| According to an ancient Cretan myth, Britomartis or Diktynna was a chaste virgin who wandered the mountains and forests hunting wild animals. Minos gave chase to her when she resisted his advances. Desperate to escape, Britomartis hurled herself into the sea, upon which Artemis gathered her up in a net and made her a goddess in honour of her chastity. The paper examines analogies in the narrative with other ancient myths, and examines the significance of names encountered in them. The conclusion is that the myth of Britomartis depicts certain physical phenomena linked to the movement of the heavenly bodies, the alternation of night and day and the seasons of the year in an anthropomorphic manner. |