In the ancient world, one of the seven wonders of the world is the Temple of Artemis of Ephesus. These wonders are a list of the most famous architectural structures. Writings about them were very popular in ancient times and contained descriptions of the most beautiful or most technically advanced buildings or monuments of art. Today we will talk about both the goddess herself and the temple of Artemis of Ephesus, about the seven wonders of the world.
What's on the list?
Periodically, some miracles were replaced by others, but in the end the so-called classic list was formed, and which includes:
- Pyramids of Giza, Egypt.
- The Hanging Gardens of Queen Babylon (now Iraq).
- Gold statue of Zeus in the Peloponnese in Greece.
- Temple of Artemis of Ephesus - wonder of the world at number 4, Ephesus, Asia Minor (now Turkey).
- Mausoleum of Halicarnassus, Asia Minor (modern Turkey).
- God statueHelios called "Colossus of Rhodes", Greece.
- Lighthouse in Alexandria Egyptian.
Unfortunately, the only thing that has survived to this day is the pyramids in Egypt. Therefore, you can learn about these sights (and about the temple of Artemis of Ephesus - a wonder of the world, in particular) only from ancient chronicles, as well as legends and myths.
Young goddess
Artemis was among the ancient Greeks one of the most famous and revered goddesses. She not only had many hypostases, but her essence was very contradictory, since she carried directly opposite features in herself. For example, she was cruel, vindictive and at the same time patronized people, animals, plants, helped with childbirth.
Here are some of the images in which Artemis appeared:
- Forever young virgin goddess.
- Goddess of the hunt.
- Fertility.
- Female chastity.
- Patron of wildlife.
- Helping childbirth.
- Sending happiness in marriage.
- Goddess of the moon - as opposed to twin brother Apollo - god of the sun.
- Patron of the Amazons.
Artemis was dedicated to 30 temples throughout Greece, but the most famous was the sanctuary in the city of Ephesus. Therefore, one of the most common epithets applied to this goddess was the mention of her as Artemis of Ephesus. More details about the temple will be discussed below.
Cruel Avenger
Artemis' animals were a doe and a bear. The Romans identified her with Diana. She iswas the daughter of Zeus and Leto (daughter of the Titans). She had 60 daughters of the Ocean and 20 nymphs in her service. God Pan gave Artemis 12 hunting dogs. The nymphs who accompanied her were also required to take a vow of celibacy.
And if they did not observe it, then the violators were met with severe punishment, like, for example, the nymph Callisto. The latter became the beloved of Zeus and gave birth to a son from him, for which she was turned by the virgin goddess into a bear. And also, for example, myths such as:
testify to the vindictiveness of Artemis
- about the hunter Actaeon, who was turned into a bear by her and torn apart by dogs for seeing her bathing;
- about Queen Niobe, whose children she destroyed for the insult inflicted on her mother Leto;
- about the daughter of the Greek commander Agamemnon Iphigenia, who killed the beloved doe of the goddess of the Greek commander Agamemnon, who she demanded to be sacrificed.
Patron of wildlife
But Artemis also had positive aspects. Although she is the goddess of the hunt, she was also the patroness of animals. She made sure that they were not offended in vain. She made sure that the total number of animals did not decrease. And also Artemis was the patroness of plants - wild and domestic, people and livestock. She stimulated the growth of flowers, herbs and trees, gave blessings to those entering into marriage, marriage itself, the birth of offspring.
Artemis loved to dance with nymphs, enjoyed the sounds of the lyre and cithara, which Apollo played on Mount Parnassus, surrounded by muses. The goddess was depicted in the form of a beautiful girl,wandering through the forests and fields, accompanied by a doe with a bow and a quiver of arrows on her back. And also Artemis of Ephesus was depicted in the form of a many-breasted statue, which was in her temple in Ephesus. Such an image symbolized that the goddess patronized childbirth.
Temple at Ephesus
Glory to this city on the shores of the Aegean Sea was largely brought by the local cult of the eastern goddess of fertility, which eventually became identified with Artemis of Ephesus. Today, in its place is the city of Selcuk, belonging to the Turkish province of Izmir.
Worship of the goddess began in ancient times, and the temple began to be built in the 1st half of the 6th century. BC e. Funds for this were allocated by the Lydian rich man - King Croesus. Two inscriptions made by him are preserved on the bases of the columns. The architect of this wonder of the world - the Temple of Artemis of Ephesus - was Chersiphon, during whose lifetime the walls and colonnade were erected. Construction was continued by Metagen, his son. And Demetrius and Paeonius finished it in the 5th century. BC e.
When the finished huge white marble temple appeared before the eyes of the townspeople, they noisily expressed their surprise and admiration. The best Greek craftsmen participated in the creation of the sculptures that adorned it. There was also a statue of the goddess Artemis of Ephesus, made of gold and decorated with ivory. Expiatory sacrifices were made to her before marriage.
The temple was not only used for religious ceremonies. Here was the business and financial center of Ephesus. The temple was governed by a college of priests,being completely independent of city authorities.
In 356 B. C. e. it was burned by Herostratus, who wanted to become famous at any cost. However, the temple was soon rebuilt in its original form. Alexander the Great gave money for this. The plan of the temple was preserved by the architect Deinocrates, he only built a stepped base, thanks to which the building was greatly elevated. In the 3rd century A. D. e. it was plundered by the Goths, and in VI it was destroyed by Christians who banned pagan cults.
