Female Artemis and male Artemis among the Slavs

Abstract

Attempting to explain the meaning of the image on the deer antler prongs from the VIII-XIth centuries in Nin, the motif of the hunt and the sacrifice and the motif of alternating fields, the author turns to mythic representations of the Slavs and the Croats from the pagan period. The detail of the flowering bull's tail, a tail in the form of wheat, is primarily connected with the Mithraic religion and by making an identification between Mithra and Artemis/Anahita it is also connected with the religion of the Slavs. One of the most important Slav gods is Rod who comes paired with the godess, the threefold Rožanice. This Slavic mythic situation is parallel to the Persian, Iranian as far as the pair go. In addition. Rod and Rožanice in Slavic sources are directly identified with female Artemis and male Artemis, the pair signifying fertility, that is the Sun and water, essence and existence.