Áine M. Playdon

The Buzz about Artemis Ephesia: An Investigation of Syncretism and Durability at Ephesus

The Temple of Artemis at Ephesus is one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. Although it no longer stands today, the temple was once larger than the Parthenon and stood over the city of Ephesus. The city, which is located just off the coast of the Aegean Sea in Turkey, had been inhabited since at least the Bronze Age by both Greek and non-Greek colonies. According to ancient authors, the Greek city was mythologically founded by Ephos, the queen of the Amazons. Again in myth, the city’s first Temple of Artemis was built by the Amazons, and the Artemis worshiped at this site, Artemis Ephesia, was a local form of the Greek goddess. She was heavily associated with fertility, and cult worship of Artemis Ephesia centered around a pre-Hellenic image of the goddess. Both the statues found at the site and the city’s ancient coinage showcase Artemis’ role as a fertility goddess in Ephesus, including heavy breast and bee imagery; Ephesus is the only site where Artemis is associated with bees. The goddess is a product of syncretism, an assimilation of local religion and state religion, and her flexibility and portability from this site allowed this site to flourish for centuries.

 
The Great Artemis from Ephesus, 1st century CE, Marble, Ephesus Museum, Selcuk Turkey
 

The Great Artemis from Ephesus is the epitome of Artemis Ephesia statues from Ephesus. In this style, Artemis is depicted as a mother goddess, the syncretic form of the Greek goddess Artemis and a few Anatolian goddesses. Her garments are split into registers that contain animals such as bees as stags and repeating tabs, which some scholars have interpreted as breasts. Statues in this style were widely disseminated throughout the ancient world; Artemis Ephesia’s divinity was portable.

Your Best American Girl, Video medium. Image: Mitski.

Forever the foreigner, the issues of social assimilation into mainstream white society results in an internalization of isolation and otherness- manifesting in the hinging of one's self worth and image onto the white man, as seen in the beginning of the video. Though women of color often attempt to mold themselves into this perfect image of the "American girl", they will forever be seen as the other, the foreigner, "them", not "us". One must pave their own "American Girl", rather than let it shape them.

The Beautiful Artemis from Ephesus, 2nd century CE, Marble, Ephesus Museum, Selcuk, Turkey
 

This silver coin, bearing the imagery of both a bee and a deer, is a symbol of the portability of Artemis of Ephesia. Her flexibility as a mother goddess, an assimilation of Artemis and the Anatolian goddesses, made her popular, and her popularity kept the site thriving throughout the centuries. Coins of the Ephesian mint, which contained animal imagery like the one above, or a stamp of the Great Statue itself, were distributed throughout the Greco-Roman world. Coins were minted with portraits of the emperors, like Hadrian, which indicates the importance, prevalence, and portability of Artemis Ephesia’s imagery.

 

The Beautiful Artemis from Ephesus is perhaps the most famous of Artemis Ephesia representations. Beautiful Artemis is flanked by two deer and her clothing is carved with animals and the zodiac, all symbols of her control over nature. As the great mother goddess, Artemis had a domain that stretched from the natural world to the cosmos.

 
Silver Coin (Mint: Ephesus), 394-387 BCE, Silver, Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Cornell University Library 
Statuette of Artemis Ephesia from Apulum, Date unknown, recovered in 2006, 15mm x 104mm, Bronze, National Museum of Union, Alba Iulia

This bronze statuette from Apulum is, like the coin bearing the symbols of Artemis Ephesia, proof of her importance in the Greco-Roman world and the ease with which she could be transported from culture to culture. Statues like this one have surfaced in many places; they bear the imagery of the Great Statue and the Beautiful Artemis, establishing an iconography for Artemis Ephesia. This small object is a strong piece of evidence supporting the important and prevalence of Artemis Ephesia. Truly, her endurance, her cult’s endurance, and the endurance of her site are products of her flexibility.

Áine M. Playdon

(she/her)
Art History & Classics ‘23

I am a junior studying Art History and Classics at Temple University, and I am interested in studying ancient art and culture. Most recently, I completed research on visual depictions of Atalanta, a mythological female athlete from Ancient Greece. My work on Atalanta was inspired by my own athletic career in rowing, which continues here on Temple’s Women’s Rowing team. The history of women’s sport is incredibly interesting, and I think visual representations of female athletes reveal a lot about how society functions. In my spare time, I enjoy spending time with my family, friends, and my dog, Lexi.