Source Verification: Actaeon

Every claim below is either what a named ancient source attests, in its own line or section, or a point where the sources themselves disagree.

What the Sources Attest

Why was Actaeon turned into a deer?

The ancient sources give different reasons. In Ovid's Metamorphoses, Actaeon wanders by chance into Diana's grotto while she bathes. She splashes him with water, dares him to tell that he saw her unclothed, and gives him a stag's horns. Apollodorus calls seeing Artemis bathing the more general opinion. He adds that Acusilaus blamed Zeus, angry that Actaeon wooed Semele. Pausanias reports Stesichorus's version, in which the goddess threw a deer-skin around him so his hounds would kill him, to stop him marrying Semele. Euripides's Bacchae gives a third cause: a boast that he hunted better than Artemis.

Source: Ovid, Metamorphoses 3.138-252; Apollodorus, Library 3.4.4; Pausanias, Description of Greece 9.2.3; Euripides, Bacchae 337-340

What did Actaeon do to Artemis?

In the best-known account he did nothing on purpose. Ovid's Metamorphoses has him end a morning's hunt at noon and wander, uncertain of the way, into the valley of Gargaphia. There he comes upon the goddess, whom Ovid calls Diana, bathing with her nymphs. Ovid insists his fault was the crime of Fortune, not guilt, since a mistake is not a crime. Other writers make him guilty. In Euripides's Bacchae, Cadmus says Actaeon boasted he was a better hunter than Artemis. Diodorus Siculus reports that some said he tried to force a marriage on the goddess at her own temple.

Source: Ovid, Metamorphoses 3.138-252; Euripides, Bacchae 337-340

Who is Actaeon in Greek mythology?

Actaeon is a hunter from the royal house of Thebes. Apollodorus's Library names his parents as Aristaeus and Autonoe, a daughter of Cadmus, and says the centaur Chiron raised him to hunt. Euripides's Bacchae also calls him Autonoe's son by Aristaeus. That makes him a cousin of Pentheus and Dionysus. He is remembered for his death. Changed into a deer, he was torn apart by his own hounds. Apollodorus places the death on Mount Cithaeron. In the Bacchae, Cadmus says Pentheus died where dogs once divided Actaeon.

Source: Apollodorus, Library 3.4.4; Euripides, Bacchae 1227-1230; Euripides, Bacchae 1290-1292

How did Actaeon die?

His own hunting dogs killed him. In Ovid's Metamorphoses, the transformed Actaeon keeps a human mind but loses his voice. He cannot decide whether to go home or hide in the woods. His hounds find him, and Ovid names more than thirty of them. Actaeon tries to cry out that he is their master, but no words come. His companions urge the pack on and call for Actaeon, wondering where he is. The dogs tear him apart, and Ovid says the goddess's anger was only satisfied when he died. Apollodorus says the goddess drove mad a pack of fifty dogs.

Source: Ovid, Metamorphoses 3.138-252; Apollodorus, Library 3.4.4

What happened to Actaeon's dogs?

Apollodorus says the dogs devoured Actaeon without knowing him and then searched for their master, howling. They came to the cave of the centaur Chiron, who had raised him. Chiron made an image of Actaeon, and it soothed their grief. Pausanias gives a rational account instead. In his view the hounds went mad without any god's help, and would have torn apart anyone they met. Ovid gives the dogs names and breeds, a long catalogue that includes Cretan, Spartan and Arcadian hounds.

Source: Apollodorus, Library 3.4.4; Pausanias, Description of Greece 9.2.4; Ovid, Metamorphoses 3.138-252

Where Accounts Differ

what Actaeon did wrong
which god caused his death
stag transformation or deer-skin
where Actaeon died
whether Actaeon was guilty
how many dogs

The offence differs. Ovid's Metamorphoses has Actaeon see Diana bathing by chance, and Apollodorus calls this the more general opinion. Acusilaus, cited by Apollodorus, and Stesichorus, cited by Pausanias, make him a suitor of Semele. Euripides's Bacchae has him boast that he hunted better than Artemis. Diodorus Siculus reports both an attempted marriage with Artemis at her temple and a boast of greater skill.
Which god drove his death differs. In Ovid and in Apollodorus's general version it is Artemis. Acusilaus, cited by Apollodorus, makes Zeus angry over Semele. In Stesichorus the goddess acts to stop the marriage to Semele. Pausanias himself thought no god was needed and that the hounds simply went mad.
How he became prey differs. Ovid's goddess sprinkles him with water and changes his body into a stag's. Apollodorus says she transformed him into a deer. Stesichorus, cited by Pausanias, has her throw a deer-skin around him instead.
The place differs. Apollodorus puts his death on Cithaeron, and in Euripides's Bacchae Cadmus says Pentheus died where dogs once divided Actaeon, which Agave's reply names as Cithaeron. Ovid sets the bath in the valley of Gargaphia. Pausanias saw a spring and a rock called the bed of Actaeon on the road from Megara to Plataea.
His guilt is judged differently. Ovid calls it the crime of Fortune, not guilt, and says people afterwards argued over the goddess's harshness. Callimachus's fifth Hymn says he will see the bath against his will. Diodorus Siculus says the goddess was justified whichever offence he committed.
The size of the pack differs. Apollodorus says fifty dogs. Ovid names more than thirty and says there were more than he will list.

Sources

Primary sources

Ovid, Metamorphoses 3.138-252
Ovid, Metamorphoses 3.253-315
Ovid, Metamorphoses 3.712-733
Apollodorus, Library 3.4.4
Euripides, Bacchae 337-340
Euripides, Bacchae 1227-1230
Euripides, Bacchae 1290-1292
Pausanias, Description of Greece 9.2.3
Pausanias, Description of Greece 9.2.4
Pausanias, Description of Greece 10.30.5