycles in the Codex Borgia. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press.
