Artemis was not the moon goddess, she was the moon itself

Artemis

 Artemis was the moon. Telling that she was the goddess of the moon simply means that she was symbolizing the moon. So, she was the moon itself. In the beginning, antique greeks had simply worshipped the natural things. Animals, sun, moon, volcanoes etc. But in around 800 BJ, two wise men (or a group of wise men symbolized by them) Homeros and Hesiodos wrote two books each and told some stories to people. After that, the educated guys began to call the moon Artemis and the sun Apollo. Ordinary people didn't get involved so much with the writings of Homeros and Hesiodos.
This is what makes Artemis and Apollo archers. Their arrows were the lights of the moon and the sun.
And this is what make them brothers. They are close like the moon and the sun.
And this is what they make them the kids of Zeus. Because Zeus is the sky.
Sky has two kids: the sun and the moon. And they send lights to people. Now it makes more sense, right?

Read Felicien Challaye's great book of "the History of Religions" to learn more about the issue.



Apollo



Deeper Analysis Necessary to Really Understand the Greek Mythology

Artemisian Temple in Ephesus was something like that

Most of the sources in internet just tell you something on surface regarding the greek holy characters. Who are they indeed? Artemis was the goddess of moon. OK, but why was that? Who made this up? Why? These are the questions rarely asked and worth to think about. If only we make a deeper analysis, we will really understand and love the greek mythology, it's our past- linked today...

Who is Artemis?



Artemis of Ephesus

 Artemis was a goddess and one of the forms of Kybele, the main goddess of the anatolian societies. These societies' first holy power was a goddess, not a god, due to their matriarchial social structure.

Artemis was pretty powerful in around 2000 BJ. She was considered responsible for any sudden deaths of women. (Her brother Apollo was responsible for the sudden death of men). She was also liable for deaths during labor.
But after that, patriarchial society has begun to develop and Artemis had become to be defined with words like: "virgin", "most beautiful goddess" etc. These were more acceptable for men, the new rulers of the world. However, Artemis did not lose his whole power until the invasion of Christianity. Even after that, she continued to live as Mother Mary.

How Artemis Converted into Mother Mary? (Introduction)

Jesus was a prophet, but St. Paul was the real organizer of the Christianity. When he came to Ephesus (A great ancient city very close to İzmir/Turkey, 25km./16 miles to Aegean coast of Turkey), the Ephesus people just resisted to him, and they stayed tight with their religion, their gods and their precious Goddess, the Artemis. Artemis, had a great temple in Ephesus, a monument a couple of times greater than the Parthenon in Athens, had been a significant religious centre in antique ages.

Times had changed. Christianity became the official religion of the Byzantian Empire in 4th Century A.J. Now the armies were working for Christianity. An unbelievable cruelty was the share of the believers of the Greek Religion. Artemis was forbidden and followers were punished brutally. (It was not something Jesus tried to spread, was it?).
The believers had to hide their beliefs and transformed all they know about Artemis to a new lady: Mother Mary.

Did you think that why is the mother of Jesus that important for christians. Who is the mother of Moses, Mohammed, Buddha? Nobody knows...
We know Mother Mary, because Christianity had to make a deal with the society in Anatolia and a new religion created there, the doctrine of Jesus was strongly influenced by the Greek Mythology.

Greek Mythology Living Today! The Purpose...

What would be the purpose of my web site? I will try to show the people that the Greek Mythology has never be buried in history and transferred for centuries up to today. Our thoughts and beliefs are largely influenced by their approach to life and society. Many people believe that Greek Mythology is a non-sense tale and showing how primitive thoughts antique greek society have. Get ready for the surprise, all these gods are still around. Who's Mother Mary? She's Artemis. Believe it or not...