Temple of Aphaia
The Greek goddess Aphaea or Aphaia is exclusive to the island of Aegina. The myth of Aphaea dates back into the Ancient Era from about the 14th century BC and could have been a Minoan Goddess. Aphaea was the goddesses of fertility and was worshipped to bring good fortune to farmers of Aegina. The Greek archaic temple built on Aegina to Aphaea is of the Doric order and was constructed in about 500BC. The slender Doric columns and the relative proportions of the temple of Aphaea led experts to associate the temple with the female goddess.
Britomartis was the Minoan goddess of the mountains and hunting, in close relation to Diktynna and Aphaea, forerunner of Potnia theron (Mistress of Animals) and Artemis, partly identified with them.
The name Sweet Maid or Sweet Virgin is connected with the mythical story of Britomartis, the same as her later names - Diktynna in Crete and Aphaea (Aphaia) in Aegina (Aigina). According to a late myth, Britomartis was the daughter of Zeus and Carme, daughter of Euboulos. A virgin was pursued by Minos, she was running away from him, finally she threw herself into the nets. Artemis made her a goddess with the name Diktynna. She became the goddess of the mountains and the shores and ports, sometimes she is called the goddess of nets. In another version of the myth Britomartis escaped into the island Aegina, where she was worshipped as Aphaea, the protectoress of the island.
She was worshipped as Dictynna, goddess of the nets (dictys) or of Cretan Mount Dicte. The Greeks also identified her with Aphaea, a primitive local goddess of Aegina whose temple there is famous for its pedimental sculptures.
After the introduction of the worship of Artemis into Crete, Britomartis, between whom and Artemis there were several points of resemblance, was placed in some relation to her: Artemis, who loved her, assumed her name and was worshipped under it, and in the end the two divinities became completely identified, as we see from the story which makes Britomartis a daughter of Leto. (Callim. Hymn. in Dian. 189, with the Schol.; Paus. ii. 30. § 3; Schol. ad Aristoph. Ran. 1402; Eurip. Iphig. Taur. 126; Aristoph. Ran. 1358; Virg. Cir. 305.) The myths of Britomartis is given by some of the authorities just referred to. She was a daughter of Zeus and Carme, the daughter of Eubulus. She was a nymph, took great delight in wandering about hunting, and was beloved by Artemis. Minos, who likewise loved her, pursued her for nine months, but she fled from him and at last threw herself into the nets which had been set by fishermen, or leaped from mount Dictynnaeum into the sea, where she became entangled in the nets, but was saved by Artemis, who now made her a goddess. She was worshipped not only in Crete, but appeared to the inhabitants of Aegina, and was there called Aphaea, whereas in Crete she received the surname Dictymna or Dictynna (from diktuon, a net; comp. Diod. v. 76). According to another tradition, Britomartis was fond of solitude, and had vowed to live in perpetual maidenhood. From Phoenicia (for this tradition calls her mother Carme, a daughter of Phoenix) she went to Argos, to the daughters of Erasinus, and thence to Cephallenia, where she received divine honours from the inhabitants under the name of Laphria. From Cephallenia she came to Crete, where she was pursued by Minos; but she fled to the sea-coast, where fishermen concealed her under their nets, whence she derived the surname Dictynna. A sailor, Andromedes, carried her from Crete to Aegina, and when, on landing there, he made an attempt upon her chastity, she fled from his vessel into a grove, and disappeared in the sanctuary of Artemis. The Aeginetans now built a sanctury to her, and worshipped her as a goddess. (Anton. Lib. 40.) These wanderings of Britomartis unquestionably indicate the gradual diffusion of her worship in the various maritime places of Greece mentioned in the legend. Her connexion and ultimate identification with Artemis had naturally a modifying influence upon the notions entertained of each of them. As Britomartis had to do with fishermen and sailors, and was the protectress of harbours and navigation generally, this feature was transferred to Artemis also, as we see especially in the Arcadian Artemis; and the temples of the two divinities, therefore, stood usually on the banks of rivers or on the sea-coast. As, on the other hand, Artemis was considered as the goddess of the moon, Britomartis likewise appears in this light: her disappearance in the sea, and her identification with the Aeginetan Aphaea, who was undoubtedly a goddess of the moon, seem to contain sufficient proof of this, which is confirmed by the fact, that on some coins of the Roman empire Dictynna appears with the crescent. Lastly, Britomartis was like Artemis drawn into the mystic worship of Hecate, and even identified with her. (Eurip. Hippol. 141, with the Schol.)
DICTE (Diktê), a nymph from whom mount Dicte in Crete was said to have received its name. She was beloved and pursued by Minos, but she threw herself into the sea, where she was caught up and saved in the nets (diktuon) of fishermen. Minos then desisted from pursuing her, and ordered the district to be called the Dictaean. (Serv. ad Aen. iii. 171.)
