Artemis (known as Diana by the Romans) was the first twin born to Zeus and Leto, a beautiful nymph. Zeus loved Artemis very much and on her third birthday asked her to make any wish and he would make sure she got what she wanted. She asked to always be a young girl, as she had seen all the harm that Aprodite could do to those who she had power over, for her father to never give her away to a man, a silver bow and arrow, the best pack of hounds in the universe, and the freedom to run and hunt over the mountains and in the woods for all eternity. Zeus did grant her eternal chasity but told her she could change her mind about falling in love at any time. Artemis went to Hephaestus and asked her to make her a silver bow, but Hephaestus said silver should be created underwater in a cold light. Artemis then swam to Cyclops and he made her a beautiful silver bow, quiver, and arrows. The quiver had a special magic, too. Whenever it got empty, it filled right back up. Then Artemis went to Pan and he gave her his best ten dogs. Artemis then spent her days and nights hunting in the woods for deer. She was worshiped as the goddess of the moon and stars. All men, human and god, who came near her were chased away by her fierce hounds. Young women who had relatives who wishes to marry them off to men they disliked, often prayed to Artemis to save them, and she often did, but sometimes had to turn the woman into a tree, flower, or deer. Artemis is a favorite of sculpture and painting and is usually seen carrying her bow and is usually accompanied by one of more of her dogs.
Apollo was the second twin born to Zeus and Leto. Leto was very weak and had difficulty giving birth to her second child but with the help of Artemis, her first child, Apollo was born. Apollo had dark gold hair and deep blue eyes. He had extraordinary talents in music, poetry, mathematics, and medicine. Apollo became the god of the sun and patron of the arts and sciences. Apollo was the most admirable of all the gods and could not tell a lie and preached moderation. But Apollo was not perfect and when he became jealous or angry he could be just as cruel as the other gods. When Apollo was old enough to shoot a golden bow and arrow his father had given him, he went in search of Python, a serpent who had tortured his mother. Apollo shot an arrow at the serpent when he found him at Mouth Parnassus. The serpent fled to Mother Earth at Delphi, a sanctuary* of both humans and gods. Apollo could not follow the serpent into to cave, so he breathed on his arrows and created a smoke screen, which he then shot into the cave. The serpent started to suffocate from the smoke and crawled out of the cave, and Apollo then shot a full of arrows at him, skinned him, and kept Python’s hide as a souvenir of his revenge. But Apollo had gotten his revenge on a sacred place and Mother Earth complained to Zeus that her sanctuary had been defiled. Apollo then held annual athletic games at Delphi and named them the Pythian Games, after his enemy. He also established the Delphic oracle and named any priestess who gave advice a Pythoness. These gestures did not in any way help Python but it got Apollo back into Zeus’s good graces. Apollo was much like Zeus in the way that he fell in love with many women and had many children. His most famous child was his son Aesculapius.
Aesculapius was gifted with much medical knowledge. Doctors today even use the name Aesculapius as a symbol of medical knowledge and skill when taking oath to heal and not harm their patients. Aesculapius was the son of Apollo and Coronis, a princess of Thessaly. But Coronis was in love with a young mortal and not Apollo, and when pregnant with their son, went back to her old lover. Apollo was upset and mad but could not bring himself to the mother of his child, so he asked Artemis to. Apollo wanted to save Aesculapius, though and delivered the baby himself and turned him over to the god Hermes. Hermes was struck by Aesculapius’s extreme intelligence and sent him to Chiron*, a centaur*. Aesculapius doctored everyone and was even able to heal those who were on the point of death. This enraged Hades and Hades went to Zeus and complained that Aesculapius was robbing him of his victims. Zeus used his thunderbolt and sent Aesculapius and the patient he was curing at the time and sent them to Hades. Apollo was angry and heartbroken, so he went out and found Cyclops, the maker of Zeus’s thunderbolt, and killed him. Zeus could not let this sin go ignored, so he banished Apollo to Hades forever. Leto had kept away from Zeus, knowing that Hera was watching her, but when their son was banished to Hades, she went to Zeus and reminded him of their old love. Zeus relented, and let allowed Apollo to come back to Mount Olympus and also brought Aesculapius back to life, but not without a warning to not rob Hades by curing the sick on the way across the river Styx.
Apollo was friends with the nine Muses, who represented the arts. When Apollo was young, the nine Muses thought him their skills, and Apollo came to be the greatest poet and artist in the universe. He improved on everything the Muses taught him. Apollo was one of the only gods who was allowed to keep his original name by the Romans. The Romans tended to picture Apollo less important then the Greeks had, though. Apollo was generally pictured as a young man who really never grew up.