Princess Diana,

Diana, the Living Myth

Diana/Artemis in Greek and Roman Mythology
copyright 1997 by Tracy Marks
  Princess Diana has already become a living archetype, reaching deeply into the personal and collective unconscious of people all over the world, inspiring them. Yet few may be aware that she also personified the myth of the Roman goddess Diana (the Greek Artemis), who was not only true to her own free spirit, but also committed to humanitarian values.
The goddess Diana was a huntress, but she was also nurturer of children and feminine values, and protector of the weak and vulnerable.
Athens, Parthenon. east frieze. Artemis (447-432 B.C.)
http://www-lib.haifa.ac.il/www/art/gr/phidias_frieze_from_parthenon.gif
 
 
Earl Spencer, Diana's brother, stated at her funeral: "It is a point to remember that of all the ironies about Diana, perhaps the greatest was this: a girl given the name of the ancient goddess of hunting was, in the end, the most hunted person of the modern age."
Let us explore further the myth of the goddess Diana, and reflect upon its psychological meaning, and its relevance to Princess Diana.
 

Diana was goddess of the Moon, the heavenly light that illuminates the darkness. Sometimes, she was portrayed as a torchbearer, whose torch or candle lit the way for others. Regal and dignified, she held the reins of her life, and drove her own chariot through uncharted territory.
Diana ruled the wilderness, the untamed frontiers of nature. Today we might wonder: Did her realms also include inner terrains and the uncharted emotional wilderness?
 
 
 
 
 
Images of Diana in Greek and Roman myth often portray her accompanied by animals, (particularly young stags) or surrounded by women who appealed to her for help in childbearing. Diana was a protector of children, and responded to the vulnerable and suffering. She defended the powerless from unjust treatment by the patriarchy, and took decisive action in their behalf.
Statue of Diana
http://infotoronto.com/mythnet/pics/pics2.html

 
 
Diana's role as nurturer and protectress of all began early in life. She began helping her mother Leto as soon as she was born, by delivering her own twin brother Apollo. Her mother needed more nurturing from her own daughter than she was able to give in return. All too frequently, the young Diana felt abandoned by Leto, and compelled to come to her mother's aid.
This independent, and yet compassionate goddess was readily available to others, but also vulnerable, and not known to have had particularlysatisfying relationships with men, except for her brother Apollo.
But even her relationship with her brother was not always smooth. Her one great romantic love was the handsome and revered giant, Orion, whom her brother did not like. One day Apollo tricked her by betting her that she could not hit a distant object with her arrows.
Thriving on challenges, Artemis aimed, only to discover that her confidence, competence and intuitive aim beheaded her lover. Forever after, she grieved that she had so unintentionally incapacitated her lover, and proceeded to make him a star in the sky since he no longer could be the star that brightened her time on earth.
 
Diana, the Living Myth continued
Diana/Artemis in Greek and Roman Mythology




Diana frequently sought companionship from women friends, and was portrayed artists as bathing alone or in the company of courtly nymphs who shared her way of life.




Watteau: Diana at her Bath
http://www-lib.haifa.ac.il/www/art/bar/watteau_diana_at_her_bath_1715.gif




But Diana, tall and enchantingly beautiful, attracted male onlookers who would regret violating her privacy. She was fiercely protective of her personal space and freedom.


The association between Diana and the wilderness - symbolic of her untamed spirit, and her need to protect her own sanctity and that of others, meant that she was threatening to men, whether she intended to be or not. Those who attempted to curtail her freedom or to invade her privacy were recipients of her wrath, which sometimes unleashed circumstances that led to their own destruction.


When the hunter Actaeon intruded on her privacy, she shot her arrows at him, then turned him into a stag. Now he, the hunter, became the hunted as his own dogs turned upon him and tore him to pieces.


Galloche: Diana and Actaeon
http://www-lib.haifa.ac.il/www/art/bar/galloche_diana_and_actaeon_1725.gif






Titian:Death of Actaeon: Artemis shooting her bow 
http://www.uvm.edu/~classics/slides/a65.jpeg
http://www.webcom.com/shownet/medea/bulfinch/graphics/diana256.gif


Those who restricted her freedom, inhibited her commitment to
her aims, or invaded her privacy were often recipients of her anger.

Diana, the nurturer, suffered in love, and at times unleashed
circumstances that led to the downfall of those around her. But
despite all, she persevered as protectress and defender of the
small and humble. Goddess of the Moon, brightening the night
sky, she illuminated the earth with her rays of light.



Diana, the Living Myth continued


In her book, GODDESSES IN EVERY WOMAN, Jean Bolen discusses the Greek and Roman myths of Diana/Artemis and their psychological meaning for women today:

"The Artemis woman puts effort into work that is of subjective value to her.....(She may be) the advocate of a lost cause, the unappreciated reformer.....Artemis has a tendency to feel strongly about her causes and principles. She may have come to the defense of someone smaller or may fervently assert, "That's not fair" before embarking on some campaign to righta wrong." (pp. 54, 58)
"But deep down, she struggles with feelings that she is not good enough ...and even when she succeeds, still feels inadequate....(Yet her apparent strength might unleash) a man's competitiveness. He may react to her achievement as winning or surpassing him." (pp. 56, 62)
"The archetype she represents enables a woman to seek her own goals on terrain of her own choosing. Artemis represents a sense of intactness, a one-in-herselfness, an attitude of "I-can-take-care-of-myself" that allows a woman to function in her own with self-confidence and an independence of spirit...Her identity and sense of worth is based on who she is and what she does." (p. 49)
Reading the Greek and Roman myths of Diana, and following with our eyes, hearts and minds her story and the aftermath of her death, we can only wonder: Did Princess Diana, born in the sign of Cancer, ruled by the Moon, succeed in living the myth of her name?
Having become the archetype of goddess Diana to herself and to others, did she in her soul choose to ascend? Is she now even more fully like the Moon which she rules, an inner light to shine through the darkness in the lives of those who treasure her memory?
Diana was indeed "a candle in the wind", but only as that candle is extinguished, and the dark night envelopes us, can we see more clearly the moon and stars. And hopefully, as a result of standing in her own moonlight, we will discover like her our own means of transforming our grief to compassion and love, our darkness to light, and our anger to impassioned action and commitment to the true, heartfelt needs of humanity.  


from HYMN TO DIANA
by Ben Jonson
Queen and Huntress, chaste and fair,
Now the sun is laid to sleep,
Seated in thy silver chair
State in wonted manner keep;
Hesperus entreats thy light,
Goddess excellently bright...
Lay thy bow of pearl apart
And thy crystal-shining quiver;
Give unto the flying hart
Space to breathe, how short so ever;
Thou that mak'st a day of night,
Goddess excellently bright.
 




"You called out to our country,
and you whispered to those in pain.
Now you belong to heaven,
and the stars spell out your name..."

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