Context

The story of Diana and Actaeon starts on the 138th line of Book III of Ovid’s Metamorphoses. It is on the early side of the book and is in the second section of “The Avenging Gods,” according to scholar Brooks Otis and this section’s name aptly describes our story. Because of an embarrassing accident, a goddess takes revenge on a mortal and effectively kills him.  Before this story is the story of how Cadmus founded Thebes, a city in central Greece. The story transitions from Cadmus to his grandson, Actaeon. The story of Diana and Actaeon was originally the story of Artemis and Actaeon, and is commonly attributed to the Greek poet Callimachus (Hymn V). In the original version, Actaeon sees Artemis bathing and is captivated: as punishment, Artemis curses him to not speak, or else he will be turned into a stag. Actaeon speaks when he sees his dogs and is killed by them. Other sources of this story are Hesiod’s Catalogue of Women and one of Aeschylus’ Toxidites (Lacy). Diodorus Siculus, a Greek historian, even writes that Actaeon attempted to become Artemis’ sexual partner. Ovid retells this story in Roman times, with some slight variations, as Actaeon is not cursed to be mute at first and does not attempt to court Diana. Notably, in the Epic of Gilgamesh, one of the main characters, Ishtar, turns her former lover into a wolf who is killed by his dogs in an interesting parallel. The poem experienced a revival during the Renaissance, with famous artists like Titian painting the moment that Actaeon happens upon Diana. Paintings of Actaeon being eaten by his hounds were far less common, although Titian also painted that scene (Wikipedia). The story of Diana and Actaeon begins when a hunter, Actaeon, stumbles upon Diana, while she is bathing. The nymphs shield Diana’s naked body, but she is outraged and splashes water on him, cursing him to be a deer. Acteon flees miserably, only to be over taken and killed by his own dogs. The following story is the story of Juno and Semele. Juno is upset that Jupiter has impregnated Semele, and tricks her into asking Jupiter to give her his true embrace and she is consumed by fire. The historian, Hans Biedermann, believes that Actaeon symbolizes human curiosity and how this can lead to irreverence and necessitate human sacrifice to the Gods (Dictionary of Symbolism).