Britomartis

Britomartis was a Cretan goddess, a nymph and companion of Artemis who loved hunting and running. She was known in Crete as Dictynna, “She of the Nets”, and on the island of Aegina as Aphaea. The Greek sources tell her story in several forms: the best known has her flee King Minos and leap into the sea, where fishermen’s nets save her.

Parentage and Names

Pausanias reports the Cretan account: Britomartis was the daughter of Zeus and Carme, who was the daughter of Eubulus and granddaughter of Carmanor, the man who purified Apollo after he killed the Python (Pausanias 2.30.3). Diodorus Siculus also makes her the daughter of Zeus and Carme, though he calls Eubulus a son of Demeter, and adds that she was born at Caeno in Crete, and that she was also called Dictynna (Diodorus Siculus 5.76.3). Callimachus calls her the nymph of Gortyn (Callimachus, Hymn 3 to Artemis 190).

Britomartis and Minos

Callimachus says that Artemis loved “the nymph of Gortyn, Britomartis, slayer of stags, the goodly archer”, and that Minos, in love with her, roamed the hills of Crete in pursuit. She hid now under the oaks, now in the low meadows, and for nine months he pursued her over crags and cliffs, until, almost caught, she leapt from a cliff into the sea and fell into fishermen’s nets, which saved her. From the nets (dictya) the people of Cydonia called her Dictynna and the hill from which she leapt the Hill of Nets, and there they set up altars and sacrificed (Callimachus, Hymn 3 to Artemis 189–205).

Pausanias gives the same outline: Britomartis, who delighted in running and the chase and was very dear to Artemis, fled from Minos and threw herself into nets that had been cast for a catch of fish. Artemis made her a goddess (Pausanias 2.30.3).

Another Explanation of the Name Dictynna

Diodorus does not accept the tale of the nets. In his version, Britomartis invented the nets (dictya) used in hunting, and that is why she is called Dictynna; she spent her time in the company of Artemis, so that some people thought Dictynna and Artemis were the same goddess. He denies that so great a god’s daughter would have needed the help of fishermen, and says that the Cretans built temples and held sacrifices in her honour (Diodorus Siculus 5.76.3–4). Strabo also argues with Callimachus about the place of the leap, noting that there was a mountain, Tityrus, in Cydonian territory with a temple called not Dictaean but Dictynnaean (Strabo 10.4.12).

Worship in Aegina and Sparta

Pausanias says that Britomartis was worshipped not only by the Cretans but also by the Aeginetans, who said that she appeared in their island; her surname there was Aphaea, in Crete Dictynna. There was a sanctuary of Aphaea on Aegina, for which Pindar composed an ode (Pausanias 2.30.3). In Sparta, Pausanias notes that the Artemis Issoria, also called Lady of the Lake, was not really Artemis but Britomartis of Crete (Pausanias 3.14.2).

Britomartis Sources

The main sources are Callimachus, Hymn 3 to Artemis 189–205; Diodorus Siculus 5.76.3–4; Pausanias 2.30.3 and 3.14.2; and Strabo 10.4.12.

See Also: Artemis, Zeus, Minos