ArtemisEphesusANCIENT

ArtemisEphesusANCIENT_Ephesus

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ClCv241

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OGCMA s.v. "Artemis of Ephesus"
OGCMA s.v. "Artemis"
ANCIENTArtemis_Naples

Artemis of Ephesus, 1st Century AD, Roman copy of the cult figure at Ephesus, Ephesus Museum, Efes, Turkey.

ML p. 230.

In the New Testament, Acts of the Apostles 19:23-41, a riot at Ephesus is narrated. The temple at Ephesus was built to house a cult figure very much like this famous replica.

Statue of Artemis of Ephesus, a Roman marble copy with multiple breasts, animal heads, and two deer at the base

A perfect image for discussing Artemis at Potnia Theron (Greek for "mistress of beasts"). This goddess is essentially an Earth Mother, for bounty comes from her.

Her breast is festooned with acron clusters and the disk of the zodiac. The head-dress in this copy is not as clearly as 'mural' crown as in other copies, such as the Naples version (see link).

Her anatomy, above and below, is clothed in the beasts of the earth — bees, lions, griffens, deer.

Her abdomen is burdened with curious shapes, taken by some to represent eggs or testicles or breasts. Any of these interpretations connects her easily and readily to the nourishment of the earth's animal offspring.

OGCMA slides are designed by Roger T. Macfarlane for use in Classical Civilization 241 courses at Brigham Young University.
The present resource contains information assembled for The Oxford Guide to Classical Mythology in the Arts, 1400 – 1990’s, edited by J. Davidson Reid (Oxford 1994), and it is used with express permission from Oxford University Press.
Address concerns or inquiries to macfarlane@byu.edu.