| To the right of the road leading to Kusadasi can be seen the ruins of the Temple of Artemis (Diana), one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. Artemis, the virgin goddess of nature, and protectress of women in childbirth is mentioned in the Iliad with the phrase: Praise be to Artemis! She, who would water her horses at the reed-filled Meles river, then pass speedily through Smyrna on her golden chariot towards the vineyards of Coloros." The mention of Smyrna in this description would suggest that the goddess Artemis is of Anatolian origin. At another point in his Iliad, Homer gives the birthplace of Artemis as Ortygie. Ortygie" means quail in ancient Greek, and might also have been related to the Mount Nightingale (Bülbüldag) which was the site of the original city of Ephesus. Furthermore, the Ephesians at one point had a resolution passed in the Roman senate stating that their place of origin was Ortygie, and Artemis their patron goddess. It is perhaps for this reason that the Ephesians erected such a magnificent temple to this goddess. Artemis is not, in fact, a word of Greek origin, but a derivative of "artems", meaning "untouched", or 'unspoiled' in an ancient local tongue. In Ephesus, Artemis was considered as one and the same as Cybele, the goddess from whom the land of Anatolia is said to have been born. She is depicted as a multi breasted figure with many facets, and bears the model of a temple on her head, in the form of a crown. This triple-storeyed crown ... |
