Advanced Intermediate Beginner Home English Spanish

Diana



"Diane Chasseresse," School of Fontainebleau.
The painting shows Diana while hunting. The peculiar crescent moon on her forehead symbolizes her being a moon goddess.
Click on image for full size (74K JPEG)
Image courtesy of Corel Corporation.
Diana was an ancient Italian goddess of woodland. In Capua and in Aricia, a locality near Rome, there are still shrines dedicated to the old Italian goddess. Diana was the twin sister of the god Apollo. Her father and mother were Jupiter and Latona.

Diana believed her body was very sacred, and so no man was to see her naked. One day a wandering hunter came across Diana bathing. She became very angry, and turned him into a stag.

She was always surrounded by young beautiful attendants, who used to hunt with her. Romans identified Diana with the Greek goddess Artemis. As Artemis, she was also a Moon goddess.

Other images about the goddess Diana




Credits Settings Sponsorship Membership Contact us About the site Site map Help Myths People News Arts, books and film Images and multimedia Tours Life Geology Physics Space weather Space Missions Solar system Astronomy and the Universe Shop for science stuff Games Ask a scientist Journal Comets Dwarfs Neptune Uranus Saturn Jupiter Asteroids Mars Earth Venus Mercury Sun Teacher resources Kids Space Search Home
Last modified August 1, 2002 by the Windows Team

The source of this material is Windows to the Universe, at http://www.windows.ucar.edu/ at the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR). © The Regents of the University of Michigan. Windows to the Universe® is a registered trademark of UCAR. All Rights Reserved. Site policies and disclaimer