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Did nobody ever tell you the tale of Artemis and Orion?
The greatest hunting partners to ever walk the world, those two archaic deities who will never touch again.
Yes- that's right- the Goddess and the Half-Man. Who should have known they could not be together.
She who had hair of the colour of fertile soil, and he who had hair the colour of wheat.
One day whilst hunting in the Beech forests below Olympus, Orion came upon a Stag running, and sent forth his dogs. Then out of nowhere came the perfect arrow, striking it dead. As Orion approached the pool of blood surrounding its head, out of nowhere came the glowing figure of Artemis, and at the sight of the Goddess of the Hunt and the Wilderness, Orion bowed in respect.
“I thank thee for thy reverence” her soft voice draped over him, she extended a hand a lifted him from his place. “But no need to pay so much, for I know thee as Orion”.
Before the man could respond, he turned and saw his own hounds, rolling with those of Artemis, and smiled gently at the sight. Images of a hunting group composed of the two and their dogs in his mind.
“I love thy smile Orion”, said Artemis, “say you will hunt with me, and give me such smiles for the rest of this season”, and as the summer sun came to set on that first day, they laughed the night away, and fed on a gently cooked Stag roasted over a fire.
Artemis and Orion passed the best summer of their lives together much in the same way. By day they did not compete, but worked together for the hunt, the dogs would chase something down, and either Artemis or Orion would make the final kill with their arrows. Both having untouchable accuracy.
Once the evening came they would take part in storytelling, Orion would talk mostly of the mortal plain, and his life, and Artemis would sit and listen, and then tell him of Leto, and Zeus, and of her brother Apollo.
Around midnight fires they gave each other the first prizes of lips and arms, forgetting lost loves in the warmth of each other. They quickly became partners with an unbreakable bond, with an understanding that though they could never truly consummate the relationship, they could offer each other everything but.
As all Greeks knew, such things could not last. And whilst many on Olympus blessed the relationship, with Aphrodite offering them the gift of loyalty, and Athena offering them the gift of good communication, Artemis’s own brother Apollo instead looked down in spite. Cursing the love. Perhaps out of jealousy, or perhaps just in archaic defence of the idea of chastity and virginity.
He brought the sun up earlier, and had it set later, so that the couple's night-times did not last. When this did not work, he had Hephaestus extinguish their fires, so hours were taken up by rekindling them. But none of these frustrations broke the bond between Artemis and Orion, who used each other for warmth on the third night of this happening.
And so, it was on the last day of that summer, when Artemis and Orion reached the beaches of Greece, that Apollo devised his crude plan. As the pair swam, in blissful ignorance of all around them, he laced their food with a potent sleeping draught.
By the low sun hours, the two soundly slept, and Apollo took Orion and transfigured him into a Stag. When Artemis awoke, she saw only Apollo. Not knowing of his spite, she simply asked, “Brother fair, do you know where my Orion is?”- and he replied through gritted teeth, “No, I know not of that Orion. I have come to hunt with you, will you join me sister?”
Deciding Orion had gone into some near town for new supplies, Artemis foolishly left their camp, following Apollo into the nearest wood, which was orange with summer haze. They came upon the first Stag, which looked fearful, and ran, they chased it till sunset, which is when Artemis first said, “That Stag looks so scared, like he knows, I cannot strike it down”.
“Sister? You have softened! Has this Orion taken all of you hunting prowess away?”
Artemis did not like a challenge, and all knew this, and so she raised her bow, drew back, and shot the animal in the leg, and as the Stag went into true form, Apollo disappeared, and with him gone, the sun finally set.
Artemis ran, knowing instantly. The grass around was red, as the artery bled and bled, and bled. Orion tried to take the arrow out, it was instinctual to try and cease the pain, but the wood splintered instantly- only worsening the wound. As Orion's hands stained with an ancient wine, he howled, and the dogs came running. Orion was too blinded by his fading mortality to hear the Goddess Artemis, who cradled him, her robes forever a reminder that she had killed her true love.
“I love thee, I love thee, I love thee” she said, on dead ears until the sky was completely black and cloudless. Tears mixed with blood, but she could not leave the wheat hair or ashen skin behind. It was then that Zeus came down from above, followed by Leto.
“Daughter” they spoke, but they were not answered.
They stood in silence, until Artemis finally rose.
“Smite all thee down! Curse retched immortality! Curse my brother!” and even the God of thunder heard the approaching storm in her voice. “Why? Why! Piousness be damned! I loved thee like I have never loved, and shall never love again! Have Hades bring him back! Have Apollo drown in the Styx instead!”
Leto’s tears fell like rivers, and she only had to look at her own former lover, Zeus, for him to understand that he needed to do something.
“Even I cannot bring this love back. Artemis, you know this” Zeus gravelled out.
“Coward!” Artemis spoke, knowing the truth, but denying it.
“Look up, Artemis” he spoke again. And then Leto corrected “Up, at the sky.”
The Goddess looked, and above her head was that oh-so familiar shape of her love, the Demi-God son of Poseidon, Orion, his figure traced by the stars, in a fighting stance. Still Artemis wept, but this time with a bittersweet smile accompanying the salt in her tears, and pain in her mind.