Just Say No: The Heavenly Example of Artemis, Apollodorus Lib.1.4

Name: [Pseudo]Apollodorus Date:   1st – 2nd century CE Region:    Unknown Citation:    Library 1.4

One of the daughters of Coeus, Asteria, transformed herself into a quail and jumped into the sea in order to escape Jupiter’s assault, and so they named the city Asteria after her for it. Later the city was renamed Delos. When Jupiter raped Latona and Juno pursued her in vengeance, this is where Latona ended up giving birth to Artemis [Diana]. Artemis [Diana] then acted as a midwife to help her mother give birth to her twin brother Apollo. Because Artemis [Diana] loved hunting, she remained a virgin; but Apollo, learning the art of divination from Pan, and went to Delphi, where Themis was giving prophecies.




τῶν δὲ Κοίου θυγατέρων Ἀστερία μὲν ὁμοιωθεῖσα ὄρτυγι ἑαυτὴν εἰς θάλασσαν ἔρριψε, φεύγουσα τὴν πρὸς Δία συνουσίαν: καὶ πόλις ἀπ᾽ ἐκείνης Ἀστερία πρότερον κληθεῖσα, ὕστερον δὲ Δῆλος. Λητὼ δὲ συνελθοῦσα Διὶ κατὰ τὴν γῆν ἅπασαν ὑφ᾽ Ἥρας ἠλαύνετο, μέχρις εἰς Δῆλον ἐλθοῦσα γεννᾷ πρώτην Ἄρτεμιν, ὑφ᾽ ἧς μαιωθεῖσα ὕστερον Ἀπόλλωνα ἐγέννησεν.


Ἄρτεμις μὲν οὖν τὰ περὶ θήραν ἀσκήσασα παρθένος ἔμεινεν, Ἀπόλλων δὲ τὴν μαντικὴν μαθὼν παρὰ Πανὸς τοῦ Διὸς καὶ Ὕβρεως ἧκεν εἰς Δελφούς, χρησμῳδούσης τότε Θέμιδος:

Ceterum de Coei filiabus Asteria fugiens Iovis complexum in coturnicem mutata seipsam demisit in mare, quae ab ea urbs Asteria appellata fuit, quae postea Delos nomen accepit. Siquidem Latonam ab Iove compressam per universum terrarum orbem Juno insectata est, donec Delum pervenit, atque ibi Dianam prius peperit: qua obstetrice adiuta mater Apollinem deinceps edidit. Enimvero Diana venationis studio delectata, virgo permansit: Apollo autem divinandi facultatem edoctus a Pane Iovis & Contumeliae filio, Delphos, quo tempore Themis illic oracula dabat, se contulit.
Translated into Latin by Thomas Gale (1675)

Apollodorus [1st – 2nd century CE] is the name of the author of a famous collection of myths called the Bibliotheca / Library. Little is known about the author’s background or history.