Diana and Actaeon which might have been better called "Diana and Endymion," is still performed today as a spectacular showpiece for a ballerina and her partner. Diana and Actaeon The myth of Diana and Actaeon can be found in Ovid’s "Metamorphoses". The tale recounts the unfortunate fate of a young hunter named Actaeon, who was a grandson of Cadmus, and his encounter with chaste Artemis, known to the Romans as Diana, goddess of the hunt. The latter is nude and enjoying a bath in a spring with help from her escort of nymphs when the mortal man unwittingly stumbles upon the scene. The
Diana and Actaeon choreographed by Marius Petipa to music by Cesare Pugni, included a "pas de trois" for dancers portraying Diana, the Roman goddess of the moon, the hunt, and chastity; Endymion, a beautiful shepherd, and a Satyr. This "divertissement" told of a poetic encounter in which Diana (or Selene, another name for the moon goddess) looked down upon the sleeping youth, descended to earth, kissed him, and fell in love. In a production mounted in the early twentieth century, Anna Pavlova was among those who danced Diana, and Vaslav Nijinsky appeared as the Satyr. In 1917, George Balanchine, then Balanchivadze, also danced