When Artemis was a child, she found five gigantic hinds (female deer) grazing in Thessaly and captured four of them to draw her chariot. The fifth escaped across a river to Mt. Cerynaea, on the border of Achaea and Arcadia. The Ceryneian or Golden Hind was sacred to Artemis. Although female, it had golden antlers like a stag and hooves of bronze. It was said that it could outrun an arrow in flight. Artemis allowed Heracles to capture the hind, his third labor, after he promised to liberate the animal after completing his task.
Author: Anatolia | Date: Late 4th - Early 1st Century B.C.
