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Artemis was also a patron of healing and disease, particularly among women and children, and believed to send both good health and illness upon women and children.
Artemis was one of the three major [[virgin goddess]]es, alongside [[Athena]] and [[Hestia]]. Artemis preferred to remain an unmarried [[Virginity|maiden]] and was one of the three Greek goddesses over whom [[Aphrodite]] had no power.<ref>''[[Homeric Hymn]] to [[Aphrodite]]'' (5), [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0138%3Ahymn%3D5%3Acard%3D1 p.21–32]</ref>
In myth and literature, Artemis is presented as a hunting goddess of the woods, surrounded by her chaste band of nymphs. In the myth of [[Actaeon]], when the young hunter sees her bathing naked, he is transformed into a deer by the angered goddess and is then devoured by his own hunting dogs, who do not recognize their master. In the story of [[Callisto (mythology)|Callisto]], the girl is driven away from Artemis' company after breaking her vow of virginity, having lain with and been impregnated by Zeus. In the [[Epic Cycle|Epic tradition]], Artemis halted the winds blowing the Greek ships during the [[Trojan War]], stranding the Greek fleet in [[Aulis (ancient Greece)|Aulis]], after King [[Agamemnon]], the leader of the expedition, shot and killed her sacred deer. Artemis demanded the sacrifice of [[Iphigenia]], Agamemnon's young daughter, as compensation for her slain deer. In most versions, when Iphigenia is led to the altar to be offered as a sacrifice, Artemis pities her and takes her away, leaving a deer in her place. In the war that followed, Artemis supported the Trojans against the Greeks, and she challenged Hera into battle.
Artemis was one of the most widely venerated of the Ancient Greek deities; her worship spread throughout ancient Greece, with her multiple temples, altars, shrines, and local veneration found everywhere in the ancient world. Her great [[Temple of Artemis|temple]] at [[Ephesus]] was one of the [[Seven Wonders of the Ancient World]], before it was burnt to the ground. Artemis' symbols included a bow and arrow, a quiver, and hunting knives, and the [[deer]] and the [[Cupressus|cypress]] were sacred to her. Diana, her Roman [[Syncretism|equivalent]], was especially worshipped on the [[Aventine Hill]] in [[Rome]], near [[Lake Nemi]] in the [[Alban Hills]], and in [[Campania]].<ref name=":1" />
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