What was the setting in first-century Ephesus?

Curetes Street

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What was Ephesus like and who was Artemis of the Ephesians

in the first centuries?

http://epigraphy.packhum.org/inscriptions/main

Site visits: Ephesus, Rome, Pompeii, Athens, Jerusalem

Plutarch (A.D. 46–120)  

“Alexander [the Great] was born … the same day that the temple of Artemis at Ephesus was burned…. Its mistress was absent, assisting at the birth of Alexander.”

Strabo

“Artemis has her name from the fact that she makes people ‘Artemeas’ meaning sound, well, or delivered…”

LSJ lexicon: ἀρτεμέω, to be safe, sound

“It is often thought that Artemis of Ephesus was a fertility goddess. However, Oster has noted that this view of the cult stems in large part from the Christian polemic against Artemis…” (Trebilco, 23)

Reasoning:

•Breasts

•Motherhood

•Sex

•Nurturing

What if…

1 Timothy 2:15 But “she will be saved through childbearing”-- if they continue in faith, love and holiness with propriety.

Creative thesis

History: First-century Ephesus

Gender: Esp. social history Art: The novel

Setting: The Ephesian Fragments

Character: Dr. Malia “Mia” Mikos

Excerpt