as it is Valentine's Day I guess now
would be a perfect time to cover a
mythological love story as we did this
time last year with Eros and Psyche
But as with most stories of love with in
Greek mythology they often end in tragedy
So today's video on the love story of Artemis and Orion may not be the perfect love story that you were looking for
Now some of you may be now some of you may bethinking that a love story featuring Artemis definitely sounds a bit odd
Because she doesn't have much interaction with anyone outside of her close followers and the wild life of her forest
Most male interaction doesn't end too well
We saw this with the hunter Actaeon who was turned into a stag when he came across the goddess during a hunt
and even with Sipriotes a young boy who's given the choice of death or being turned into a girl
Granted both of these stories began with them stumbling across Artemis naked when she took a bath
So perhaps these particular stories
were always destined to end poorly
There are other stories where minor deities pursued Artemis but these all ended in rejection
and for those who couldn't take no as an answer the consequences were a tad more severe
When the river god Alpheus had been rejected by Artemis
He decided that he would just kidnap her anyway
when Artemis then found out of Alpheus' plan she covered her face in mud when our face
When Alpheus came to collect his new bride he walked right past Artemis because he didn't recognise her
Artemis was then able to escape unharmed while still giving herself one of those fancy mud facials at the same time
so what does all of this have to do with the story of Artemis and Orion?
It helps us to paint a picture because we don't know a whole lot about Orion in terms of personality
if Artemis rejected the advances of all
other men but then suddenly opens up and
falls in love and we get the idea that Orion was different or special in some way
As for Orion's backstory he's always
described as an extremely handsome giant hunter
His birth is definitely one of
the weirdest stories in Greek mythology
some accounts simply state that he was the son of Poseidon and Euryale the wife of King Minos
Some Others say that he was born from a patch of earth covered by the hide of a bull
Several gods would come across this particular patch of land and then urinate on the hide
from which then sprang forward Orion
Like a giant man plant which had just been watered with divine pee
In Orion's early life he fell in love with the princess Merope
But father disapproved of their union so
much that he had Orion blinded.
His vision would eventually be restored by
the healing rays of Helios the Sun
Now finally getting the message that the
king did not want him around
Orion would travel to the island of
Crete where he would eventually meet Artemis
We've now reached the part of
their encounter that I guess we can
consider the crossroads that lead down
the numerous paths and variations of the story
For example there is one story where Orion meets Artemis and just immediately forces himself upon her
Which needless to say resulted in him dying quite quickly
So this path is somewhat of a dead end in terms of a love story
This initial encounter in Crete would have been where a Orion tried to impress Artemis
and with them both being hunters it's likely that some kind
of hunt or a shared interest in the wild
and nature would have been where they first established a connection
How long this connection lasted again varies depending on which path we take
There was a story where the two fell madly in love
and would then hunt together
continuously trying to outdo each other
That is until Orion made the mistake of telling Artemis and her mother that he could slay anything that came from the earth
This only served to anger Gaia who considered all living things on earth to be her children
and so she took Orion's boasting as a threat
as you would expect from any mother who thought her children were in danger Gaia attempted to protect them
she summoned a giant scorpion which Artemis and Orion would have to fight together
Orion would sadly be killed during this battle
whether it came from the scorpion's sting or Artemis's accidental arrow the love story ends here
at the request of Artemis the fallen
hunter would be placed in the sky as the
constellation Orion and the Scorpion as Scorpio
Now at this point in time some of you may be thinking this isn't much of a love story this just sounds like the many deaths of Orion
and I guess that in itself is a testament to the difficulties that Artemis faced in the love department
So let's continue on to the part of the story where Artemis and Orion defeat the giant scorpion
and go on to live a long happy and peaceful life together
except that never happened
their relationship was never really left uninterrupted
If Orion wasn't being killed by Artemis or a giant scorpion then it would be Artemis' twin
brother Apollo who ensured that the two
would never be together
it's not easy to pinpoint the exact reason for Apollo's actions but jealousy and a dislike for giants may have something to do with it
Apollo could have been jealous for numerous reasons
One of them being the fact that he and his twin sister were very close
very close they grew up shunned and isolated by the rest of the gods
and together they battled and earned the respect and position they believed they deserved
There's no doubt that they were much stronger and a force to be reckoned with when they were together
With Orion now in the picture Apollo would have been shoved to one side and their time
together would have been limited
arguably making Apollo a weaker
he also may not have liked the fact that Artemis was willing to give up the vows that she had taken
especially for a giant
it's no secret that Zeus and several other deities weren't a huge fan of the Giants
and the Apollo sharing his father's disdain is quite possible
there is also of course the idea that Apollo wanted a romantic relationship of Artemis
and that is why he devised the plan to remove Orion from the equation
one day Apollo came across a Ryan when he was bathing in a lake
when standing the giant was submerged to the point where only his head was visible
Apollo approached Artemis and challenged her to a competition to determine who was superior with the bow
when she asked her brother what exactly she would be aiming at he pointed across the lake at what seemed like a rock
she accepted her brothers challenge
pulling back her bow firing and hitting the target
Apollo was then overcome with joy which was quite weird for someone who had just lost
As Artemis drew closer to see exactly she had hit she realised that it was Orion in the lake
It was Orion's head that she had hit and it was her lover Orion who was now dead
Orion would once again become a
constellation along with his pack of hunting hounds
In one story Apollo instead pointed to Orion's head which bobbled in the lake
and told Artemis it was the man responsible for attacking one of her followers
and so Artemis wanting vengeance did not examine the situation she just took aim and fired
there is a variant of this story where Artemis enlists the help of the healer god Asclepius
who brings Orion back from their dead
unfortunately shortly after he was struck down by Zeus
who then reminds Asclepius that he must be careful who he brings back from the dead
because it blurs the lines between the dead and the living
the story of Artemis and Orion is rather odd
not in terms of the story itself but in how many variations there are which all end with the same outcome
regardless of what story you read there are none where Artemis and Orion just live a happy life together
they all end with the death of Orion
the only variables that really change in this story are how we get to Orion's death and who is responsible
there are however some meanings or lessons that we can take from this story
one of those being the importance of remaining level-headed and making rational informed decisions
we see this with Orion when he makes the bold claim that he can kill everything on the earth
which at the time may have sounded like a way to impress Artemis and her mother
but it also angered Gaia and set in motion a series of events that would lead to him being killed
this can also be applied to Artemis when she fired the arrow that killed Orion
whether it was the pride of being better
than her brother or the need for revenge
she could have approached a situation in
a far more rational and methodical manner
examining her surroundings and making sure she knew what or in this case whom she was firing at
with that being said emotions such as love do make it difficult for us to remain rational
one idea that always stood out to me in terms of this particular story
is the idea that sometimes some things in life are just not meant to be
and given the numerous versions of this story that all end in heartbreak or tragedy
I get the feeling that Artemis and Orion are just one of those many things
I don't know where this story may rank for you in terms of Greek mythology's best love stories
because it's kind of a love story that comes to an end before it really began
so do let me know what your favourites are in the comments below
as always I've been your host
mythology and fiction explained
wishing you all a happy a Valentine's Day than Artemis
