Temple of Artemis in Ephesus
Introduction
The Temple of Artemis (Turkish: Artemis Tapınağı, Ancient Greek: , Latin: Artemisium), also known as Temple of Diana, was a temple located in the city of Ephesus, Turkey, dedicated to the goddess Artemis, called Diana "Diana (mythology)") by the Romans. Its construction was started by King Croesus of Lydia and lasted about 120 years.
Large in size and with beautiful and delicate architecture, it is considered one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, as described by Antipater of Sidon, who made the famous list:
The Temple of Artemis was destroyed by a fire, caused by a man named Erostratus, in 356 BC. c.
Location
The temple of Artemis was located in the ancient city of Ephesus, about 50 km south of the modern port city of Smyrna, in Turkey, in the valley at the foot of Ayasoluk.
Artemis, sister of Apollo, was worshiped in Ephesus in a somewhat pre-Hellenistic way, representing fertility more than the virginity that it meant for the Greeks. The goddess is represented with a walled crown, a symbol of Cybele, and, like her, the Artemis of Ephesus was served by slaves called megabyzae.
A votive inscription mentioned by Bennet (see link below), probably dating to the century BC. C., associates the Artemis of Ephesus with Crete:.
The Greek custom of syncretism assimilated all foreign deities under some form of the divinities of Olympus "Mount Olympus (Greece)"), and it is clear that in Ephesus, the identification with Artemis made by the Ionian colonists was not very appropriate.
Wild, independent and of superior strength and beauty. This is how Artemis, the goddess of fertility, hunting and war, appeared in Greek mythology. Daughter of Zeus and twin sister of Apollo, she is one of the twelve great Olympian divinities. Artemis was an indomitable goddess, who not only gave life, but also took it. In her honor, and to appease her, King Croesus of Lydia had the temple of Artemis erected in Ephesus. Inside this sanctuary was the statue of Artemis, a two-meter-high work of vine wood covered with silver and gold.
History
The holy site of Ephesus was much older than the temple. The geographer Pausanias "Pausanias (geographer)" stated that it existed many years before the Ionian immigration and that it was even older than the cult of the Oracle of Apollo in Didyma. The previous inhabitants of the city were Leleges and Lydians.