Many ancient Greek temples have been discovered. Most of these shrines are magnificent stone or marble structures. Structures that leave people speechless and make them want to be transported back in time to when this building was built. One of these many temples is the Temple of Artemis in Ephesus. There were many reasons why this amazing building was built, why it is famous, and why it influenced so many people in ancient times. The Temple of Artemis in Ephesus had many reasons to be built. One of them is that the Ephesians wanted to worship Artemis. For the Ephesians, who had a different religion than the Greeks who later took over, Artemis was the mother deity. It represented fertility and childbirth (Morris and Cox 75). As for the Greeks, Artemis was the goddess of the hunt, the moon, and virginity (Morris and Cox 75). When the temple was first built it was for the Ephesians who wanted to pray for good childbirth and motherhood. Another reason for the construction of this building was the fact that when the Greek king Croesus took control of Ephesus and wanted to return it. Croesus hired the famous Greek architect Chersiphro to expand it and make it grander (Scarre 30). After a few years a man named Herostratus burned it to ensure that his name would be forever written in history (Scarre 30). This event occurred on the same day Alexander the Great was born (Scarre 30). For this coincidence, Alexander also had the architectural structure rebuilt after conquering that area of ​​territory. As shown, there are many reasons why the Temple of Artemis was built. This shows that the building was so important that many impressive people cared enough about it to rebuild it after the fall of the temple. There are also many reasons to explain why...... middle of paper......y people in ancient times. The Temple of Artemis was a very important building for the ancients to worship their goddess. Many people are atheists nowadays, so not as many people come to socialize and worship together anymore. Yet, the Temple of Artemis harks back to a time when people were all deeply rooted in the faith that they would build and do anything for their gods and goddesses. Works Cited Fritze, Ronald. "Seven Wonders of the Ancient World." World History: Ancient and Medieval Times.ABC-CLIO, 2014. Web. 19 March 2014.Morris, Neil and Cox, reg. The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. London. Belitha PressLimited. 1995. Scarre, Chris. The Seventy Wonders of the Ancient World. London. Thames and Hudson. 1999.Woods, Michael and Woods, Mary B. Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Minneapolis. Twenty-first century book. 2009.