What is special about Artemis Temple in ephesos?
What is special about Artemis Temple in ephesos?
The Temple of Artemis at Ephesus was located on the western coast of Asia Minor (modern Turkey) and built in the 6th century BCE. Such was its tremendous size, double the dimensions of other Greek temples including the Parthenon, that it was soon regarded as one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.
How was Artemis Worshipped in Ephesus?
The Ephesian Artemis was a very different version of the deity than the usual goddess of the hunt; here she was worshipped for fertility. Depictions seem to mirror this, with the deity either wearing a string of eggs or breasts around her shoulders and chest.
What happened to the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus?
Temple of Artemis, also called Artemesium, temple at Ephesus, now in western Turkey, that was one of the Seven Wonders of the World. The temple was destroyed by invading Goths in 262 ce and was never rebuilt.
Why was Artemis Worshipped in Ephesus?
Being a goddess of contradictions, she was the protectors of women in labor, but it was said that the arrows of Artemis brought them sudden death while giving birth. But at Ephesus she was worshiped mainly as a fertility goddess, and was identified with Cybele the mother goddess of eastern lands.
Are Diana and Artemis the same?
Diana, in Roman religion, goddess of wild animals and the hunt, identified with the Greek goddess Artemis. Her name is akin to the Latin words dium (“sky”) and dius (“daylight”). Like her Greek counterpart, she was also a goddess of domestic animals.
Who is the god Artemis?
Artemis, in Greek religion, the goddess of wild animals, the hunt, and vegetation and of chastity and childbirth; she was identified by the Romans with Diana. Artemis was the daughter of Zeus and Leto and the twin sister of Apollo.
Where was the temple of Artemis in Ephesus?
It has been built in the areas of Ephesus on a flat area which has over the centuries turned into a swamp. If you visit Ephesus today, you can only see the ruins of the foundations of this marvelous construction of the Hellenistic Age, entirely made of marble and full of sculptured columns’ capitals and shafts.
What was the symbol of the temple of Artemis?
The statue of many-breasted Artemis was the symbol of the temple but also of abundance, hunting and wild life. The genuine statue of Artemis, removed during the fire, is today exhibited in the Ephesus Museum.
When was the temple of Artemis destroyed by Herostratus?
The project was funded by Croesus of Lydia, and took 10 years to complete. This version of the temple was destroyed in 356 BC by Herostratus in an act of arson . The next, greatest and last form of the temple, funded by the Ephesians themselves, is described in Antipater of Sidon ‘s list of the world’s Seven Wonders:
When did Alexander the Great rebuild the temple of Artemis?
Plutarch remarked that Artemis was too preoccupied with Alexander’s delivery to save her burning temple. Alexander offered to pay for the temple’s rebuilding; the Ephesians tactfully refused, and eventually rebuilt it after his death, at their own expense. Work started in 323 BC and continued for many years.