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The goddess Diana was daughter of Jupiter and Latona, and twin sister to Apollo. In heaven she bore another name, and conducted the chariot of the Moon, while on earth she presided over the chase, was the peculiar deity of hunters, and called Diana. In Hell she is named Hecate and revered by magicians.

—————"Hecate, loved by Jove,

And honour'd by the inhabitants above,

Profusely gifted from the almighty hand,

With power extensive o'er the sea and land;

And great the honour, she, by Jove's high leave,

Does from the starry vault of heaven receive.

When to the gods the sacred flames aspire,

Does from the starry vault of heaven receive.

From human offerings, as the laws require,

To Hecate the vows are first prefer'd;

Happy of men whose prayers are kindly heard,

Success attends his every act below,

Honour, wealth, power, to him abundant flow."

Hesiod.

She was also the Goddess of chastity, and it was in this character that her vengeance fell so heavily on Actæon, who following the chase one day with all the ardour of his profession, unhappily came suddenly on the retired spot, in which the pure Diana, with her nymphs, was enjoying, in the heat of the summer's day, the luxury of bathing. Horrified by this violation, though unintentional, of her privacy, she changed him into a stag, and inspiring with madness the dogs that accompanied him to the chase, they turned upon their metamorphosed master, who, in horrible dread of the fate he had himself so often inflicted, fled rapidly from them. True to their breed, however, the dogs succeeded in running him down and devouring him.

Calista, nymph of Diana was seduced by Jupiter, who taking one of the innumerable shapes, which he is described as assuming when his passions were inflamed towards any particular nymph, introduced himself to her in the form of her mistress, and in this shape, what wonder that the nymph lost her virtue, or that the God was successful! Diana herself, however, took a very different view, and though Calista concealed the effects of her divine intrigue from her mistress for a long time, the latter noticed the alteration in her person when bathing in

"Such streams as Dian loves,

And Naiads of old frequented; when she tripped

Amidst her frolic nymphs, laughing, or when

Just risen from the bath, she fled in sport,

Round oaks and sparkling fountains,

Chased by the wanton Orcades."

Barry Cornwall.

To evince her detestation of the crime, her divine mistress changed her into a bear. This however was before

"The veiled Dian lost her lonely sphere,

And her proud name of chaste, for him whose sleep

Drank in Elysium on the Latmos steep."

Bulwer.

In great horror at this transformation, Calista fled to the forests and brought forth a son, with whom she dwelt, until one day she was induced to enter a temple at Lycaen (where, with her son Arcas, she had been brought), and which it was not lawful to enter. The dwellers in the city, among whom was Arcas, enraged at the desecration, attacked her, and in all probability, she would have perished by the hands of her son, had not Jupiter snatched both to the sky, and placed them among the constellations, Calista being called "the Great Bear," and Arcas, "the Little Bear."

Æneas, king of Calydon, neglecting the worship of Diana, the Goddess revenged it by sending into his kingdom a monstrous wild boar; and to rid their country of its ravages, he caused the Greek princes to assemble to the chase. Atalanta, daughter of the king of Arcadia, wounded him first, but she would have fallen beneath the fury of its revenge, had it not been for Meleager, son of Æneas, who slew the boar. A quarrel having arisen for the possession of the head of this monster, Meleager killed his brothers. Indignant at this crime, the wife of Æneas threw into the flames a brand which bore with it the life of Meleager; a fire immediately spread itself through the vitals of the prince, and he expired in the midst of torments, the most cruel and excruciating, and his mother, stricken with despair at the sight of them, destroyed herself, and the sisters of the unhappy victim were changed into fowls.

Diana is usually represented in the costume of a huntress, with a quiver on her shoulder, and a bow in her hand; her dress is lifted, and her dog is always by her side ready for his prey. Her hair is banded over her brow, while sometimes a crescent is painted on her head, of which the points are turned towards Heaven. Sometimes she is seen in a chariot trained by stags, and in her hand is a torch which serves to frighten away the wild beasts.

The affection of this Goddess for Endymion—

—————————"Whom she,

The moonlit Dian on the Latmian hill,

When all the woods, and all the winds were still,

Kissed with the kiss of immortality"

Barry Cornwall.

has been the cause of many an ode, and many a touching story, and is perhaps, one of the most chaste, or at least most chastely told in Mythology:

"He was a poet, sure a lover too

Who stood on Latmos top, what time there blew

Soft breezes from the Myrtle vale below

And brought in faintness, solemn, sweet, and slow

A hymn from Dian's Temple; while up-swelling

The incense went to her own starry dwelling.

But though her face was clear as infant's eyes,

Though she stood smiling o'er the sacrifice,

The poet wept at her so piteous fate,

Wept that such beauty should be desolate:

So in fine wrath some golden sounds he won,

And gave meek Cynthia her Endymion."

Keats.

The beautiful Endymion, grandchild of Jupiter, having dared to offer his guilty love to Juno, he was condemned to live for ever in the infernal regions. However, smitten with his charms, as Diana saw him sleeping on the mountain of Latmos, she snatched him from the power of Pluto, and placed him in a grotto, where she came down from Heaven every night to enjoy his society.

—————"Crescented Dian, who

'Tis said once wandered from the wastes of blue,

And all for love; filling a shepherd's dreams

With beauty and delight. He slept, he slept,

And on his eyelids white, the huntress wept

Till morning, and looked thro', on nights like this

His lashes dark, and left her dewy kiss;

But never more upon the Latmos hill

May she descend to kiss that forest boy,

And give—receive, gentle and innocent joy

When clouds are distant far and winds are still:

Her bound is circumscribed, and curbed her will.

Those were immortal stories: are they gone?

The pale queen is dethroned—Endymion

Hath vanished—; and the worship of this earth

Is vowed to golden gods of vulgar birth!"

Barry Cornwall.

The fable of Endymion's amours with Diana, or the Moon, arises from his knowledge of astronomy: and as he passed the night on some high mountain, to observe the heavenly bodies, it has been reported that he was courted by the Moon.

————————"Oh! woodland Queen,

What smoothest air, thy smoother forehead woos?

Where dost thou listen to the wide halloos

Of thy departed nymphs? Through what dark tree

Glimmers thy crescent? Whatsoe'er it be

'Tis in the breath of Heaven: thou dost taste

Freedom, as none can taste it, nor dost waste

Thy loveliness in dismal elements.

But finding in our green earth sweet contents,

There livest blissfully."

Keats.

The mode of worship to Diana, differs in different nations. The most celebrated of her temples was that at Ephesus, which from its grandeur and magnificence has been placed among the seven wonders of the world, but was burned by Erostratus, the same day that Alexander the Great was born. This madman had no other end, than to render his name for ever notorious, and he succeeded, notwithstanding the Ephesians having decreed that his name should never be mentioned.

In one of the temples where Diana was worshipped, the presiding priest was always a slave who had slain his predecessor in office, and warned by the fate he had inflicted on others, he never went without a dagger, to protect himself from those who might be ambitious of his office, and reckless of his crime.

In another, she had an altar, whereon they immolated all those whom shipwreck had thrown on their inhospitable shores.

"Mother of light! how fairly dost thou go

Over those hoary crests, divinely led!

Art thou that huntress of the silver bow

Fabled of old?————————

* * * * * *

What art thou like? sometimes I see thee ride

A far bound galley on its perilous way,

Whilst breezy waves toss up their silvery spray—

Sometimes I watch thee on from steep to steep,

Timidly lighted by thy vestal torch,

Till in some Latmian cave I see thee creep

To catch the young Endymion asleep,

Leaving thy splendour at the jagged porch!

"Oh! thou art beautiful, however it be,

Huntress, or Dian, or whatever named,

And he the veriest Pagan, that first framed

A silver idol, and ne'er worshipped thee!

It is too late, or thou shouldst have my knee;

Too late now for the old Ephesian vows,

And not divine the crescent on thy brows:

Yet call thee nothing but the mere, mild moon,

Behind those chesnut boughs

Casting their dappled shadows at my feet;

I will be grateful for that simple boon

In many a thoughtful verse, and anthem sweet,

And bless thy dainty face whene'er we meet.

"So let it be: before I lived to sigh,

Thou wert in Avon, and a thousand rills,

Beautiful Dian! and so whene'er I lie

Trodden, thou wilt be gazing from thy hills.

Blest be thy loving light, where'er it spills,

And blessed thy fair face, O mother mild!

Still shine, the soul of rivers as they run,

Still lend thy lonely lamp, to lovers fond,

And blend their plighted shadows into one:

Still smile at even on the bedded child,

And close his eyelids with thy silver wand."

Hood.