Where goddesses loved and fought

The goddess, in charge of hunting, wilderness, childbirth and virginity, was presented as a strong supporter of Troy throughout the war. As Greeks sailed across the Aegean Sea to Troy, Artemis becalmed the wind and stopped their journey. In the Iliad, she came to blows with Hera, queen of all gods, when the divine allies of the Greeks and Trojans came to confront one another.

This is mainly because her brother Apollo was the patron god of Troy and she herself was widely worshipped in western Anatolia in historical times. But there may also be other reasons, like her hatred toward Hera.

According to Greek mythology, Artemis was the daughter of Zeus and Leto, who was hounded throughout her pregnancy by Zeus' perennially jealous and vengeful wife Hera. Upon Artemis' own delivery, she assisted her poor mother with the birth of her younger twin-brother Apollo. (Artemis herself prefers to remain a maiden and is sworn never to marry.)

According to the Iliad, Artemis, after being struck by Hera during their conflict, fled crying to her father Zeus: "It was your wife Hera, father, who has been beating me; it is always her doing when there is any quarreling among the immortals."