Diana
From silvesti
Diana is the Roman goddess of the hunt, the moon, and nature (especially woodlands and wild animals). She holds deer and oak groves sacred. The crescent moon, sometimes worn as a diadem, is a symbol of the goddess.
Name
Diana (djˈaː.na) is analogous to:
Artemis
- Greek (CG) goddess of the hunt, the moon, forests, hills, and archery. She holds deer and cypress sacred.
- Hellenic (CG) goddess of the hunt, wild animals, wilderness, childbirth, virginity, and protector of young girls.
Ehlonna/Ehlenestra (eh-LOHN-nah/eh-LEHN-estra)
- Oerth/Elven, Template:Small goddess of forests, woodlands, flora, fauna, and fertility. Her symbol is a rampant unicorn or a unicorn’s horn.
- Flan Eternal Maiden, goddess of children, and both huntress and prey in the eternal cycle of life.
- Pathfinder
Mielikki (my-LEE-kee)
- Finnish goddess of forests and the hunt.
- Faerûnian Forest Queen, Template:Small goddess of autumn, druids, dryads, forests, forest creatures and rangers. Her symbol is a left-facing unicorn’s head. She resides in the Grove of the Unicorns, within the House of Nature.
- See also
- Sheela Peryroyl, the halfling goddess of nature, agriculture, and weather. Her realm, the Flowering Hill, is in the Green Fields.
Realm
As Ehlonna, Ehlenestra or Mielikki; her realm is the Grove of the Unicorns, within the House of Nature.
In popular culture
Ben Jonson
- “Hymn to Diana” (c.1600)[1]
- Qᴜᴇᴇɴ and Huntress, chaste and fair,
- Now the sun is laid to sleep,
- Seated in thy silver chair
- State in wonted manner keep;[2]
- Hesperus entreats thy light,
- Goddess excellently bright.
- State in wonted manner keep;[2]
- Earth, let not thy envious shade
- Dare itself to interpose;
- Cynthia’s shining orb was made
- Heaven to clear when day did close:
- Bless us then with wishèd sight,
- Goddess excellently bright.
- Heaven to clear when day did close:
- Lay thy bow of pearl apart
- And thy crystal-shining quiver;
- Give unto the flying hart
- Space to breathe, how short soever:
- Thou that mak’st a day of night,
- Goddess excellently bright!
- Space to breathe, how short soever:
Alberto Vargas
- “Diana the Huntress” (1930s) painting of a nude Diana with two Borzoi.
- “Diana the Huntress” (1980) limited-edition hand-signed 74×54㎝ print (1/50)
- “The Vargas Centennial 1896–1996” limited-edition 24×36″ lithograph (1/?)
- “Hymn to Diana”, Esquire (1941 March) gatefold with a green dress added for censors.
Phil Stack
- “Hymn to Diana” (1941)[3]
- In mythologic ages
- You were Goddess of the Chase
- And the poets and the sages
- Hymned the beauty of your face,
- Yes, you thrilled them to the marrow
- As you roamed the woodland, dense,
- With your crafty bow and arrow
- You were certainly immense!
- But it seems a shame, Diana,
- That you’re still not on the job,
- What a uniform hosanna
- You would get from all the mob!
- You’re so charming, blonde and vital
- That if Broadway’s haunts you graced
- You’d soon have another title—
- You’d be ɢᴏᴅᴅᴇss ᴏꜰ ᴛʜᴇ ᴄʜᴀsᴇᴅ!
References
- ↑ Braithwaite, William Stanley ed. (1907) The Book of Elizabethan Verse
- From Cynthia’s Revels, acted 1600, act V. sc.6. “One of the most popular songs,” says Mr. Erskine (The Elizabethan Lyric, ed.1905), “which, however, is steeped in classical rather than in English feeling…. The lyric emotion in Jonson never burns very bright: he is an intellectual artist rather than a singer.”
- ↑ Braithwaite, William Stanley ed. (1907) The Book of Elizabethan Verse
- Seated in thy silver chair State in wonted manner keep.
- Coleman suggests that these lines may have inspired Milton’s:
- Come, but keep thy wonted state
- With even step and musing gait.
- Come, but keep thy wonted state
- (Il Penseroso.)
- ↑ Esquire (March 1941) caption for an Alberto Vargas gatefold.
