In Greek mythology, son of the god Aristaeus and Autonoe (daughter of Cadmus, the founder of Thebes in Boeotia); he was a Boeotian hero and hunter.

According to Ovid’s Metamorphoses, Actaeon accidentally saw Artemis (goddess of wild animals, vegetation and childbirth) while she was bathing on Mount Cithaeron; for this reason he was changed by her into a stag and was pursued and killed by his own 50 hounds.

The story was well known in antiquity. We liked the association with hounds and chose it as our kennel affix.

I have acquired 153 different images of Actaeon whilst browsing the internet, the most famous is probably Titian’s Diana and Actaeon, painted in 1557:

Other images date from 470BC right up to 1999AD, from early Greek vases to modern glass etchings. One of my favourites is this picture of Actaeon changing into a stag by Pilot in 1997: