Who was Cynthia In Mythology?

Question

I heard she was likened to Diana.

Answer 1

Cynthia was one of the many names of Artemis, because Artemis was born on Mt. Kynthos on the island of Delos. As one of the oldest of the ancient Greek deities, she became associated with many things: she was the patron guardian of wild animals, the goodess of the hunt, the goddess of childbirth, and she became associated with war.

She had to be born on Delos because the goddess Hera (Zeus' wife) cursed Leto by telling here that the only place Leto could give birth would be in a place where there had never been sunlight. Zeus took pity on Leto and raised up an island (Delos) from the bottom of the ocean so that she could have a place to give birth where no sun had shone before.

Artemis' parents, therefore, were Zeus and Leto, and she was the twin sister of the great god Apollo. Strangely, she was born first, but then helped her mother give birth to little Apollo.

In Roman times, later on, Artemis (Cynthia) became associated with Diana, the Roman goddess of the hunt, of animals, and eventually Diana became another of Artemis' many names. She was also one of the most popular of the ancient deities in both the Greek and Roman world.

In the earliest of Christian times, the New Testament even mentions Artemis by name, as there was a great and beautiful temple to Artemis in the city of Ephesus, where St. Paul came to preach to the crowd about Jesus. The people were so shocked and horrified at this desecration of Artemis that they began shouting "Kalla ei sou Artemis Ephesion!" (You are great, Artemis of the Ephesians!) They did this, apparently, to drown out Paul's voice.

She had an interesting life in mythology. There are many sources about her on the Internet that you might find helpful. Do a search with the words: Cynthia in Greek Mythology, and you will find a number of these sources easily, including a good one from Wikipedia. For more information, please do a search with the word Artemis. You will find endless sources on her.

Good luck!

Answer 2

Goddess Cynthia

Answer 3

Cynthia is Artemis's nickname. Cynthia also refers to Mount Cynthus were Apollo was born. Apollo was also called Cynthius. She is closely identified with Diana.
Please see link below for Encyclopedia Mythica's explanation:

http://www.pantheon.org/articles/c/cynthia.html