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{{Short description|Cretan goddess of mountains and hunting}}
{{About||the butterfly genus|Britomartis (butterfly)|the Senone chief fl. 280s BC|Britomaris|the Gaulish commander fl. 220s BC|Viridomarus}}
[[File:The Drowning of Britomartis, 1547–59.jpg|thumb|''The Drowning of Britomartis'', probably design by [[Jean Cousin the Elder]], tapestry]]
{{Greek myth (nymph)}}▼
'''Britomartis''' ({{IPAc-en||b|r|ɪ|t|oʊ|'|m|ɑːr|t|ɪ|s}};<ref>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/newcenturyclassi00aver/page/226/mode/2up |page=227 |title=New Century Classical Handbook |first=Catherine B. |last=Avery |publisher=Appleton-Century-Crofts |location=New York |year=1962}}</ref>{{lang-grc-gre|Βριτόμαρτις}}) was a [[Greek goddess]] of mountains and hunting, who was primarily worshipped on the island of [[Crete]]. She was sometimes believed to be an [[oread]],
In the 16th century, the naming of a character identified with English military prowess as "Britomart" in [[Edmund Spenser]]'s knightly [[Epic poetry|epic]] ''[[The Faerie Queene]]''
▲In the 16th century, the naming of a character identified with English military prowess as "Britomart" in [[Edmund Spenser]]'s knightly [[Epic poetry|epic]] ''[[The Faerie Queene]]'' (probably just because "Brit" seemed to fit well with "Britain", with "mart" from [[Mars]], the god of war) led to a number of appearances by "Britomart" figures in British art and literature.
▲{{Greek myth (nymph)}}
==Etymology==
According to [[Gaius Julius Solinus|Solinus]], the name 'Britomartis' is from a Cretan dialect; he also says that her name means ''virgo dulcis'', or "sweet virgin".<ref>[[Gaius Julius Solinus|Solinus]], ix.8.</ref> Solinus also identifies her explicitly as the Cretan Artemis.<ref>Noted by [[H. J. Rose]], ''A Handbook of Greek Mythology'' (New York) 1959:117, citing [[Theodor Mommsen]]'s edition, 1864.</ref> [[Hesychius of Alexandria]] also equates the Cretan word βριτύ (''britý'') with Greek γλυκύ (''glyký'') 'sweet'.<ref>[http://paleoglot.blogspot.ca/2009/12/deeper-source-of-cretan-britomartis.html "A deeper source of Cretan Britomartis"], on ''paleoglot.blogspot.ca''.</ref> Other scholars have argued that ''Britomartis'' ("sweet maid") is an [[epithet]] that does not reveal the goddess's name,<ref>A Christian parallel may render this observation even clearer: ''Mater dolens'', "grieving mother", identifies the [[Mary (mother of Jesus)|Blessed Virgin]], but none of the four attributes—"grieving, mother, blessed, virgin"— gives her name, ''[[Mary (mother of Jesus)|Mary]]''.</ref> nor her character, instead arguing that it may be
==Mythology==
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In the second century CE, the Greek writer [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]] describes Britomartis saying, "She was made a goddess by Artemis, and she is worshipped, not only by the Cretans, but also by the [[Aegina|Aiginetans]]."<ref name="2.30.3">[[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]], [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0525.tlg001.perseus-eng1:2.30.3 2.30.3].</ref>
[[Antoninus Liberalis]] wrote that after escaping Minos, she arrived at Aegina, but a local fisherman named Andromedes tried to lay hands on her, so she jumped off her boat, and became known as [[Aphaea]], a local Aeginetan goddess, whose name Antoninus interprets as 'she who disappeared'. In Britomartis's place, a statue appeared in a temple of Artemis in Aegina.<ref>[[Antoninus Liberalis]], [https://topostext.org/work/216#40 40]</ref>
== As Diktynna ==
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==See also==
*[[HMS Britomart|HMS ''Britomart'']],
==Notes==
{{Reflist
== References ==
* [[Diodorus Siculus]], ''Library of History, Volume III: Books 4.59-8''. Translated by [[Charles Henry Oldfather|C. H. Oldfather]]. [[Loeb Classical Library]] No. 340. Cambridge, Massachusetts: [[Harvard University Press]], 1939. {{ISBN|978-0-674-99375-4}}. [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Diodorus_Siculus/home.html Online version by Bill Thayer]
* [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]], ''Pausanias Description of Greece with an English Translation by W.H.S. Jones, Litt.D., and H.A. Ormerod, M.A., in 4 Volumes.'' Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1918. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Paus.+1.1.1 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library].
== External links ==
{{Wikisource1911Enc|Britomartis}}
{{Commons category|Britomartis (nymph)}}
{{Greek mythology (deities)}}
{{Metamorphoses in Greco-Roman mythology}}
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:Oreads]]
[[Category:Hunting goddesses]]
[[Category:Greek
[[Category:Children of Zeus]]
[[Category:
[[Category:Deeds of Artemis]]
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