Actaeon
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In Greek mythology, Actaeon (Greek: Ακταίων), son of the priestly herdsman Aristaeus and Autonoe in Boeotia, was a famous Theban hero, trained by the centaur Cheiron, who suffered the fatal wrath of Artemis; (later his myth was attached to her Roman counterpart Diana). The surviving details of his transgression vary: "the only certainty is in what Aktaion suffered, his πάθος, and what Artemis did: the hunter became the hunted; he was transformed into a stag, and his raging hounds, struck with a 'wolf's frenzy' (λύσσα), tore him apart as they would a stag." This is the iconic motif by which Actaeon is recognized, both in ancient art and in Renaissance and post-Renaissance depictions.
Actaeon in art
- Aeschylus and other tragic poets made use of the story, which was a favourite subject in ancient works of art.
- There is a well-known small marble group in the British Museum illustrative of the story, in gallery 83/84.
- Two paintings by the 16th century painter Titian (right; and Diana and Actaeon).
- Actéon, an operatic pastorale by Marc-Antoine Charpentier.
- the aria "Oft she visits this lone mountain" from Purcell's Dido and Aeneas, first performed in 1689 or earlier.
- Giordano Bruno, "Gli Eroici Furori".
- In canto V of G. B Marino's poem "Adone" the protagonist goes to theater to see a tragedy representing Actaeon's myth. This episode is relevant because it is a foreshadowing of the protagonist's violent death at the end of the book.
- A composition for Brass Band by Gareth Wood and premiered by Cory Band at the Royal Northern College of Music Festival of Brass 2008
- Actaeon's Fall (Against The Hounds), the opening track in the 2009 album Luminous Night by Six Organs of Admittance
- Ted Hughes wrote a version of the story in his 'Tales from Ovid'.
- "Diana and Actaeon", 2001 oil on linen by Katherine Doyle
