Handmaidens of Artemis?

Author(s): Jennifer Larson

Source: The Classical Journal, Vol. 92, No. 3 (Feb. - Mar., 1997), pp. 249-257
Published by: The Classical Association of the Middle West and South
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3298110 .
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 HANDMAIDENS OF ARTEMIS?

j raditionally we picture the nymphs as a band of lovely demi-

goddesses who surround Artemis. This familiar image
owes much to the famous simile at Od. 6.102-109 comparing
Nausicai and her companions to Artemis and the nymphs. Artemis
is hunting on Mt. Taygetos or Erymanthos, and about her the nymphs
dance (oaicou~t), and Leto is glad at heart because Artemis stands
out as the most beautiful of all. As Burkert says, the Artemis simile
"became the definitive picture of the goddess: Artemis with her
swarms of nymphs, hunting, dancing, and playing on mountains
and meadows."' Apollonius of Rhodes used a similar comparison
with Artemis and her nymphs to describe the beauty of Medea
going to meet Jason, and Vergil that of Dido about to meet Aeneas.2
Yet this "definitive" image of Artemis belongs almost exclusively
to epic, and outside of Homer the association of Artemis and the
nymphs is surprisingly limited in Greek literature before the Helle-
nistic period. In Hesiod, the Homeric Hymns, Pindar, Bacchylides,
and the extant lyric poets both Artemis and the nymphs are men-
tioned frequently, but not in the same breath. Instead we find the
nymphs linked with Dionysus, Aphrodite, Hermes, and Pan.3 The

1W. Burkert,GreekReligion(Cambridge, MA 1985) 150, henceforth GR.

2Apollonius Arg.3.882;VirgilAen. 1.499.Forother epic associations of Artemis
with the nymphs see Arg. 1.1222(nymphs dance and sing at night to honor Artemis)
and Aen. 11.532 (Diana tells the nymph Opis to avenge Camilla). Artemis and a
chorus of (mortal) maidens also appear at II. 16.179, where Polymela attracts the
amorous attentions of Hermes.
This paper reaches some general conclusions about nymphs in ancient Greek
culture, clearly a very broad subject. How can we be certain that the authors
discussed here, from disparate places and times, mean the same thing by "nymph"?
While I make no claim that the present discussion covers all possible aspects of the
term, yet I would argue that "the nymph" is a remarkablystable presence through-
out antiquity. The same conservatism regarding nymphs and their attributescan be
seen in the epic similes cited here, epigrams of varied date in the Greek Anthology,
in cave shrines used over centuries, and so on.
3 In extant lyric poetry the main association of the nymphs seems to be with
Dionysus and Aphrodite or Eros:Anacreon 357, Alcman 63, Pratinas708, Sappho 5
on Cypris and the Nereids (all lyric citations are from D. A. Campbell, ed., Greek

TheClassicalJournal92.3 (1997) 249-257

250 JENNIFERLARSON

Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite yields one exception, when the goddess

claims to have been abducted by Hermes from a chorus where
Artemis was dancing with "nymphs and marriageable maidens"
(117-25). This motif appears to be borrowed from the Iliadic de-
scription of Polymela's abduction from an Artemisian chorus by
Hermes (11.16.179 ff.). The sole example in tragedy is Soph. Trach.
215 ff., where the chorus sings a joyous song praising Artemis
Ortygia and her neighbor-nymphs; clearly the l in tragedy is
the human bride rather than her vigqq
divine
primarily counterpart.4
The Hellenistic and Roman picture of Artemis with her band
introduces the idea that the nymphs are the maidservants of Artemis
performing various menial tasks: In Callimachus' Hymn to Artemis,
the goddess chooses nymphs to care for her boots and dogs like a
Hellenistic matron selecting suitable help (da(pt6X•oun;v1Uppa;,15),
and the parents Ocean and Tethys and the Cretan rivers Amnisus
and Caeratus seem glad that their daughters have secured such
good employment (13-15, 44). Similarly, in Ovid's version of the
Actaeon myth Diana has nymphs with the special tasks of caring

Lyric[Cambridge,MA 1990-93]).This may be due to the fragmentarynature of lyric;

Philostratus and Menander Rh. mention hymns to Artemis by Sappho which
conceivably could have linked her with nymphs (SapphoT21,T47).But in Anacreon
348 and Sappho 44A, no nymphs are mentioned where we might reasonably expect
them. For Dionysus and the nymphs see: T. Carpenter,DionysianImageryin Archaic
Art (Oxford 1986) 79-85; G. Hedreen, "Silens, Nymphs and Maenads," JHS CXIV
(1994) 47-69. On Sappho and the nymphs see J. Winkler "Gardensof the Nymphs:
Public and Private in Sappho's Lyrics,"in Helene P. Foley, ed., Reflectionsof Women
in Antiquity(New York 1981) 63-89.
The nymphs are associated with Hermes at Hom. Hymn5.262;satyrs and silens
at Hom Hymn5.261, Hes. fr. 123 M.-W;Pan at Hom. Hymn19.3; and with Aphrodite
in the Cypria: see M. Davies Epicorum Graecorum Fragmenta (G6ttingen 1988) 37.
Artemis and Athena appearamong the Oceanid companions of Persephone in Hom.
Hymn 2. 424.
4For the as bride in tragedy:Eur.Med.150, 163, 555-56, 785, etc.; Heracl.
vi0(tpi
476, 481, 801; Helen 725; Orestes1147, 1638;Soph. Ant. 795; etc. The fact that in the
passage from the Trachiniaethe nymphs are called neighbors (yEicovES) suggests that
their cult is spatially contiguous with that of Artemis but not integrated with it.
Tragedy reflects cult practiceby associating the nymphs with Pan (Eur.Bacch.951-
52, Helen185-90, Soph. OT1099-1109),with river gods (Eur.Helen1, Heracl.785-87,
[Eur.]Rhes.915-25, Soph. Philoc.723, Aesch. fr. 168 Radt), and with Dionysus (Eur.
Bacch.519-21, Cycl. 3-4, 68, 429-30, Soph. OC 680, OT 1099-1109). Or they are
mentioned independently of other gods, in their natural contexts of mountains
(Eur.Helen1323-24) and springs (Eur.IA 1292-98, Soph. Philoc.1453-54). The same
applies to mentions of nymphs in comedy: Arist. Peace1070-72 (the prophet Bacis),
Clouds271 (Ocean),Thesm.324-25 (catalogueof gods; mountains),990-93 (Dionysus),
977-78 (Hermes Nomius and Pan);Frogs1344,Birds1097-98;MenanderDysc. 37, 51,
etc. (Pan).
 HANDMAIDENSOF ARTEMIS? 251

for her armor, disrobing her, dressing her hair, and fetching water
for the bath (Met. 3.165-72).5 This notion of the nymphs as maid-
servants also seems to derive ultimately from the Odyssean simile,
though it recalls the description of Nausicaa and her handmaidens
more than that of Artemis and her chorus.
While the association of Artemis and the nymphs is surpris-
ingly limited in early Greek poetry, in the sphere of cult it is even
more so. In spite of the fact that Artemis is regularly associated with
woods, lakes, trees, and so on, nymphs are not a part of the
widespread cults of Artemis Agrotera or Limnaea, or any other
Artemis cults with a few exceptions to which I shall return. Our
sources mention numerous sacrifices to Artemis, but the nymphs
are never included in these. Nor is Artemis present in nymph cults.
Greek inscriptions to Artemis and the nymphs together are ex-
tremely rare; the few examples I know of list Artemis and the
nymphs among other deities, and not contiguously, so that no
special relationship can be inferred. The hundreds of votive reliefs
dedicated specifically to the nymphs do not depict them with
Artemis but with Hermes, Pan, and Acheloiis.6 Dedicatory and

5 Ovid's inclusion of attendant nymphs in his versions of the Callisto and

Actaeon myths may be a decorative elaboration based on the epic tradition of
Artemis' chorus; it is unclear whether a swarm of nymphs was present in earlier
versions of these myths. Hesiod made Callisto one of the nymphs according to
Apollodorus, but according to Ps. Eratosthenesa daughter of Lycaon;see M. L.West
TheHesiodicCatalogueof Women(Oxford 1985) 92. Still other versions make her a
daughter of Nycteus or Ceteus. For the sources see T. Gantz, EarlyGreekMyth:A
GuidetoLiteraryandArtisticSources(Baltimore-London1993)725-29. Upon Callisto's
tomb in Arcadia sat a iep6v of Artemis (Paus. 8.35.8), but the tomb shows that the
Arcadians thought of Callisto as a heroine ratherthan a nymph. See J. Larson,Greek
HeroineCults (Madison 1994) 155.
On Actaeon see Gantz478-81. Aeschylus' Toxotidesdealt with Actaeon's death,
so the chorus could have been the hunting companions of Artemis. Artemis hunts
alone in Hom. Hymn27, then goes to Delphi to dance with the Muses and Graces.For
Actaeon in vase paintings see now L. R.Lacy, "Aktaionand a lost 'Bathof Artemis',"
JHS 110 (1990) 26-42. Lacy cites two Italian vases showing the death of Actaeon at
the spring of Gargathia, with a personifying nymph present. Such depiction of
Artemis with a nymph is very rare;see LIMCs.v. Artemis.
6 The Xenocrateiarelief, ca. 400, from Phaleron in Attica (IGII/III23. 4547) has
a long list of gods concerned with birth and childcare, among whom are Apollo
Pythius, Leto, Artemis Lochia, river deities, and the yepatiaoatv•<pat yevOXktat. On
the Echelos relief is another group of figures thought to include both Artemis and a
group of three nymphs. The dedication, however, reads "To Hermes and the
Nymphs." For bibliography on these reliefs and the standard type of nymph relief
showing the nymphs and Hermes, see C. M. Edwards GreekVotiveReliefsto Panand
theNymphs(diss. New YorkUniversity 1985)310-38 (Xenocrateia);339-69 (Echelos).
252 JENNIFERLARSON

other kinds of epigrams mentioning the nymphs are plentiful in the

Palatine Anthology, those mentioning Artemis somewhat less so,
but they are never mentioned together.7 Again, in the most promi-
nent cult sites of the nymphs, the caves of Parnes and Vari in Attica,
the Corycian cave at Delphi and so on, we find no links to Artemis.8
Instead, the nymphs are honored independently, or they have
various male companions, especially Hermes or Pan, but also Apollo,
Achelous, and others. This is what I call the Hermetic model of the
nymphs, as opposed to the Artemisian model. The Hermetic model,
based on the role of the nymphs in pastoral and rural life, also has its
Homeric prototype in the Odyssey. At Od. 14.435, Eumaeus sets
aside cooked portions of a sacrificed pig for Hermes and the nymphs.9
Nymphs appear independently in a cultic context in Od. 17.210-11
& 240-45, where they have an altar beside a fountain, and in Book 13
(347-36), where sacrifices in the cave at Ithaca are mentioned. Thus
both views of the nymphs were well established in the time of Homer.
The word vigCTtpencompasses two seemingly disparate mean-
ings that correspond to the distinction I have drawn.10 It can refer to
the Greek maiden as a potential or actual bride and by implication
to her divine counterpart in the chorus of Artemis, or it can refer to
the local deity who presides over the spring and woodland." Of
course it is neither possible nor desirable to keep these two concep-
tions of the nymph completely separate. For one thing Artemis and
the Hermetic or cultic nymphs have much in common. Both are
invoked, though not together, to aid childbirth, and the cultic

7 The nymphs are usually addressed

as spring deities (AP 6.43, 6.189, 7.170,
9.142, 9.326, 9.327-29) and are associated with Pan (9.142, 9.330, 9.823), Pan and
Dionysus (6.154, cf. 6.158), or Pan and Hermes (6.253, 6.334). Epigrams to Artemis
deal with the hunt (6.266-69), childbirth (6.271-73), maidenhood (6.276, 77, 80), etc.
8 For a list of nymph caves and their contents see P. Amandry "Le culte des

nymphes et de Pan a l'antre corycien," BCH Suppl. IX (1984) 395-425. For the
excavation of Vari see C. W. Weller et al., AJA 7 (1903) 263-349; for Parnes see K.
Rhomaios, Arch. Eph. (1905) 99-158; (1906) 89-116.
9 See E. Kadletz, "The Sacrifice of Eumaios the Pig Herder," GRBS 25 (1984)
99-105; A. Petropolou, "The Sacrifice of Eumaios Reconsidered," GRBS 28 (1987)
135-49. I agree with Petropolou that Eumaios offers "first fruits" to Hermes and the
nymphs from the animal slaughtered to feed an honored guest, rather than a
sacrifice in the usual sense.
10Chantraine DE s.v. Burkert GR 151; K. Dowden, Death and the Maiden:
vp'4upTL;
Girls' Initiation Rites in GreekMythology (London-New York 1989) 105.
" Certain shrines seem to use the word numphe primarily in its meaning of
bride or young woman; e.g. the shrine of in Athens, a temple called No?ptCov
on the road from Sicyon to Phlius, whereN4•jwpr
women held a festival separately from
men (Paus. 2.11.3). It would not be surprising if "Nymphe" became a cult figure as
 HANDMAIDENSOF ARTEMIS? 253

nymphs may play a role just as Artemis does in the rites of passage
to adulthood, especially the ceremonies before a wedding. And
indeed, the woodland nymph worshiped by the shepherd has some
of the same combination of forbidden sexual allure, innocence, and
capricious cruelty that we see in Artemis.12 Artemis is in fact a sort
of uibernymph, and may have begun as a local nymph who became
differentiated from the rest, just as she stands out from her compan-
ions in the Homeric simile.13
In Artemis' own cults she is linked unambiguously to the
nymphs only at Caryae in Lacedaemonia, and Letrini near Elis.14
Pausanias (3.10.7) describes a sanctuary of Artemis in Caryae, a
region which he says is sacred to Artemis and the nymphs. An
image of Artemis Caryatis, Artemis of the nut-tree, stands there, and
every year the Lacedaemonian girls perform special dances in her
honor. These of course are the famous Caryatids for whom the
maiden-shaped columns on the Erechtheum porch were named.15
At Letrini, Artemis Alpheaea was honored with a statue and temple
(Paus. 6.22.9). According to the cult legend, the river Alpheus fell
in love with Artemis and plotted to rape her. Artemis was hold-
ing a ayvvuXi;, a night festival, with the nymphs "who were her

personification of the bride, separate from, yet related to, the more familiar nymph
cults. The law code of Cyrene specifies that brides must make visits to a "bride-
room" or nymphaeon in the precinct of Artemis: R. Parker,Miasma:Pollutionand
Purification in Early Greek Religion (Oxford 1983) 345.
12On sexual encounters with nymphs see A. S. F. Gow, Theocritus(Cambridge
1952) 2.1-2, 23 (Daphnis, Rhoecus), 231-32, 240 (Hylas); Paus. 7.23.1; for modern
examples see C. Stewart, Demons and the Devil: Moral Imagination in Modern Greek
Culture(Princeton 1991) 4-5, 106 (making love with a nereida brings death).
13M. Nilsson, Geschichte der griechischen Religion I3 (Munich 1967) 499; hence-
forth GGR3. Against this is her seeming origin in Asia Minor and kinship with
Eastern mother goddess-types such as Cybele: BurkertGR 149.
14 These are the only two examples adduced by Nilsson, GGR3499. Other
possible but ambiguous cult links between Artemis and the nymphs: Strabo8.13.12
mentions the many Artemisia, Aphrodisia, and nymphaea in the countryside at the
mouth of the Alpheus river; the Chesiad nymphs of Mt. Cercetes on Samos (Nik.
Alex. 151) are perhaps connected with Artemis Chesias (Call. Hymn 3.228). Both
Chesias (Schol. Call. loc. cit.) and Cercetes (Gow on Nik. loc. cit.) are mountains of
Samos. Finally, the Amnisus nymphs are mentioned in relation to Artemis by both
Callimachus (Hymn3.15) and Apollonius (Arg.3.877) but the connection with cult,
if any, is unclear.
15Other references to the Caryatids, none of which appear to add significantly
to our knowledge of the cult: Phot. Lex.101s.v. Kaptureta; Plut. Artox.18;Pliny NH
36.23.38; Lucian Salt. 10; Servius on Verg. Ecl. 8.29; Stat. Theb.4.225; Pollux 4.104;
Athenaeus 10.392 f.
254 JENNIFERLARSON

playmates" (the word again is ictaio, denoting dance).16 But when

Alpheus attacked, Artemis had smeared with mud all their faces
so that Alpheus could not distinguish her from the others. It is
generally agreed that this episode represents some type of initia-
tion ritual in which the participants smear their faces with mud.17
The idea that maidens dancing in a chorus exert a strong sexual
attraction, often culminating in rape, is a common one.18 These two
examples of Artemis and the nymphs as cult partners are the only
clear-cut ones I know of, and in both cases it is clear that the primary
expression of their link is the choral dance, not a sacrifice, a dedica-
tory relief nor even a shared temenos.19
The nymphs have two functions in relation to Artemis. First,
they serve as a divine escort of the type that many other deities such

16Cf. the night dances of the nymphs in honor of Artemis at Apollonius Arg.
1.1222-29.
17On Artemis and Alpheus see also Paus. 5.14.6, L. R. Farnell, Cults of the Greek
States (Oxford 1896) 2.428, 558, henceforth CGS; Telesilla fr. 717 Page. A similar
story at Ortygia (Syracuse) dealt with the spring nymph Arethusa's pursuit by
Alpheus, and seems to have been transplanted from Elis; see Pindar Nem. 1.2;
Pyth. 2.6. On the connection with ritual, see CGS 2.428; W. Burkert Homo Necans
(Berkeley-Los Angeles-London 1983) 170 with notes and Dowden (n. 10 above)
102-105. Artemis and Alpheus shared an altar at Olympia (Paus. 5.14.6, Schol. Pind.
01. 5.8) but the nymphs were not included in the sacrifice.
is Polymela attracts the attentions of Hermes while dancing in Artemis' chorus,
II. 16.179-86; Helen and her chorus by the Eurotas river, Theoc. 18.22 with schol; C.
Calame, Les choeurs de jeunesfilles en Gracearchaique (Rome 1977) 335-67; Plut. Thes.
31 (in one of his three accounts Helen is stolen from the sanctuary of Artemis Orthea
while dancing with other maidens), Hyg. Fab. 79, Arist. Lys. 1315; Aphrodite's story
of abduction by Hermes in Hom. Hymn 5.92-106; Persephone stolen from chorus of
maidens, Hom. Hymn 2.417, Eur. Helen 1310; rape of the maidens at Caryae, Paus.
4.16.9; rape of Leucippides from a sanctuary of Artemis on a vase by the Meidias
painter (ARV 2 1313); see Burkert GR 150 n. 16. C. Sourvinou-Inwood's studies of
vase iconography conclude that many scenes of amorous pursuit are set in a
sanctuary of Artemis: "Erotic pursuits: Images and Meanings," JHS 107 (1987) 131-
53. See also Calame 176-77; 189-90; S. Lonsdale Dance and Ritual Play in Greek
Religion (Baltimore-London 1993) 222-33.
19Pausanias (3.10.7) does not speak of a hieron or temenos but calls Caryae a
chorion of Artemis and the nymphs. Artemis on the hunt accompanied by nymphs
has associations similar to those of Artemis with her chorus, since the hunt belongs
to the subadult, the sexually pure Hippolytus type whether male or female; see P.
Vidal-Naquet, The Black Hunter: Forms of Thought and Forms of Society in the Greek
World (Baltimore-London 1986) 118-20. This is implicit in the simile at Od. 6.102-
109; for the choral features of the simile see especially Lonsdale (n. 18 above) 208.
Though the subject of the simile is the hunt, the verb paizo, the element of competi-
tion in beauty and the proud mother looking on are more suggestive of a chorus
than a hunt.
 HANDMAIDENSOF ARTEMIS? 255

as Aphrodite, Apollo and Dionysus have.20 Second, as has been well

recognized by Calame and others, they, like Artemis herself, are
mythopoetic representatives of the Greek maiden at adolescence.
Artemis has a special relationship with her chorus: She herself is
one of the chorus members, the most beautiful and outstanding, the
one who leads the dance. As Burkert notes, her virginity is not
asexual like that of Athena, but is highly sexualized, just like that of
the Greek maiden of marriageable age.21 Nymphs in their relations
with Artemis are not themselves objects of cult, nor do they give or
withhold blessings, but they are representative of the social rituals
by which females come of age and take their place in society.22
By contrast, the "Hermetic" nymphs as cult objects belong to a
different though overlapping sphere, not one of social interaction
but one of isolation in a landscape only partially tamed. Here we
find the nymphs as deities in their own right, tied to natural features
such as springs or trees, who receive offerings from shepherds and
wayfarers and provide many blessings in return. Unlike the nymphs
of Artemis, the Hermetic nymphs have highly developed conven-
tions of cult: Their sacred spots are usually located in caves, they
receive a variety of humble offerings from passersby, they often
receive wineless libations, and so on.23 Again unlike the chorus of
Artemis, who attempt to preserve sexual purity, these nymphs are
likely to engage in sexual sport with Hermes, Pan, the Silens or even
a bemused shepherd.24 In connection with the chaste Artemisian
nymphs, Hermes is an outsider who resorts to abduction, but for the
Hermetic nymphs he is a welcome sexual partner and fellow revel-
ler. He himself leads the dance on most nymph reliefs,25 and he

20Burkert GR 173.
21Burkert GR 150: "for the virginity of Artemis is not asexuality as is Athena's
practical and organizational intelligence, but a peculiarly erotic and challenging
ideal."
22Calame (n. 18 above) loc. cit.; Dowden (n. 10 above) 62, 102-105, etc. On the
indispensable role of dance in courtship see Lonsdale (n. 18 above) 206-233; Burkert
GR 151; Plut. Mul. Virt. 254a; Plato Laws 771e-772a.
23 L. Preller, Griechische Mythologie Vol. 1 (Berlin 1894; repr. 1978) 718-25;
wineless libations for nymphs at Olympia, Paus. 5.15.10; in Attica, Schol. Soph. OC
100.
24Hom. Hymn 5.92-106, 261-63 (Hermes and silens); herdsmen (II. 6.21, 14.445;
Call. Epigr. 22 Pf. on Astacides; Diod. Sic. 4.84.2, Parthen. 29, Theoc. Id. 1 on
Daphnis; Paus. 7.23.1 on Selemnus, 10.12.7 on Theodorus). For rape of a nymph by
Pan see Eur. Helen 185-90.
25The introduction of a male leader may also imply a type of dance different
from that of the decorous maiden chorus. In many modern Greek dances a youth
256 JENNIFERLARSON

shares with these nymphs the concerns of pastoral deities (from

which Artemis is for the most part excluded). Dancing is a major
activity for both kinds of nymphs, but the dance has a different
significance in each case. When Artemis is present, the dance takes
on special associations of courtship, sexual initiation, and the ten-
sions between the requirement of maidenly chastity and the force of
male desire-hence the constant theme of threatened rape and
abduction. Artemis' nymphs are bound to chastity by the same
conventions which expect the dance to be, for their human coun-
terparts, a stage of courtship and to lead ultimately to socially
approved marriage and motherhood. The Hermetic nymphs on the
other hand are fantasy figures who enjoy physical and sexual
freedom without the constraints of husband or children; their dance
is symbolic of the blessed state they enjoy: near-eternal youth,
freedom and beauty.26
The existence and importance of the nymphs, independently
and in connection with various gods, is expressed through four
basic means: poetic narrative, the institution of choruses, votive
and sacrificial offerings, and the sharing of sacred space. Why, then,
are Artemis and the nymphs linked primarily in the first two
(narrative and dance), and not in the second two of these categories
(offerings and sacred space)? Part of the answer may lie in the early
development of sacred space, because Artemis was one of the
principal temple deities. Those who had cult images from early
times, as Artemis did, also had temples to house them, as opposed
to simple sanctuaries.27 Artemis, of all the gods, was second only to
Apollo in the number of her shrines and temples throughout the
Greek world.28 The significance of temples in the religious life of the
polis tended to draw the worship of Artemis into the city sphere, a
somewhat paradoxical development in view of her traditional asso-
ciations with the wild. This conflict is illustrated as early as the
Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite, which states that Artemis not only

leads a line of maidens and executes athletic steps in sharp contrast to their more
subdued movements. L. Lawler illustrates such dance from an Italian tomb painting
ca. 400 B.C.:The Dance in Ancient Greece (1964; repr. Seattle-London 1967) 118.
26For the dance as a symbol of the blessedness of the gods see Lonsdale (n. 18
above) 48-70. Nymphs dance beside the waters of Achelous, II. 24.616; dance floor
of the nymphs in their cave, Od. 12. 318; Pan dances with the nymphs, PMG 936
(Epidauros); Terracotta ring dance with Pan, A. Pasquier, "Pan et les nymphes a
l'antre corycien," BCH Supp. 4 (1977) 365-87.
27Burkert GR 88-89.
28G. B. Hussey, "The Distribution of Hellenic Temples," AJA 6 (1890) 59-64.
 HANDMAIDENSOFARTEMIS? 257

liked hunting but the "cities of just men." Similarly, in Callimachus'

Hymn to Artemis we find the young goddess stating that she will
only visit cities when women in labor cry out for help, but the
indulgent father Zeus later promises that thrice ten cities will be
named for her and many others both inland and on the islands will
honor her (19-22, 36-39). Later in the poem she is apostrophized as
"lady of many shrines and many cities."29 The cults of nymphs have
no necessary association with cities, but are tied closely to a particu-
lar natural feature-whether spring, cave or mountain-that makes
their location arbitrary and tends to favor rural sites.30 Cave and
spring are closely related geologically as well as in cult. Thus a
cultic separation of Artemis and the nymphs was inevitable from
early times. Hermes, it should be noted, was one of the gods least
often honored with a temple, coming sixteenth in frequency after
Ilithyia and the Dioscuri.31 Instead he had a rustic monument: a pile
of stones amassed by travelers, and eventually the outdoor herm of
the classical period.
The Artemisian nymphs, then, can be seen as a subgroup
whose function is to act as a mythic paradigm of the community's
marriageable girls. This affects their cultural manifestation, since
unlike other nymphs they are sexually chaste, and as mythic coun-
terparts of Artemis' worshipers they do not themselves receive
offerings or confer blessings, as nymphs do in other contexts. The
Artemisian nymphs had their origin in the institution of maiden
choruses to the goddess, which were imaginatively transformed
to a divine chorus in epic. The image of Artemis surrounded by
nymphs, though not traditional in cult or in other literary genres,
was disseminated through the authority of epic to become defini-
tive in the Hellenistic and Roman periods.
JENNIFERLARSON
KentState University

29Cf. Menander Rh. (Sappho T47): "The poets summon Artemis from many
mountains and cities, from rivers too ...." For the cult titles of Artemis that pertain
to the city (Boulaia, Boulephoros, Aristoboule, Agoraia, etc.) see T. W. Allen, W. R.
Halliday and E. E. Sikes, The Homeric Hymns (Oxford 1936; repr. Amsterdam 1980)
354 n. 20; CGS II 581-87.
30 Some individual nymphs, however, became symbolic of cities and were
represented on coins, Arethusa being the most familiar example. B. V. Head,
Historia Numorum (1911, repr. Chica o 1961) 117.
31 On Hermes see Nilsson GGR
1.501-510; Burkert GR 156; Antikleides FGrH
140 F 19.