Actaeon

American  

[ak-tee-uhn] / ækˈti ən /

noun

Classical Mythology.

1. a hunter who, for having seen Diana bathing, was changed by her into a stag and was torn to pieces by his own hounds.

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Actaeon British  

/ ˈæktɪən, ækˈtiːən /

noun

1. Greek myth a hunter of Boeotia who, having accidentally seen Artemis bathing, was turned into a stag and torn apart by his own hounds

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Example Sentences

The painting in question, entitled Diana and Actaeon, dates from the Renaissance era and portrays a mythical scene from the Roman poet Ovid's Metamorphoses.

From BBC • Dec. 12, 2023

In the past, he was identified as Meleager or Actaeon, mythological huntsmen.

From New York Times • Jun. 9, 2016

When Diana sees Actaeon watching her, she covers her body in a rage and turns him from a human into a stag, a lower member of the food chain.

From The New Yorker • May 16, 2015

There were concertos for various instruments and concertante pieces including his Actaeon for orchestra and solo horn, and his Sonnets to Orpheus for orchestra and solo cello.

From The Guardian • Dec. 25, 2012

Achilles was his pupil and Aesculapius, the great physician; the famous hunter Actaeon, too, and many another.

From "Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes" by Edith Hamilton