Tragedy in Ovid's Metamorphoses of Actaeon is one of the first presented in the "Metamorphoses" that is very metatheatrical in nature. One of the first known appearances of this myth was in a tragedy written by Aeschylus in the 5th century BC, the "Toxotides", or the "Female Archers". The myth, as presented in the "Metamorphoses" shows Actaeon coming across the sight of Diana, or Artemis in the Greek tragedy, bathing herself. Upon being discovered, Actaeon is turned into a deer and eventually killed by his own pack of hunting dogs. Though the full text of Aeschylus' tragedy is lost to modern readers, it would
The Death of Actaeon reliefs and engraved gems showing either Diana hunting with dogs, or Actaeon being attacked by his dogs, and a few Renaissance works, but the subject was rare, and "it may be that Titian had never seen another painting or other representation of the subject." It was probably still in Titian's studio at his death in 1576, and presumably sold in Venice by his heirs. It probably belonged to the famous Venetian collection of Bartolomeo della Nave, most of which was bought for James Hamilton, 1st Duke of Hamilton (then still a Marquess) in 1636-38, one of the great collectors of