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Artemis worshipers were found all over the ancient Greek world. One of the most famous worshiping sites for Artemis was in Attica at Brauron. Artemis is said to have presided over all the biological transitions of females from before puberty to the first childbirth. “Young girls began to prepare for the event of the first childbirth at an early age. Even before menarche young girls danced for Artemis, in some places playing the role of animals. At the Attic site, or Brauron, in the rite called ''arkteia'', girls representing the polis of Athens imitated she-bears, ''arktoi''." 〔Blundell, Sue and Margaret Williamson, eds. The Sacred and the Feminine in Ancient Greece. New York: Routledge, 1998, 33.〕 “The initiation ritual for girls was called the Brauronia, after the location of Artemis' shrine at Brauron, in Attica, where the ritual, performed by girls before they reached puberty, took place.”〔Harris, Stephen L. and Gloria Platzner, eds. Classical Mythology Images and Insights. New York: The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., 2004, 335.〕 Brauron is the site where Iphigenia, Agamemnon’s daughter, is said to have established a temple to Artemis by decree of Athena, as told in Euripides’ ''Iphigeneia in Tauris''. ==Origin myths== One of the many myths surrounding the Cult of Artemis at Brauron originates with the story of Iphigeneia. In the story of the Trojan War, as described by Aeschylus, the Greeks had earned the disfavor of Artemis by shooting one of her sacred stags and thus were unable to put to sea against the Trojans due to disfavorable winds, conjured by the goddess. In Euripides' 'Iphigeneia at Tauris' lines 1446–1468 we find a reference to this origin myth: "And you, Iphigeneia, beside the holy stairs of Brauron you must hold the keys for the goddess herself: where you will die and be buried, and – as a delight for you – they will dedicate the finely woven material of woven cloth which by chance women having lost their lives in childbirth abandon in their homes. I command you to send forth these Greek women from the ground due to their correct intentions.”〔Euripides, ''Iphigeneia at Aulis'', 406 BCE〕 In response, an oracle declares that a human sacrifice is required and Agamemnon orders his daughter, Iphigeneia, to come forward for the sacrifice but under false pretenses. The attendants seize her and she is gagged to prevent her cries from reaching the ears of the gods. In a final act of desperation, she shrugs out of her robes and tries wordlessly, to reach out to the elders, hoping that in their pity they will release her from her hell. Iphigeneia’s shedding of her robes is an act done by the “bears” of Brauronian Artemis, as depicted by vases which show the bears having shed their robes and naked, an act which is significant as the fulfillment of a bear’s career. Iphigeneia makes the original sacrifice and the “bears” continue the ritual by shedding their saffron robes.〔Stinton, T. C. W. 1976. “Iphigeneia and the Bears of Brauron.” The Classical Quarterly 26:11-13〕 Another myth is much more simple. According to this myth, two Athenian men killed a bear sacred to Artemis, who, “responding by sending a plague that would cease only if the Athenians would consecrate their daughters to her, the ‘bear Artemis’, every five years.”〔Hughes, J. D. 1990. “Artemis: Goddess of Conservation”. Forest & Conservation History; 34:191-197〕 Artemis was worshipped as the Great-She-Bear and the girls, who were required to undergo a period of ritual ‘wildness' before puberty, were her images, the arktoi, and often wore bear masks in rituals. ==The wrath of Artemis== 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Cult of Artemis at Brauron」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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