GRECIAN MYTHOLOGY. 111 
the lower consists only of acorns, the earliest sustenance of mankind. 
Beneath these are seen numerous udders of animals, symbolizing all-sus- 
taining nature. The lower part of the body, from the girdle to the feet, 
resembles an inverted pyramid, and is divided by bandages into six panels, 
occupied by victories, lions, griffins, bulls, and stags. On the sides are bees 
and flowers. A part of her garment protrudes from beneath and covers 
the heels. The whole figure is obviously akin to the Egyptian Isis or 
Rhea, since it represents Artemis both as the symbol of all nourishing 
nature, and of nature manifested in multifarious and ever-varying forms. 
Ranking with the ever youthful goddesses Artemis always remained a 
virgin and unsusceptible of the tender passion. Whoever dared to entertain 
and express for her the sentiments of love was certain to incur her wrath. 
Witness Actwon who watched her and her nymphs bathing (pl. 20, jig. 15), 
and whom she changed into a stag to be torn to pieces by his own hounds. 
Thus also according to another representation on a coin (pl. 21, fig. 20, a 
and 6), she appears in the act of shooting with an arrow the captive (very 
probably Orzon, afterwards honored with the name of a constellation) 
whom she learned to esteem on account of his fondness for hunting and his 
intrepidity, but who fell a victim to her resentment the moment he dared 
to love her. Towards only one mortal, Endymion, a handsome shepherd, 
she was less vindictive and unfeeling. She first saw him sleeping in a 
forest on a mossy bed, while she was leading the moon up the sky. Enrap- 
tured at the spectacle, she found it impossible to refrain from checking the 
celestial chariot to impress a kiss upon his lips. In compliance with her 
prayer that he might always sleep and never become old, Zeus transferred 
him to Olympos, but subsequently sent him to the world of shades for rashly 
cherishing a tender regard for Hera. Among all who fell under the wrath 
of Artemis, however, none suffered so mournful a fate as the children of 
Niobe. Their mother, the wife of Amphion king of Thebes, had borne 
seven sons and seven daughters, and with a feeling of maternal pride 
exulted over Leto, and boasted of excelling her who had borne only two, 
Apollo and Artemis. Offended at this reproach Leto accused Niobe to her 
daughter Artemis, who at once vowed to avenge the affront offered to her 
mother. Soon after Niobe’s fourteen children died, all slain by the arrows 
of Apollo and Artemis. This tragic scene is represented in bas-relief upon 
the side of a sarcophagus ( pl. 21, jig. 6). 
There are yet two other works of art connected with this transaction. 
In pl. 20, fig. 17, we see Niobe as she anxiously exerts herself to cover her 
youngest daughter with her veil, to protect her from the arrows of Artemis; 
while jig. 18 presents Amphion, the husband of Niobe, in a tunic, to which 
are added the mantle and Cretan buskins or boots. His whole attitude is 
expressive of the most frantic desolation at the death of his children. 
Artemis also visited with her wrath the Greeks while they assembled in 
the harbor of Aulis, preparatory to their expedition against Troy. Their 
chief, Agamemnon, king of Argos, went into her grove, and in spite of the 
warnings of her priests, killed one of her white hinds. The enraged goddess 
invoked the aid of Poseidon so to restrain the winds as to hinder the 
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