8+The+Temple+of+Artemis

**The Temple of Artemis **
= = = By Maura W. = = = __SUMMARY

 In 1100 BC, the first Temple of Artemis was created in Ephesus, Turkey. At one time, the town’s people were extremely proud of their temple with the columns in which it was most famous, mainly because of all of the time and effort they put into the making of it. The temple was built for the Greek goddess, Artemis. To the Romans, her name is Diana. She is the goddess of the hunt and the moon to the Greeks, but to the Ephesians, she is the goddess of fertility (the state of being easily able to become pregnant). Years ago, the temple was a great accomplishment, but 800 years after the third and final temple was destroyed, Artemis was forgotten, and so was her temple. __   Artemis was thought to h ave been the daughter of Leto and Zeus, and the twin sister of Apollo. Both she and her brother were thought to have had fierce tempers, and rarely gave mercy. Besides this fact, she was greatly appreciated for her bravery and strength. The first temples construction began before 200 BC, and was about 150 feet by 320 feet. In 550 BC, King Croesus, the Lydian king, and his army destroyed the temple in battle. King Croesus thought of himself to be a generous ruler, so he rebuilt the beloved temple. The architect was Theodorous, who built the temple to be 300 feet by 150 feet. The temple stood strong until 356 BC, when an Ephesian named Herostratus, who would do anything just so that his name would go down in history, burnt the temple to the ground, leaving the town’s people in shock. Shortly after the tragedy, another temple was built. The architect was one of the most famous of his time, Scopas of Paros. The temple was thought to have been the first temple made completely out of marble. The third temple was 425feet by 225 feet. The Goths destroyed the third temple in 262 A.D. People that lived in Ephesus moved out of the swampy areas to the nearby hills, and the temple wasn’t rebuilt again. Constantine, the Roman Emperor of the time was a Catholic, and did not believe in the gods or goddesses, so he refused to rebuild the temple.

 The accomplishment of the Ephesians was forgotten after their precious temple was destroyed for the third time. Artemis, the goddess of fertility, the hunt, and the moon, and the great amount of effort put into the temple for her was all forgotten, and the columns that were so tall were abandoned. 