Places of the Myth of Artemis – Diana (Segesta)

The site is part of the Places of Myth and Legends - entered in the Register of the Sicily Region LIM (Places of the gods and minor divinities)

According to Greek mythology, Artemide, identified with Italian Diana of the Romans, is considered the daughter of Zeus and twin sister of Apollo. Like her brother, she is armed with a bow and loves hunting; however, while Apollo is seen as the personification of the sun, Artemis is seen as the personification of the moon, in fact, she is often represented with her inseparable bow while she goes hunting at night, by torchlight.

In her hunting trips she was often accompanied by beautiful nymphs, and woe to anyone who dared to attack their virtues: the hunter Orione he was, in fact, killed for having attempted to rape some of his escorts.

Segesta

In Segesta the cult of Artemis must have been particularly flourishing, as can be deduced from the reading of Cicero (Verrine II. IV. 72-80), who describes a bronze statue depicting Diana present in the city and its abduction by Verres, Roman governor of Sicily from 73 to 71 BC Cicero recounts that, among the Segestans, there was a bronze statue of Diana, "surrounded by a very particular veneration that dated back to very ancient times, moreover masterfully executed in a truly original style and with extraordinary skill ”.

Segesta was destroyed and sacked by the Carthaginians who took away the statue. After the capture of Carthage by Publius Scipio, during the Third Punic War, the statue was returned to the Segestans who rearranged it in the ancient site, on a pedestal on which the name of Publius Scipio was carved, in memory of the return of the statue .

“The statue was of considerable proportions and of considerable height, with a long cloak. And yet even in that majesty, the age and bearing of a virgin transpired. From her shoulder hung her arrows, in her left hand he held the bow, in her right hand he held out a burning torch ”.

Verre ordered the Segestani to remove the statue and deliver it to him; their refusal was punished with a series of oppressions which, in the end, forced the population of Segesta to submit to the will of Verre and approve a contract for the removal of the statue. However, no Segestan, free or slave, dared to touch the statue to remove it; to solve the problem, some non-Greek workers had to be called from Marsala who, amidst the pain and consternation of the Segestani, removed the statue.

“while Diana was being taken out of the city, all the women of Segesta, both married and single, ran over, sprinkled her with perfumed ointments, covered her with wreaths of flowers, escorted her to the borders of their territory by burning incense and fragrant essences".

To read the fact sheet relating to the myth, see Artemis (Diana)

Places reported on the IWB: 

• Ortigia (Syracuse) 
• Lipari (Aeolian Islands)

Other places affected by the Myth 

• Segesta
• Camarina
• Selinunte

To visualize the places of the Myth, including those included in the IWB, on the Interactive Map, see the following web page: The places of Artemis (Diana)

Card insertion: Ignazio Caloggero

Photo: Di Ludvig14 - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=88746902

Information contributions: Ignazio Caloggero, Region of Sicily