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Diana Nemorensis was the goddess of hunting, fertility, childbirth, and the moon

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The Cult of Diana at Nemi, Italy provided services, both spiritual and practical, to its practitioners.

Information, care, and support were provided along with religious guidance and the opportunity to ask for Diana’s aid more directly in her sanctuary.

The Cult of Diana at Nemi provided religious guidance and practical aid to men and women alike, and the support given to Diana’s practitioners increased their wellbeing significantly.

The deities that were worshipped by cults and religious groups across the Roman Empire were often created by merging Ancient Greek gods or goddesses with a deity local to the cult or religious group’s location.

The goddess worshiped by the Cult of Diana at Nemi in Italy, Diana Nemorensis, was one of these deities formed by blending a Greek goddess with a local deity.

Diana Nemorensis was a combination of the Greek goddess Artemis and the local Italian goddess of the woods.

The Sanctuary by Diana’s Mirror

Both men and women worshipped at the temple, and people of all social classes were able to worship and ask Diana for help.

Inscriptions and dedications found at the sanctuary suggest that there were many wealthy aristocrat patrons, as well as Roman emperors and their families (280 Green).

Despite the amount of wealthy patrons, people of any social class were welcome.

Green explains that although it was common for temples and sanctuaries to require a donation in the form of money or a votive, Diana’s sanctuary did not require it. “Yet Diana would have accepted even the poorest as a suppliant, without requiring pay.

Ovid says a much (and implies that this was unusual, and specific to Diana’s sanctuary)… ‘When the piper plays on his curved horn before the Mother of the gods, who denies him the coins of a small fee? We know nothing of the sort happens by the authority of Diana; yet her prophet has what he needs to live.’”

(Green 281) Despite the fact that votives and donations were not required to receive Diana’s help, worshippers who were able to provide something often did, leading to the cult itself not having trouble with finances.

The Cult of Diana’s place of worship was a temple about eleven miles outside of Rome on the shores of Lake Nemi, often known as speculum Dianae, or Diana’s mirror.

The lake is situated inside of a crater and is surrounded by forests.

The temple itself was built around 300 BCE, although the site had long been a place of worship before the temple was built.

It is estimated that the site on the shores of Diana’s mirror was an established place of worship since the archaic period, and some of the offerings found at the site are thought to date back to the early seventh century (10 Green).

Lake Nemi, or Diana’s mirror (left) and the ruins of the inner sanctum of the temple

Her influence extended over both male dominated and female dominated areas.

For example, Diana was the goddess of hunting despite the fact that hunting was not something that women were usually allowed to participate in.

On the other hand, Diana was also the goddess of childbirth, an activity that only women could participate in.

Although even goddesses were under the authority of a man, Jupiter in the case of Diana, they were given much more freedom in their actions and were more respected than a mortal Roman woman.

Coin depicting the bust of Diana Nemorensis on one side and the Triple Diana on the other.

https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/C_2002-0102-4701

One way that Diana was depicted was through the image of the Triple Diana. The Triple Diana, also known as Diana triformis, consists of Luna, Diana, and Hecate (134 Green).

Diana was the goddess of many things, and the Triple Diana is an idea that represents the various aspects of her.

Luna in the Triple Diana was the goddess Diana in her form as the goddess of the moon, the hunt, and childbirth.

This aspect of her was particularly important for women, especially because the mortality rates were high for women giving birth.

Additionally, the moon was considered to be symbolic of the cycle of life. Just as the moon waxes and wanes, life follows a similar pattern with “…birth, death, growth, and decline.”

(136 Green) This coin not only demonstrates the idea of a trinity in the Triple Diana, but it also shows how far reaching Diana was in the Roman pantheon.

Due to her relation to frequent and notable events in a person’s life, such as childbirth, her presence was valued enough to be included on money.

Although the Cult of Diana at Nemi focused on Diana specifically, many more people outside of the area surrounding the sanctuary and cult valued her and asked for her aid in many aspects of their life.

A common way for people to worship Diana was to offer her terracotta votives, or an offering for a specific vow, in the form of wombs and swaddled infants found at the sanctuary (137 Green).

One of Diana’s abilities as the goddess of childbirth was to aid women in giving birth.

These votives were given to Diana as a way for the practitioner to ask for her help in surviving childbirth and having a healthy baby.

These votives were often aligned with the intentions of the practitioner offering them.

For example, if a woman wanted help in childbirth giving a votive directly pertaining to childbirth such as a womb or baby would be the most fitting for the situation.

These votives demonstrate the practice of giving some kind of offering to Diana in exchange for her help.

Although an offering was not necessary for Diana to aid her worshipers, many practitioners did give gifts if they were able to.

The Rex Nemorensis

The members of the cult itself provided advice and care to the people who came to Diana for help.

An example of this is how priests would give advice to hunters and pregnant women about how to effectively hunt or give birth, respectively.

At the head of the cult was a man known as the Rex Nemorensis, or the king of the wood (11 Green).

The ritual of becoming the Rex Nemorensis was especially violent, involving a battle to the death between the current Rex Nemorensis and any man who wanted to challenge him.

In order to challenge the Rex Nemorensis there were a few requirements that had to be met. Firstly, the challenger had to be a fugitive slave.

Green presents a passage written by Strabo, a first-century BCE geographer, to describe the Rex Nemorensis.

“‘For a runaway slave is established as priest after he has slain with his own hand the man previously consecrated to the priesthood.

As a result, he is always armed with a sword, looking around for attacks, ready to defend himself.’”

(153 Green) The Rex Nemorensis was the only person allowed to carry weapons on sanctuary ground in order to be able to defend himself from wild animals or potential challengers.

If a challenger meets the requirement of being a fugitive slave, he then needs to take a piece of mistletoe growing on a sacred oak tree.

Only after this is he allowed to challenge the Rex Nemorensis to a duel to the death (163 Green).

While women were not given positions of power in the cult, they were able to make donations and appear on dedicatory inscriptions.

The names of wives of distinguished men and other distinguished women were found on these dedicatory inscriptions in the sanctuary (280 Green).

Despite the lack of women in power, the cult did provide services for women, specifically pregnant women and women trying to conceive.

Fertility and Childbirth

As Diana was the goddess of fertility and childbirth, many women visited the sanctuary to ask her to help them in conceiving or to aid them in childbirth.

Terracotta votives in the form of wombs and swaddled infants were discovered at the sanctuary, and it is believed these were given to Diana when asking for help with childbirth.

As childbirth often led to the death of the mother, Diana’s sanctuary was a place for women to go for advice and care regarding pregnancy. The sanctuary even gave advice on how to care for pregnant animals such as dogs and livestock (137 Green).

Information for pregnant women was incredibly valuable, especially because women of any social class could go to the sanctuary for help.

While a wealthy woman may have midwives and other people who specialized in childbirth available to give advice and guidance during childbirth, a poor woman may not have access to the same information or aid.

Additionally, while a wealthy woman might be able to hire servants to help her maintain the household while pregnant, a poor woman would not have access to the same resources and may not have the same opportunity to reduce daily stress.

Diana the Huntress

Sculpture depicting the head of Diana, found near Lake Nemi. https://www.cameraetrusca.com/temple-of-diana-nemi/

Additionally, a person might seek help from Diana in her form as a huntress.

This was not limited to hunting game, however, and also included following personal pursuits such as finding love or fulfilling career aspirations (122 Green).

Similar to the troubles concerning fertility and childbirth, the priests at the sanctuary also provided “…knowledge, skill, and tools to succeed in the hunt (whether for animals or other men).” (Green 125) This help would be incredibly valuable, especially because many peoples’ livelihoods and whether or not they would go hungry depended on how successfully they were able to hunt animals.

Diana provided protection for people from many different walks of life and for many different situations.

The priests at her sanctuary provided advice and help to the people seeking Diana’s help, leading to many people wanting to frequent the sanctuary and participate in the cult.

The Cult of Diana at Nemi, Italy focused their attention on the goddess Diana Nemorensis, who was the goddess of hunting, fertility, childbirth, and the moon. The idea of Diana is a combination of the Greek goddess Artemis and the Italian goddess of the woods local to Nemi.

Both men and women worshiped her and asked for her aid, although only men were given positions of power in the cult.

Despite this, the Cult of Diana at Nemi provided valuable resources to women, particularly pertaining to childbirth.

Information, care, and support were provided along with religious guidance and the opportunity to ask for Diana’s aid more directly in her sanctuary. People of all social classes were welcome, and the sanctuary and cult would offer her aid to anyone regardless of whether they were able to provide an offering or votive.

Diana had many forms, and the Triple Diana encompassed the idea that Diana, although she was one goddess, could take three different forms depending on the needs of the practitioner.

As she aided women in childbirth and in fertility, she also aided hunters in hunting animals and navigating the wilderness.

The Cult of Diana at Nemi provided religious guidance and practical aid to men and women alike, and the support given to Diana’s practitioners increased their wellbeing significantly.

Works Cited

Bilde, P. G. (1998). Those Nemi Sculptures… Expedition, 40(3), 36-47.

Green, C. M. C. (2007). Roman Religion and the Cult of Diana at Aricia. Cambridge University Press.

MacLachlan, B. (2013). Women in Ancient Rome: A Sourcebook. A&C Black.

Schultz, C. E. (2006). Women’s Religious Activity in the Roman Republic. Univ of North Carolina Press.

Skovmøller, A., & Sargent, M. L. (2013). Painted portrait sculpture from the Sanctuary of Diana at Nemi. Tracking Colour.

The Polychromy of Greek and Roman Sculpture in the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek. Preliminary Report, 5, 9-35.

The Insanity of the Real Greek Myths

In Greek Mythology, Pride Often Came Before a Fall

As Niobe’s impiety was described in Bulfinch’s Mythology: “It was on occasion of the annual celebration in honor of Latona and her offspring, Apollo and Diana [i.e Artemis] when the people of Thebes were assembled, their brows crowned with laurel, bearing frankincense to the altars and paying their vows, that Niobe appeared among the crowd. Her attire was splendid with gold and gems, and her face as beautiful as the face of an angry woman can be. She stood and surveyed the people with haughty looks. “What folly,” said she, “is this! to prefer beings whom you never saw to those who stand before your eyes! Why should Latona be honored with worship rather than I?”
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Ancient Thebes. Classical Wisdom Weekly.

As Bullfinch continued, Niobe stated that: “My father was Tantalus, who was received as a guest at the table of the gods; my mother was a goddess.

My husband built and rules this city, Thebes; and Phrygia is my paternal inheritance.

Wherever I turn my eyes I survey the elements of my power; nor is my form and presence unworthy of a goddess. To all this let me add, I have seven sons and seven daughters, and look for sons-in-law and daughters-in-law of pretensions worthy of my alliance.

Have I not cause for pride? Will you prefer to me this Latona, the Titan’s daughter, with her two children?

I have seven times as many. Fortunate indeed am I, and fortunate I shall remain! Will any one deny this?”

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Apollo and Artemis. Pinterest

22. The Gods Could be Cruelly Vindictive

Ancient Greek mythology is full of tales in which hubris is punished by the gods. In Niobe’s case, her hubris provoked Leto’s children, the gods Apollo and Artemis, to seek vengeance for the insult to their mom.

They were highly protective of her, because she had suffered greatly on their behalf – see entry about Leto, below. In a flash, Apollo and Artemis, whose nicknames included “The Immortal Archers”, showed up at the citadel of Thebes.

From its towers, they watched the Theban youths engaged in sports below, while the Latona festival in honor of their mother was ignored.

So Apollo strung his golden bow, and shot down all seven of Niobe’s sons, one after the other. Not to be outdone, Artemis strung her bow, and slew all seven of Niobe’s daughters.

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Niobe’s punishment, by Pierre Charles Jombert, 1772. Wikimedia

Niobe was left transfixed with grief and surrounded by the corpses of her offspring. Her children lay unburied for nine days, because the gods turned the Thebans into stone, until the tenth day, when they allowed the burials to proceed. Even then, the gods were still not done with Niobe.

As if her punishment was not already horrible enough, Zeus piled on. He capped off the grieving mother’s misery by turning her into a pillar of stone, in which state she was left to continue to weep throughout eternity for her loss.

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The Olympian gods

21. From the Outset, Revenge Was Big on the Greek Gods’ Agenda

In ancient Greek mythology, the gods were seen in anthropomorphic terms, and depicted as similar to humans in many aspects. Greek gods had human appetites and desires, and human emotions such as joy, sadness, lust, anger, jealousy, and wrath. Those human emotions often led to divine vengeance visited upon those who displeased the gods. Since they were gods and all, they were terrors to behold whenever they got mad. Both because of their godly powers, and because they were often unrestrained by morality and the social norms that apply to humans.
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The Olympians. Greeking.

Unlike the divine powers in many or most modern religions, the ancient Greeks did not see their gods as infallible and always out to do good. Instead, the deities were viewed as flawed super beings who were quite fallible. All that humans could do was to endure their divine decisions, whether just or unjust – and Greek gods often acted unjustly.

Greek deities were often depicted as sadistic bullies eager for an excuse to inflict punishment.

Olympian gods – so named because they were believed to live atop Mount Olympus – might fly into a divine wrath at the slightest provocation and wreck some unfortunate.

Their vengeance often took extreme forms, in order to let everybody know just who is boss.

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Cronus and his child, by Giovanni Francesco Romanelli. Warsaw National Museum

20. In Greek Mythology, the Gods Had Super Dysfunctional Families

The ancient Greek gods’ mean streak and taste for vengeance is not so surprising if we factor in their origins. If they had been mortals, we would describe them as the products of traumatic childhoods and dysfunctional families where horrific abuse was rife. The chain of dysfunction and cycle of vengeance began with their father Cronus, leader of the Titans who preceded the Olympian gods as masters of the world. In Greek mythology, Cronus envied the power of his father Uranus, Father Sky, the primal Greek god who ruled the universe. So he plotted with his mother, Gaia, Mother Earth, who was angry at her hubby for some slight.
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Cronus. Greek Myth Wiki.

Cronus’ mother gave him a sickle or scythe, with which he castrated his father Uranus, and then threw away the testicles. An understandably upset Uranus vowed vengeance upon his son, and cursed him – probably in high soprano. He prophesied that just like he had overthrown his own father, Cronus would someday be overthrown by his own children. As seen below, Cronus went to extraordinary lengths of divine child abuse to ensure that his kids did not do to him what he had done to his own Dear Papa.

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Cronus devouring his son. Greek Boston

19. The God Who Ate His Children

Cronus married his sister, the Titaness Rhea, and the couple had multiple children, whose numbers included the gods and goddesses Poseidon, Hera, Hesta, Hades, and Demeter. To prevent the realization of the prophecy of his father Uranus that he would be overthrown by his own children, Cronus ate his kids as soon as they were born. Rhea was not happy with that, and when their sixth child Zeus was born, she tricked her hubby and gave him a rock wrapped in swaddling clothes. Cronus assumed it was his latest newborn, and swallowed it whole.
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Rhea and Cronus. Wikipedia.

Rhea hid Zeus, who grew up with understandably hostile feelings towards a father who wanted him dead. When he came of age, Zeus forced his dad to vomit out the kids he had already swallowed, and then led his siblings in a war against Cronus. Together, and with the help of other supernatural allies, they overthrew their father and the other Titans, and took over the world. By way of vengeance, they imprisoned Cronus and other Titans in Tartarus, a deep abyss where the wicked are tortured.

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Hera. Louvre Museum

18. Zeus Was a Cheating Dog but His Wife Punished His Mistresses Instead of Him

Hera, titled the Queen of Heaven, reigned from the gods’ home atop Mount Olympus as the wife and sister of Zeus, the chief god of the ancient Greek pantheon. Her husband/ sibling was an insatiable and predatory nymphomaniac whose eye constantly roved, was always on the prowl, and constantly cheated on Hera. Unsurprisingly, Hera was none too happy about her husband’s serial infidelities, which left her feeling slighted. However, she did not address that by taking it up with Zeus.
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Hera discovering Zeus with his lover, Io. Wikimedia

Rather than direct her wrath at her hubby for breaking whatever passed for marital vows and obligations of monogamy atop Mount Olympus, Hera would often fly into jealous rages. She took out her anger instead on those seduced or tricked – or sometimes flat out assaulted – by Zeus in order to satisfy his lusts. Io was one of those unfortunate victims of Hera’s fits of jealousy. According to Greek mythology, Io was a priestess whose beauty caught Zeus’ eye, and caused him to fall head over heels in love with her. So he went after her in ways that only a god can.

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Zeus, Hera, and Io, by Gerbrand van den Eekhout. Wikimedia

17. This Goddess Cornered Her Husband Into Giving Her His Lover as a Present

In his mad lust after Io, the chief god pursued the beautiful priestess. However, she resisted his advances at first, until her father kicked her out on the advice of some oracles. Homeless, she finally gave in to Zeus. He turned her into a white heifer in order to conceal her from his jealous wife, and shield her from Hera’s wrath. It did not work. Hera, who knew her husband all too well, grew suspicious when she noticed how much time he was spending at a pasture, in which a magnificent white cow grazed.

So she begged Zeus to give her the heifer as a present. Unable to come up with an excuse to refuse, the chief Olympian god grudgingly gave his lover as a gift to his wife. Hera then assigned Argus Panoptes, a giant with a hundred eyes, to tether the white cow to an olive tree, and keep a constant watch on her. Zeus, driven to distraction by his lust for Io, was unable to bear the separation. So he sent the messenger god Hermes, disguised as a shepherd, to lull Argus to sleep.

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Hermes, Argus, and Io, by Rubens. Greek Legends and Myths

16. Hera Tormented Her Hubby’s Mistress Nonstop

In order to lull Argus to sleep, Hermes resorted to a simple but effective approach. He shot the breeze with the many-eyed giant, played the flute for him, and told him stories. In that way, he got Argus to shut his eyes one by one. When Argus was finally zonked out, Hermes grabbed a stone, smashed his head in, and freed Io from her tether so Zeus could get some loving time with his bovine mistress. In response, the livid Hera sent a gadfly to torment the white heifer, and sting her nonstop.
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Io tormented by a gadfly, by Olivia Musgrave. Artsy

The incessant gadfly drove Io mad with pain, and forced her to wander the earth in an attempt to escape the irritant. Io swam the straits between Europe and Asia, which were known thereafter as the Bosporus (Greek for “ford of the cow”). She crossed the sea southwest of Greece, which became known as the Ionian Sea. Io eventually swam to Egypt, where Zeus finally restored her to human form. There, she bore Zeus a son and daughter, who gave rise to a line of legendary descendants, whose numbers include Hercules.

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Prometheus with the body of a man whom he had just molded from clay, by Otto Greiner. National Gallery of Canada

15. Prometheus in Mythology and His Gruesome Punishment

In ancient Greek mythology, Prometheus was a Titan, a member of the race of divine beings who preceded the Olympian gods. His name, which means “foresight”, emphasizes his intellect, for he was known as a clever trickster. He created humans from clay, and was a champion of mankind in the halls of heavens. That championing of mankind got him in trouble with the gods, who devised a horrific punishment for him in consequence. It was a great fall for Prometheus. He had been one of the leaders of the Titans as they waged war for mastery of the heavens against the Olympian gods, when the latter rose up to replace the Titans.
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Prometheus watches the goddess Athena endow his creation with wisdom, by Christian Griepenkerl, 1877. Wikimedia

However, when his fellow Titans refused to heed his advice and resort to trickery, Prometheus switched sides and joined the Olympians. That ensured the gods’ victory, and doomed the Titans to defeat. Although he had helped the gods secure their victory, Prometheus eroded his store of goodwill with them because he often sided with humanity against the Olympians. He got on Zeus’ wrong side when he tricked him to accept the bones and fat of sacrificial animals, instead of their meat. That set a precedent that allowed humans henceforth to sacrifice animals to the god by burning their bones and fat, and keep the meat for themselves.

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Prometheus brings fire, by Heinrich Friedrich Fuger. Wikimedia

14. Zeus Was Super Angry at this Champion of Humanity

Zeus eventually realized that he had been tricked by Prometheus to accept the bones and fat of animal sacrifices, instead of the more desirable meat. Peeved, his response was to take fire away from mankind, and wipe its secret from human minds. That way, humans would have to eat meat row, and shiver from the cold in the dark of night. To make his pettiness stick, the chief god prohibited anybody from letting humanity in on the secret of fire. Prometheus however defied Zeus. He stole fire from Mount Olympus, and smuggled it down to earth to share with mankind and help them survive life’s struggles. When Zeus looked down from the heavens and saw the dark of night dispelled by the flicker of fires, he grew livid.
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The divine punishment of Prometheus. Hellenism

To vent his anger at mankind, Zeus sent Pandora down to earth with a box full of woes. When its lid was eventually removed, it unleashed upon the world all the evils that plague humanity. They included diseases, plagues, war, death, and the constant need for backbreaking labor to eke sustenance out of the earth. Only hope was left inside the box, to keep life bearable despite its sufferings. As for Prometheus, Zeus punished him by having him taken to the Caucasus Mountains, where he was chained to a rock. There, a giant eagle flew in every day to rip open his guts and feast upon his liver. The liver re-grew each night, and the eagle returned each day to repeat the process, as Prometheus was subjected to a perpetuity of torment by day, and nights full of dread of what the morrow would bring.

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The Danaides end their husbands, by Robinet Testard. Gallica

13. The Mythology of the Unfortunate Danaides

In Greek mythology, the Danaides were the fifty daughters of Danaus, king of Libya, and a main figure in the founding myth of the city state of Argos, in the Peloponnese. Danaus was the twin brother of the mythical King Aegyptus of Egypt, and the twins had some serious sibling rivalry going on. Aegyptus had fifty sons, and when he commanded that his twin’s fifty daughters be married to his sons, Danaus declined. Instead, he loaded them in a boat, and oared by his daughters, fled across the sea to Argos. The Argives were impressed by the arrival of fifty beauties rowing a boat, and even more so by their father, whom they made their king.
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Danaus and his unfortunate daughters. Greek Legends and Myths.

Danaus’ brother Aegyptus did not give up, however, and sent his fifty sons to Argos to claim their brides. To spare the local Argives from the ravages of war, Danaus reluctantly consented to marry his daughters to his twin’s sons. Wedding plans were made, and Danaus arranged a feast for the event. However, before the wedding, Danaus gathered his daughters around him, and passed a dagger to each, with instructions to end their husbands’ lives as soon as they were alone with them.

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The Danaides’ ceaseless chore, by John Singer Sargent. Boston Museum of Fine Arts

12. The Red Wedding Has Nothing on This Wedding From Ancient Greek Mythology

To disobey one’s parents was a great sin in ancient Greece. So all of Danaus’ daughters, except one who took pity on her new husband after he respected her desire to remain a virgin, took their spouses’ lives on their wedding night. They then cut off their heads and buried them near a lake south of Argos. Danaus hauled the daughter who had had disobeyed him before a court, but her husband intervened and ended Danaus in the name of vengeance for his 49 brothers. He and his wife then ruled Argos, and inaugurated a dynasty that ran that city for centuries.
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The Danaides by John William Waterhouse. Wikipedia.

As to the 49 daughters who had obeyed and ended their husbands, they remarried, and chose new mates from the winners of a footrace. The gods however punished them by sending them to Tartarus, the ancient Greek mythology version of hell – an abyss where the wicked are subjected to suffering and torment. There, the 49 daughters were condemned to spend an eternity of ceaseless and hopeless labor, reminiscent of Sisyphus – see, below. They were to carry jugs of water to fill a bathtub to wash away their sins, but the bathtub could never be filled because it had a hole in the bottom.

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Zeus. Wikimedia

11. Unending Labor for This Jokester

In Greek mythology, Sisyphus was a king of Corinth, and the founder of the Isthmian Games – one of the ancient Greeks’ four major games, which included the Olympics. Sisyphus was the wisest of all men, and a clever trickster who fathered the hero Odysseus, of Homer’s Iliad and the Odyssey. Unfortunately, Sisyphus’ cunning was combined with questionable ethics. That got him in trouble with the gods, especially with Zeus. Sisyphus violated Xenia, the ancient Greeks’ sacred laws of hospitality which protected travelers and guests. He executed some of his guests to demonstrate his ruthlessness. That angered Zeus, whose divine responsibilities included the promotion of Xenia.
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Prisoners of Tartarus. Greek Legends and Myths.

On another occasion, Zeus kidnapped Aegina, daughter of the river god Asopus. When her father went looking of her, Sisyphus told him where to find his daughter. In exchange, he got Asopus to create a spring to flow into Sisyphus’ city of Corinth. That snitching made Zeus angrier still. So he sent the god of death, Thanatos, to take Sisyphus and chain him in the underworld. Sisyphus however tricked Thanatos; he asked him how the chains worked, then chained that deity. With Death chained, the mortally ill could no longer find release from their earthly sufferings, and no sacrifices could be made. The gods threatened Sisyphus with dire punishment if he did not free Thanatos, so he reluctantly did.

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Sisyphus’ punishment, by Titian. Prado Museum

10. In Greek Mythology, Sisyphus Was Too Clever for His Own Good

The mythology of Sisyphus had him pull off one more trick to cheat Death. He instructed his wife not to bury him or perform any of the sacred death rituals when he passed away, and to just throw his corpse out. She obeyed, and when Sisyphus arrived at the underworld, he begged Thanatos to allow him to return to earth to punish his wife for her “impiety”. Death agreed, but once Sisyphus was back on earth, he jumped bail and went on the lam. He continued to live to a ripe old age, before he died a second time. That was when Sisyphus discovered he had been too clever by half, and too smart for his own good.
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Depictions of Sisyphus. The Collector.

The gods were not happy that Sisyphus had showed them up and made them look like fools. They also took offense at his self-aggrandizing deceitfulness, and the hubris that made him think he was more cunning than Zeus. So they set out to make an example of him. The gods thought, with some reason, that few punishments are more terrible than an eternity of futile and hopeless labor. So they condemned Sisyphus to an eternity of rolling a huge boulder up a steep hill. Soon as Sisyphus got his boulder to the top of the hill, it rolled down the other side, and he had to go back down and collect his boulder to roll it up the hill once again.

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Ixion. Maicar

9. Violations of the Laws of Hospitality Was Seriously Frowned Upon in Ancient Greece

Ixion, in Greek mythology, was a son of the war god Ares and a mortal woman, who became a king of the Lapiths tribe in Thessaly, in northern Greece. From early on, Ixion built up an infamous reputation as somebody who was mad, bad, and dangerous to know. Because of his misdeeds on earth – and up in the heavens as well – the gods condemned him to eternal torment. Ixion’s first major trespass that offended the gods was against his father in law. He had promised his wife’s sire a valuable present as a bride price – wealth paid by the groom to the parents of his bride. However, he reneged and failed to pay up after the marriage.
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Ares, father of Ixion. Wikimedia.

So the father-in-law seized some of Ixion’s valuable horses as security for the promised bride price. Ixion pretended to shrug it off. Sometime later, he invited his father-in-law to a feast, and there, orchestrated his demise by shoving him into a bed of burning coals. That crime was particularly odious in Greek eyes because it violated Xenia – the laws of hospitality that governed the relationship between guests and hosts. The breach of Xenia left Ixion defiled, shunned by fellow Greeks and unfit to live amidst men. Nobody was willing to perform the necessary religious rituals that would cleanse him of his guilt and restore him to good standing. So Ixion was forced to live in the wilderness as an outlaw. As you’ll find out, things were about to get way worse for him.

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Ixion attempt to seduce Hera, by Rubens. Louvre Museum

8. Greek Mythology Shows That Hitting on a God’s Wife Was Seriously Uncool

Zeus took pity on Ixion. Although promotion of Xenia was part of the chief Olympian god’s portfolio, he cleansed him of the defilement, and invited him to Mount Olympus, to dine at the table of the gods. However, when Ixion was introduced to Zeus’ wife, Hera, he fell passionately in love and lusted after her. Behind Zeus’ back, he started to hit on and pursue Hera. That was another big breach of Xenia: to lust after and pursue your host’s wife was a major violation of a guest’s obligations to his host. Indeed, that was how the Trojan War started, when Paris seduced Helen while he a guest of her husband.
Hollywood Has Nothing on the Insanity of the Real Greek Myths
The punishment of Ixion, by Jules-Elie Delaunay. Wikimedia

When Zeus heard, he couldn’t believe that Ixion, whom he had rescued and cleansed of his guilt, then honored by hosting him in heaven, could be so ungrateful and brazen. So he made a cloud in the shape of Hera, and sent her Ixion’s way to see what his guest would do. Sure enough, Ixion ravished the fake Hera – a union that ultimately produced the centaurs. According to Greek mythology, the astonished and livid Zeus expelled the ingrate from Olympus, and blasted his former guest with a thunderbolt. He then ordered the messenger god, Hermes, to seize Ixion and bind him to a wheel of fire, condemned to spin forever across the heavens.

Hollywood Has Nothing on the Insanity of the Real Greek Myths
Statue of Leto in the Yelagin Palace, Saint Petersburg. Wikimedia

7. Labor Without End for Zeus’ Former Mistress

To be Zeus’ mistress was a tough row to hoe. The chief Olympian god’s relentless pursuit, persistence, rough wooing, and refusal to take “no” for an answer, was bad enough. Worse for those who gave in to Zeus, or were forcibly taken by him, was that they then had to deal with his insanely jealous wife, Hera, and her crazy punishments. Punishments not of her philandering husband, but of his victims. Leto was Zeus’ first mistress, and became the first to fall victim both to the chief god, who slaked his lust and abandoned her when she got pregnant, and then to the bonkers wrath of his wife.
Hollywood Has Nothing on the Insanity of the Real Greek Myths
Leto and her two babes. Wikipedia.

To exacerbate the unfairness of it all, Leto had been Zeus’ mistress before he married Hera. As such, the chief god had not even been cheating on his wife at the time. In Greek mythology, Leto was a Titan goddess whose beauty captivated Zeus, and she became his first and favorite lover. However, after Zeus impregnated Leto with twins, he abandoned her in order to marry his sister, Hera. That was not even close to the worse that happened to poor Leto.

Hollywood Has Nothing on the Insanity of the Real Greek Myths
Hera and Zeus, by Antoine Coypel. Flickr

6. In Greek Mythology, A Heavily Pregnant Leto Was Forced to Ceaselessly Wander the World

Although the chief Olympian god’s affair with Leto and her resultant pregnancy had occurred before Hera’s marriage to Zeus, the Queen of Heaven was still jealous of Leto. So Zeus’ wife set out to turn the life of her hubby’s ex into a living hell. First, Hera kicked the pregnant Leto out of Mount Olympus, so she was forced to wander the world amongst mortals. Then, when it was time to give birth, the Queen of Heaven saw to it that the childbirth was as miserable as could be, by prolonging Leto’s labor.
Hollywood Has Nothing on the Insanity of the Real Greek Myths
Leto. Greek Legends and Myths.

Hera decreed that Leto could not give birth on “terra firma” – the mainland or any island under the sun. She then sent emissaries to all cities and settlements, to forbid them to offer Leto shelter, food, or water. Leto was thus forced to continuously wander the earth, without a chance to settle down anywhere to give birth. Zeus’ heavily pregnant ex crisscrossed the world for years while in labor, unable to find a resting place. She eventually came across a barren island not connected to the ocean floor, which did not count as an “island” by Hera’s definition.

Hollywood Has Nothing on the Insanity of the Real Greek Myths
Leto and the Lycian peasants, by Le Jeune, 1806, depicts peasants denying water to Leto and her newborn twins. Maicar

5. Even for a Deity, Hera Might Have Gone Over the Top in Her Vindictiveness Towards Leto

The barrenness of the island discovered by Leto also meant it had nothing to lose, and thus had nothing to fear from Hera if it defied her will. There, Leto finally gave birth to the gods Artemis and Apollo. Hera, now even more jealous of Leto after she gave birth to Zeus’ children, sent a dragon to chase her and her newborns around. In their flight, they sought refuge in Lycia, whose peasants, on Hera’s instructions, sought to prevent Leto and her infants from drinking water.
Hollywood Has Nothing on the Insanity of the Real Greek Myths
Hulsman, Johann; Latona Transforming the Peasants into Frogs; The Fitzwilliam Museum; http://www.artuk.org/artworks/latona-transforming-the-peasants-into-frogs-4457

So Leto turned them into frogs, before the infant Apollo eventually slew the dragon. Hera also sent the gigantic Titan Tityos to assault Leto. She was once again saved by her children, Apollo and Artemis, who ended their mother’s would-be assailant. Hera eventually came to terms with the situation, accepted things as they were, and let Leto and her children be. Leto then went on to become a goddess of motherhood, with a divine portfolio that also included protection of the young.

Hollywood Has Nothing on the Insanity of the Real Greek Myths
A sixth century BC depiction of Dionysus extending a wine cup. Wikimedia

4. The King Who Beefed With the God of Wine

Lycurgus of Thrace was a mythical king of the Edoni people in southern Thrace, and he had a beef with Dionysus, the Greek god of grapes and wine. According to Greek mythology, Lycurgus got drunk on wine and tried to forcibly slake his lust upon his own mother. When he sobered up and realized what he had almost done, he swore off the drink, became a teetotaler. He also enacted a version of Prohibition in his kingdom: he banned wine, and ordered the destruction of all grape vines throughout the realm. Lycurgus also banned the religious cult of Dionysus, whom he refused to acknowledge as divine, and prohibited the worship of the grape god in his kingdom.
Hollywood Has Nothing on the Insanity of the Real Greek Myths
Dionysus. Jewish Expert.

Dionysus was a god, and was thus not inclined to heed the dictates of a mortal, not even a mortal king. So when his disciples, the Maenads, threw a festival in honor of the wine god atop the sacred mountain of Nyseion in Lycurgus’ kingdom, Dionysus took on human form and attended as the guest of honor. When Lycurgus heard that his command had been defied and that Dionysus was in his kingdom, he flew into a rage and rushed to Mount Nyseion to break up the party. There, he slew with an ax a Maenad who had nursed Dionysius as a child, and chased the festival attendants out with an ox goad.

Hollywood Has Nothing on the Insanity of the Real Greek Myths
The madness of Lycurgus of Thrace, as depicted in a fourth century BC vase. Theoi

3. In Greek Mythology, the God of Wine Was Not All Fun and Games

To save himself from the livid Lycurgus, Dionysus in human form was forced to flee, and to escape the wrath of the angry king, leapt into the sea. There, Dionysus was rescued by the sea nymph Thetis, who kindly received the wine god and sheltered him in an undersea cave. In the meantime, Lycurgus conducted an anti-Dionysian purge throughout his kingdom. He carried out a persecution in which the Maenads and other followers of Dionysus were rounded up, arrested, and imprisoned. Understandably, Dionysus was greatly angered by Lycurgus disrespect and impiety. His divine punishment was take away the Thracian king’s sanity, and reduce him to a raving loon.
Hollywood Has Nothing on the Insanity of the Real Greek Myths
Dionysus, Greek god of revelry and wine. Encyclopedia Britannica.

In Greek mythology, a crazed Lycurgus slew his wife and family. He had ordered all grape vines cut down, and in a fit of insanity, the deranged monarch mistook his own son for a vine. He chopped him up with a sword, and pruned away his ears, nose, fingers and toes. Dionysus was still not done with him, however. The wine god laid a curse upon Lycurgus’ kingdom, which rendered its soil barren and unable to produce fruit. The desperate Edonians sought advice from an oracle, who informed them that fertility would not return to their land while Lycurgus was alive. So the Edonians seized their king, tied him up, and flung him to a man-eating horse, which tore Lycurgus to pieces.

Hollywood Has Nothing on the Insanity of the Real Greek Myths
Diana and Actaeon, by Titian, 1559. Wikimedia

2. The Hunter Taught His Skills by a Centaur

The Ancient Greeks’ worldview and mythology differed greatly from the orderly worldview of the major monotheistic religions, which worship an omniscient, omnipotent, and infallible God. The Ancient Greeks often saw their gods as arbitrary and capricious, and few myths depict that conception of the Olympians’ arbitrariness and capriciousness as does the myth of Actaeon. His fate differs from that of those described in most entries in this article, mortal or immortal beings who did something to invite the wrath of the gods.
Hollywood Has Nothing on the Insanity of the Real Greek Myths
Centaur. Cultural Bestiary.

If those unfortunates did not actively invite the wrath of the gods, then they at least found themselves in a situation in which the wrath of a good was understandable, even if unjustified. Actaeon on the other hand, endured a divine punishment despite the fact that he had not done anything of his own volition that could have justified his fate. In Greek mythology, Actaeon was a famous Theban hero, who loved to hunt in the outback of his native region of Boeotia. Like the hero Achilles, of Iliad fame, Actaeon had been taught to hunt by the centaur Chiron.

Hollywood Has Nothing on the Insanity of the Real Greek Myths
The demise of Actaeon, as depicted in an ancient Greek vase. Theoi

1. Accidentally Seeing a Naked Goddess Was Bad News for This Mortal

Chiron was a mythical creature with the lower body of a horse, and the torso and upper body of a human. He was notable in Greek mythology and legend for his youth-nurturing nature. He instilled in Actaeon a passion for the hunt that proved the Theban hero’s undoing. One day, Actaeon was out hunting with his dogs in Boeotia. He unwittingly stumbled upon the chaste goddess Artemis – Diana to the Romans – while she was naked, bathing in a spring with some wood nymphs.
Hollywood Has Nothing on the Insanity of the Real Greek Myths
Actaeon stumbling upon Artemis. Deviant Art.

Although the extent of Actaeon’s sin, if it could even be called that, was to simply have had the misfortune of bumping into a naked goddess, Artemis was livid that a mortal saw her naked. So in her wrath, she turned him into a stag. The terrified Actaeon bounded into the woods, but his own dogs detected the scent of a stag. They failed to recognize their master in his new body, chased him down, and tore him to pieces.

_________________

Where Did We Find This Stuff? Some Sources and Further Reading

Bulfinch, Thomas – Bulfinch’s Mythology (1998)

Cracked – Movies vs Ancient Mythology

Dalby, Andrew – The Story of Bacchus (2005)

Dictionary of Shakespeare’s Classical Mythology – Ixion

Encyclopedia Britannica – Cronus

Encyclopedia Britannica – Ixion

Encyclopedia Britannica – Tantalus

Encyclopedia Mythica – Actaeon

Encyclopedia Mythica – Lycurgus of Thrace

Evslin, Bernard – Gods, Demigods and Demons: A Handbook of Greek Mythology (2006)

Fry, Stephen – Heroes: The Greek Myths Reimagined (2018)

Fry, Stephen – Mythos: A Retelling of the Myths of Ancient Greece (2019)

Gantz, Timothy – Early Greek Myth: A Guide to Literary and Artistic Sources (1993)

Genealogical Guide to Greek Mythology – Actaeon

Graves, Robert – The Greek Myths (1992)

Gray, Louis Herbert, ed. – The Mythology of All Races, Volume 1: Greek and Roman (1916)

Greek Mythology – Hercules: The Life of the Greek Hero

Greek Mythology – Io

Greeka – Io and Zeus

Greeka – The Danaides

Harvard Studies in Classical Philology, Vol. 13 (1902) – A Study of the Danaid Myth

History Collection – Hollywood’s Witch Hunt Created a Communist Blacklist for These Celebrities

Keefer, Professor Julia, New York University – The Myth of Sisyphus by Albert Camus

Mayor, Adrienne – The Amazons: Lives and Legends of Warrior Women Across the Ancient World (2014)

Mythopedia – Leto

Peabody, Josephine Preston, Tales Beyond Belief – The Myth of Niobe

Screen Rant – Disney’s Hercules: 10 Things That Would be Different if the Movie Was Mythologically Accurate

Theoi – Artemis Wrath

Theoi – Kronos

Theoi – The Titaness Leto

World History Encyclopedia – Amazon Women

World History Encyclopedia – Prometheus

Lake Nemi, Diana's Temple

Nestled in a volcano crater 26 kilometers (16 miles) south of Rome is a beautiful and placid lake called Nemi

Surrounded by a forest of trees, Lake Nemi was known by the ancient Romans as Diana's Mirror. When the moon is full, the shimmering surface of Nemi reflects brightly and beautifully the full moon.

Diana, according to the ancient Romans (8th century BC) was the goddess of the Moon, wild beasts, and of the woods.

The Romans believed Diana inhabited the forests around Nemi.

They built the sacred Temple of Diana, called Diana Nemorensis, or Diana in Nemi's Woods, on the northern shore of Lake Nemi.

Ruins of that Temple at Lake Nemi can still be seen today, but few people make the trip to see it, and fewer still understand the significance of what they see.

Some of the most fascinating and colorful stories of ancient Rome occur in and around Lake Nemi. That's right, in Lake Nemi.

Visiting Lake Nemi should be on your bucket list. If you ever travel to tour Rome, take a day trip to visit Lake Nemi, or better yet, stay at the city you see perched on the top of the hill in the above photo.

That city, the modern city of Nemi, is only a quick train ride from Rome. Events that have occurred over the past three millennia around the lake and in the lake are stunning in scope.

Before I show you the importance of Lake Nemi, let me give you some context.

The Roman goddess Diana is the counterpart to the Greek goddess Artemis. I have written about Artemis and how much the Greeks believed in her powers.

The Romans revered Diana as the Greeks revered Artemis. The two goddesses are often conflated.

The Roman goddess Diana

The Roman goddess Diana is the counterpart to the Greek goddess Artemis.

I have written about Artemis and how much the Greeks believed in her powers.

The Romans revered Diana as the Greeks revered Artemis. The two goddesses are often conflated.

If you know your ancient history, you're aware that the Republic of Rome eventually replaced the Grecian Empire as the ancient world's superpower.

In 146 BC, Rome defeated the Greeks at the Battle of Corinth and made Greece a Roman province. After the death of the Roman Republic dictator Julius Caesar, Julius Caesar's nephew and adopted son Julius Caesar Octavianus (63 BC-AD 14) became the first officially recognized Emporer of Rome and received the title Augustus.

The Senate of Rome crowned Octavianus Caesar as Augustus (e.g, "Supreme Emperor") of Rome in 27 BC. That event marks the official beginning of the Roman Empire. Caesar Augustus reigned as the first Emperor of Rome until his death in AD 14. The name "Caesar" was Octavianus' adopted surname.

Augustus was Caesar's title. Thus, Caesar (the) Augustus is the Roman emperor mentioned in Luke 2 at the birth of Jesus:

"In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of all the inhabited earth... Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the City of David, which is called Bethlehem in order to register along with Mary.

While they were there in Bethlehem...she gave birth to her firstborn son, and she wrapped Him in cloths, and laid Him in a manger." (Luke 2:1-7)

The reason Jesus grew up speaking Hebrew and Greek and not Hebrew and Latin is that the Roman world in which Jesus lived kept the culture of the Greek Empire (the language, the arts, the religion, etc.).

Keeping Greek customs in a Roman-ruled world is called Hellenization. It's no wonder that the Roman goddess Diana and the Greek goddess Artemis are often conflated.

However, the worship of the Roman goddess Diana and the worship of the Greek goddess Artemis had origins that extend to a much earlier time than the days of Jesus and the Apostle Paul.

The Temple of Artemis in Ephesus
For example, The Temple of Artemis (the Greek goddess) was considered one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, It was built in the ancient city of Ephesus (now a city in modern Turkey) in 550 BC by the wealthy King Croesus of Lydia. Croesus was a friend to the Greeks and a worshipper of the Greek god Apollo.

King Croesus once traveled to Delphi, Greece (just north of Athens) to inquire of the Pythian Oracle at Apollo's Temple. In appreciation for Apollo, King Croesus desired to build a monument to Apollo's twin sister, the goddess Artemis.

So Croesus built the Temple of Artemis in Ephesus. The famous stories surrounding the ancient Temple of Artemis at Ephesus are abundant. Any understanding of the biblical book of Ephesians requires some grasp of the culture of that city since Paul wrote to encourage followers of Jesu who lived among a people dominated by Artemis worship.

Aventine Hill in Rome today (site of ancient Temple of Diana)
When the Romans heard in the late 6th century that a new Temple had been built to the Greek goddess of the Moon, hunt, and woods (Artemis), they decided they would build a Temple of Diana in Rome.

So King Servius Tullius of Rome (575-535 BC) ordered that this new Temple of Diana be built on Aventine Hill. Servius also built a wall around the Temple bringing it within the boundaries of the city of Rome. The Romans could never let the Greeks get the upper hand.

This 6th century BC Roman Temple of Diana stood until the barbarians destroyed the city in the 4th century AD and subsequent Roman Christian emperors tore down the pagan temples.

Today, if you visit Rome, there is a short street named the Via del Tempio di Diana which commemorates the site of the ancient Temple of DianPart of the Temple's original wall is located within one of the halls of the Apuleius

Before the Temple of Artemis was built by King Croesus in Ephesus (550 BC) and before the Temple of Diana was built by King Servius on Aventine Hill in Rome (est. 545 BC), there existed a Temple of Diana in the sacred grove of trees on the northern shore of Lake Nemi. It was called Diana Nemorensis.

Diana Nemorensis, which means, "Diana in the Woods of Nemi" was a small, secluded, and sacred shrine. It predates the Temples the Romans built, evidenced by the fact "Diana in the Woods of Nemi" refers to a sacred grove of trees. Ancient worship of the gods took place in forests and groves, called a Lucus in Latin.

When in Rome, do as the Romans. Go to Lake Nemi, or otherwise known as Lucus Nemi.

The History of Lake Nemi and Diana Nemorensis

Aeneas Discovering the Sacred Bough

For over eight centuries, from the founding of Rome (753 BC) to the days of Empeoror Caligula, bizarre rituals occurred on the northern shore of Lake Nemi.

Romans would make their way to the sacred grove to appeal to Dianna for conquests in combat, harvests in the hunt, and fertility in the fields.

The Roman poet Virgil (b. 70 BC) writes about Aeneas discovering the golden bough in the lucus of Nemi.

Aeneas breaks off the golden branch from the sacred tree, giving to him access to, and power over, the underworld (Hades). In a merging of Roman mythology and history, Aeneas' discovery of the sacred tree is the reason for Diana Nemorensis being deemed a sacred place of worship shortly after the founding of Rome (753 BC).

When King Servius built the Temple of Diana in the city of Rome (est. 545), Romans had already been worshiping Diana in the forests around Lake Nemi for nearly 200 hundred years.

The rituals the Romans performed at Lake Nemi involved fertility rites in the woods, requesting fertility in their fields, animal sacrifices to Diana from hunters who seeking blessings on their hunts, and a host of other religious rituals for the purpose of invoking blessings on the people of Rome.

But of all the rituals involved with worship at the Temple Diana Nemorensis, the most famous of them all involved the King of the Woods (Rex Nemorensis).

A statue of Diana over Lake Nemi today
The King of the Woods served as the High Priest of the Temple of Diana. He was the only male among many females associated with Diana worship at Diana Nemorensis.

In the center of the grove of trees on the northern shore of Lake Nemi stood that large, sacred tree that contained the golden branches to the underworld. It was absolutely forbidden for anyone to break off a branch or bough (pronounced bow) of the tree. For once a branch was broken, he who broke it had declared his intention to fight the King of the Woods to death to become the next King of the Woods and the next High Priest of Temple Diana Nemorensis.

Some men wanted that job because of the fertility rituals which they involved themselves in with the priestesses of Diana's Temple and the power it gave them over the underworld.

The King of the Woods (Rex Nemorensis) was mystically married to the goddess Diana. The rituals he partook in at Temple Nemorensis with the priestesses of Diana were sexual, symbolic, and sacred. The King had the power to restrain the underworld and invoke the blessings of the gods.

But the King never died of old age. He would die a violent death, to only be resurrected to new life in the form of another deified King (the one who defeated the previous King) and continue the sacred rites in Diana's Temple.

19th-century painting of Lake Nemi
The violent death ritual of the King on the northern shore of Lake Nemi is mentioned in ancient literature by Strabo (b. 63 BC), where Strabo calls it "sacred to antique religion." Strabo adds that the King of the Woods "holds his reign by strong hands and fleet feet, and dies according to the example he set himself" (Strabo, Geographia V, 3, 12).

It was said by the ancient Romans that worshipers of Diana entering the sacred grove at Nemi would often see the King of the Woods, sword drawn, protecting the boughs of the sacred tree from any interlopers. The King, having himself once crossed the sacred line and broken the golden bough, was constantly vigilant for the one who would come to break the branch and seek to slay him. Legend says the King of the Woods of Nemi often appeared wild-eyed, frantic, and restless, knowing that by death he entered his position as King, and by death, he would exit it.

The King of the Woods ritual was put to verse by British historian Thomas Macaulay.

The ghastly priest doth reign
The priest who slew the slayer,
And shall himself be slain.

One of Caligula's pleasure boats on Lake Nemi
Even during the time of the Roman Emperor Caligula (12 AD - 41 AD), the ritual slaying of the King of the Woods in the Sacred Grove at Nemi was in effect. Caligula himself sent a slave into the woods to "break the bough" and fight the High Priest of Diana, a battle which Caligula's slave won.

Caligula, a devout worshipper of Diana and her rites of fertility, built two huge massive and luxurious "pleasure barges" for himself on Lake Nemi. They were palaces of sexual rituals with women, even the wives of his soldiers and Rome's politicians. Lake Nemi held a special fondness in the most profane emperor in the history of Rome.

Caligula's barges on Nemi were deliberately sunk after his assassination in 44 BC. For centuries there were rumors of huge structures at the bottom of Lake Nemi. Italian fascist dictator Benito Mussolini, fashioned himself a new Emporer of Rome. Mussolini drained Lake Nemi and had Caligula's barges brought to the surface and the ancient artifacts cleaned and displayed in a museum. During World War II, the museum at Nemi was destroyed, but one of the mosaics that decorated of Caligula's Pleasure Boats eventually wound up serving as a coffee table in New York City.

When you go to the new and rebuilt Italian museum on the north shore of Lake Nemi, you can read about the history surrounding the lake.

Mussolini and Italian soldiers surveying Caligula's barges in the Museum on Lake Nemi, pre-World War II

The Golden Bough

In the 1890s, half a century before Mussolini found and dug up Caligula's barges at Lake Nemi, Sir James George Frazer, a British anthropologist, wrote his seminal work The Golden Bough: A Study in Comparative Religions.

Sir Frazer based the thesis of his book on the rituals that occurred on the northern shore of Lake Nemi at Diana Nemorensis. Sir Frazer traces the common elements of the worlds religions, including fertility rites, human sacrifice, the dying god, the scapegoat, and many other symbols and practices whose influences have extended to modern day to Lake Nemi. Frazer's thesis is that ancient religions were basic fertility cults that revolved around the worship and periodic sacrifice of a sacred king (the King of the Woods at the Temple of Diana). Frazer believes that mankind evolves from rudimentary animism or belief in magic, to a belief in personified deities of religion, and finally to modern scientific thought.

In other words, to Sir Frazer, the rituals of the Temple of Diana at Lake Nemi are a glimpse into the evolution of man by examining an ancient ritual that endured even into the classical age of western civilization. The barbaric King of the Woods ritual at Lake Nemi and other ancient sacred rituals continued at Lake Nemi long into civilized times (the Roman Empire) because Lake Nemi was especially secluded and especially sacred. The Temple of Diana at Nemi, for the sake of illustration, would be like your great-grandmother's China. Don't touch it. Be careful with it. Don't give it away.

The Romans treated Lake Nemi in the same manner. It was a sacred place for them.

At Lake Nemi, according to Sir Frazer, we see the basis for belief in dying and reviving god (eg., King of the Woods), a solar deity who undergoes a mystic marriage to a goddess of the Earth (the King was married to Diana, queen of the earth's harvest, and the Moon of the skies). Frazer claims that this legend of rebirth is central to almost all of the world's mythologies.

The Golden Bough scandalized the British public when first published, as it included the Christian story of Jesus and the Resurrection in its comparative study. Christians were furious that the Lamb of God was treated by Frazer as a relic of pagan religion. Frazer called Christianity "merely a perpetuation of primitive myth-ritualism," and he wrote that the New Testament Gospels were "just further myths of the death and resurrection of the king who embodies the god of vegetation." Due to the enormous backlash, Frazer excluded his discussion of Christianity in subsequent volumes.

Sir Frazer and Sir Isaac Newton

Isaac Newton (Kneller Portrait, 1689)
People who study comparative religions all believe that religions around the world share common teachings and beliefs. For example, flood stories are found throughout the world, among all cultures and religions. Death and resurrection, afterlife, and the sacredness of fertility in field and homes are also common themes.

Either this world is evolving from pagan beliefs in animism, magic, and religion to scientific thought, or as the great Sir Isaac Newton believed, this world is devolving in intellect and moving from true religion to a corruption of the Divine truth.

I take Newton's position.

Many years ago I read Sir Isaac Newton's The Chronology of Ancient Kingdoms Amended, and I became convinced that the history of the world's religions is best understood by seeing every religion, both ancient and modern, as a corruption of Divine Revelation. Newton is even clearer in his superb work The Original of Religions, where he shows that a loving Creator gave true religion to His creation in the form of Divine revelation, and all other religions are a corruption of the Divine through a fall into idolatry.

In other words, Greece and Rome corrupted the Divine revelation of God and began to worship the creation.

Lake Nemi and Revealed Truth

A sacred tree.
A sword to protect it.

The Grove of Nemi
The Garden of Eden.

The Regent (Rex) of the earth (mankind)
Mankind fails and falls into death.

The Death of Rex
The Death of Adam

Through thorns and thistles, the earth gives fruit.
Through mankind's corruption, idolatry flourishes.

The History of Rome
The History of Mankind.

By blood, a new Kingdom shall rise.
By sacrifice, a new way is made

The Temple of Diana and Blood Sacrifice
The Love of God in the Gift of His Son

"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever trusts in Him should not perish, but have life everlasting" (John 3:16).

I could go on and on, but my point is that you must either believe mankind is evolving from pagan beliefs or that mankind is devolving from Divine Revelation into pagan beliefs.

I, like Isaac Newton, hold to the latter belief. And I look forward to seeing Lake Nemi where the former found its birth.

Until then, I am quite comfortable with the belief that the ancient Greeks and Romans fell into the practice of idolatry because their forefathers had corrupted the Truth of the one true God which was passed down to the nations through the children of Noah. The nations, including Greece and Rome, eventually fell int

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