Temple of Artemis image carried through the streets and surrounded by maidens. In the Roman Imperial era, the emperor Commodus lent his name to the festival games, and might have sponsored them. From the Greek point of view, the Ephesian Artemis is a distinctive form of their goddess Artemis. In Greek cult and myth, Artemis is the twin of Apollo, a virgin huntress who supplanted the Titan Selene as goddess of the Moon. At Ephesus, a goddess whom the Greeks associated with Artemis was venerated in an archaic, pre-Hellenic cult image that was carved of wood (a "xoanon") and kept decorated with jewelry.
Handel's lost Hamburg operas Lycoris is prepared to await the outcome of events, but Damon, Galathea and Alfirena are in despair, as the opera ends with another spectacular celebration in honour of Apollo. The second opera, "Daphne", begins as the wedding of Florindo and Daphne gets under way. Cupid, bent on more mischief, wounds Daphne with a special arrow, forged by the god Vulcan, that causes her to renounce all love. She abandons the wedding and announces that she will join the goddess Diana and become a huntress. This sparks a series of schemes and counter-schemes as both Apollo and Florindo continue to pursue