Hymnia ( grc, Ὑμνία) was an epithet of the

Greek goddess A major branch of classical mythology, Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the ancient Greeks, and a genre of Ancient Greek folklore. These stories concern the origin and nature of the world, the lives and activities of de ...

Artemis In ancient Greek mythology and religion, Artemis (; grc-gre, Ἄρτεμις) is the goddess of the hunt, the wilderness, wild animals, nature, vegetation, childbirth, care of children, and chastity. She was heavily identified with Sel ...

under which she was worshipped throughout Arcadia. She had a temple someplace between Orchomenus and

Mantineia Mantineia (also Mantinea ; el, Μαντίνεια; also Koine Greek ''Antigoneia'') was a city in ancient Arcadia, Greece, which was the site of two significant battles in Classical Greek history. In modern times it is a former municipality i ...

. We know from the geographer

Pausanias Pausanias ( el, Παυσανίας) may refer to: * Pausanias of Athens, lover of the poet Agathon and a character in Plato's ''Symposium'' *Pausanias the Regent, Spartan general and regent of the 5th century BC * Pausanias of Sicily, physician of ...

that Orchomenus at least used to hold festivals in her honor. The priests and priestesses of Hymnia were at first always virgins who were to remain celibate in the priesthood. They were also subject to high standards of propriety, such as being forbidden to enter into the home of a private individual. This lifetime

celibacy Celibacy (from Latin ''caelibatus'') is the state of voluntarily being unmarried, sexually abstinent, or both, usually for religious reasons. It is often in association with the role of a religious official or devotee. In its narrow sense, th ...

was fairly unusual for ancient Greek priesthoods. In the early 7th century BCE, after the king Aristocrates of Orchomenus raped one of the priestesses in the temple, it was deemed that the priestess should always be a married woman, or, according to some, an elderly woman, or one who had simply ceased or had had "enough" sex with men. The sanctuary of Artemis Hymnia is believed to have been near the modern town of

Levidi Levidi ( el, Λεβίδι) is a small town and a former municipality in Arcadia, Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Tripoli, of which it is a municipal unit. The municipal unit has an area of ...

, on the northern slope of Mt. Anchisia.

References

{{DGRBM, author=LS, title=Hymnia, volume=2, page=537, url=https://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/moa/acl3129.0002.001/547 Epithets of Artemis Women in Greek mythology