They (ii. 735) begin by pointing out Artemis's connection with Apollo and
the moon. So do I! 'If Apollo soon disengages himself from the sun . .
. Artemis retains as few traces of any connection with the moon.' {143e}
'If Apollo was of solar origin,' asks the author (ii. 735), 'what could
his sister Artemis have been, from the very beginning, if not some
goddess connected with the moon?' Very likely; quis negavit? Then our
author, like myself (loc. cit.), dilates on Artemis as 'sister of
Apollo.' 'Her chapels,' I say, 'are in the wild wood; she is the abbess
of the forest nymphs,' 'chaste and fair, the maiden of the precise life.'
How odd! The classical scholar and I both say the same things; and I add
a sonnet to Artemis in this aspect, rendered by me from the Hippolytus of
Euripides. Could a classical scholar do more? Our author then says that
the Greek sportsman 'surprised the beasts in their lairs' by night. Not
very sportsmanlike! I don't find it in Homer or in Xenophon. Oh for
exact references! The moon, the nocturnal sportswoman, is Artemis: here
we have also the authority of Theodore de Banville (Diane court dans la
noire foret). And the nocturnal hunt is Dian's; so she is protectress of
the chase. Exactly what I said! {144a}
All this being granted by me beforehand (though possibly that might not
be guessed from my critic), our author will explain Artemis's human
sacrifice of a girl in a fawn-skin--bloodshed, bear and all--with no aid
from Kamilarois, Cahrocs, and Samoans.