Apollo and Artemis were twins, the only twins Greek mythology has ever known. Well, not only twins. There was that case with Arce and Iris, but that was a different story. Okay and Castor and Pollux, but still. Of all twins out there, no set of twins were more opposite than Apollo and Artemis. Apollo was passionate, fiery, amorous, arrogant, flirtatious, sociable, sun god. A golden aura blazed around him everywhere he went. His sky blue eyes and curly golden locks, sun kissed skin and athletic frame drove the ladies mad with desire: just one look from him had them lovestruck. Nymphs and goddesses clamored for his attention and his heart. Apollo knew this too well and used it to his advantage. He was extraordinarily vain, like his father Zeus. To be fair, all of Zeus' sons—okay MOST of Zeus' sons took after him in womanizing—Apollo being the worst one. His ego was only deflated when the stunningly beautiful naiad Daphne, a fiercely devoted follower of his twin sister Artemis rejected him. She knew whom he was. Daphne heard countless stories of Apollo's womanizing and she had no intention to be yet another conquest. First day Apollo laid eyes on her, Daphne shot him a look of loathing. Yet Apollo fell head over heels in love. He had never wanted any woman more than he wanted Daphne. Daphne at a last resort, desperately prayed to her father, the river god Ladon and he turned her into a laurel tree, saving her from Apollo. Apollo grieved for her for eons, never truly moving on from her, always carrying a spot for her in his heart. For this reason alone, he never married and stuck to having mistresses. His symbol would always be the laurel tree, in honor of Daphne. His chariot was pulled by lions in some illustrations—the said animal was later associated with the constellation Leo.
Apollo's twin sister Artemis was his polar opposite. She was solitary, independent, withdrawn, beautiful, her pale skin like moonlight, while a silver aura enveloped her wherever she went. She wore a silver crescent moon diadem on her head and silver arrows in her quiver on her back. Her waist-length pale blonde hair was always let loose and her silver eyes cold like crystal. Artemis wanted absolutely NOTHING to do with men. She had vowed to her father Zeus when she was only three to remain independent from men for the rest of her life; with sixty Oceanides and twenty Amnisiades to be her handmaidens, a pack of hunting hounds, the job of bringing light into the world, a silver chariot, silver bow and arrows, all the mountains to hunt on, and to aid women in childbirth and be guardian of all young girls from their birth to age of womanhood. Zeus granted her all her wishes; bestowing eternal chastity on her, making her the moon goddess while her brother became sun god, allowing her to choose her hunting companions, and ordering the Cyclopes and Hephaestus to forge her silver bow and arrows as well as her silver chariot. Artemis herself caught four hinds with golden antlers and harnessed them to pull her chariot across the sky every night whereas she showered the world below with rays of moonlight. Artemis wore a silver hunting tunic except for feasts on Olympus, where she changed to a long silvery gown and wore her favorite moonstone pendant across her neck. Women all over mainland Greece and the islands—from young girls to pregnant women all prayed to Artemis for guidance; either protection from lustful men or aid during their pregnancy. The compassionate moon goddess always responded immediately, showering her blessings on expectant mothers in labor. Artemis' popularity and worship spread beyond Greece and into Ephesus, where she became the patron goddess. That city alone was a bastion for women's rights; where female painters and scholars were in abundance and the temple of Artemis there was founded by the Amazons. Any woman would feel welcome to seek shelter in the goddess' temple, where the Amazons would incite the entire city to fight on the woman's behalf. Artemis' statue had the crab attached to her neck, which later became the constellation of Cancer.
Thus no matter how different Apollo and Artemis were-exactly like day and night, they always stuck together, always defended each other and their beloved mother, Leto. Yet no one expected when they had to take on each other's temple duties. Artemis' temple in Brauron under Zeus' orders allowed young boys to study in the temple's main sanctuary. Artemis protested vehemently at first. Zeus ignored her and his only argument was that those young boys were citizens of her city, and they were allowed in there, even if she wasn't their guardian; Apollo was guardian of young boys and men while Artemis watched over young girls and women. Artemis grumbled her consent. Zeus was her father and she could do nothing to defy him. Yet that temple was where adolescent girls would serve her for an entire year as "Little bear cubs". The whole point was to keep them away from attentions of young boys and to hope these young girls would develop independence and their own identity. Artemis hoped the majority of these maidens would join her in the hunt instead choosing the path of marriage. She had been their guardian from the moment they left their mothers' womb. She had no intention of parting from them when they had grown into adolescents. These young maidens were like daughters to her. Every time a batch of new maidens entered her temple in Brauron, the goddess herself ushered them away from the pesky boys in the main sanctuary of her temple. The girls eyed the goddess with astonishment, wondering if she changed her rule of not allowing boys in her temple. Artemis shook her head and sighed. "Alas no, dear maiden. My father Lord Zeus has decreed it to be so"
Finally after weeks of this, Artemis had enough. It was always the same, the young girls would send curious glances her way and whisper intently amongst themselves, absolutely puzzled on the presence of boys in her temple that they forgot all about the Bear Dance they were to perform for their goddess. Many of the girls were distracted. Artemis left abruptly one day from rehearsal and flew back to Mount Olympus in a rage.
"APOLLLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Artemis bellowed as she appeared before her brother in a shower of silver, sending the nymphs around them flying off like frightened doves.
Apollo looked up at her from his conversation with Hermes. The sun god eyed his sister with puzzlement. Hermes tried his best to not burst into laughter. The messenger god always got a kick out of it when his older brother was in trouble. The raging moon goddess strode up to Apollo and shoved Hermes out of her way.
"Yes, dear sister, how may I help you?" Apollo asked calmly. He knew better than be annoyed around her when she was in one of her moods, which was oh like 100% of the time. To be fair there was that incident with Daphne which—never mind. Apollo had learned his lesson since Daphne. The said river nymph was one of Artemis' favorites and her demise left the moon goddess completely broken for months.
"I'll tell you what's up, BUDDY! I'VE HAD IT WITH BOYS IN MY TEMPLES!" Artemis shouted.
"Boys, in your temples?" Apollo asked in amazement.
"Yes OH SHUT UP, Apollo! Father has ordained it. His argument is since these BOYS (Artemis spat out the last word disdainfully) are citizens of my city Brauron, they're allowed in my temples too as long as they don't bother me. Well, they ARE PESTERING MY FOLLOWERS!"
Artemis glared at her brother, her silver eyes flashed dangerously. Apollo winced. Artemis' glares were worse than Medusa's at times.
"How is any of this MY fault?!" Apollo challenged her.
"It's YOUR fault when you're guardian of BOYS and you didn't do anything about it! Well, NOW you are to do something about it!" Artemis shot back, unphased.
"What, dear sister do you want me to do, exactly?" Apollo asked. Artemis thought long and hard on this one. She wanted to make him pay for the Daphne incident. She wasn't the most forgiving of goddesses-let's make it clear. Artemis was the LEAST forgiving goddess in the Pantheon. She made sure offenders always got their just desserts, from Agamemnon to Actaeon, to Callisto, Chione, to Tityus and Niobe, Alpheus, to Opus and Ephialtes, so on and so forth. NO ONE escaped the wrath of Artemis. Her brother got the short end of the stick too many times yet never learned his lesson. This one incident with Daphne was the last straw.
"Oh nothing. Just one little thing" Artemis smiled deviously. Apollo frowned. He really wasn't liking where this was going. They had twin telepathy, Artemis reading HIS mind more so than him reading hers.
"I want you to answer the prayers of those boys in my temples in Brauron!" Artemis giggled with delight. Apollo frowned.
"WHAT?" The sun god thundered.
"I told you, ANSWER the prayers of the Brauronian boys!" Artemis laughed hysterically.
Apollo frowned. "HOW?"
"That's the best part! Always start with 'Artemis cannot answer your prayer right now good citizen. She's away with business to tend to' and then answer whatever questions they have"
"Hello. You have reached Artemis' prayer hotline. She has too many prayers going on right now and can't answer all of them. Oh wait, you're a guy. She doesn't answer prayers from men" Apollo sassed her.
Artemis rolled her eyes, trying to suppress her chuckles. "Not a bad idea. Do what you must".
"Are you crazy?! I have thousands of prayers from all corners of Delphi and I have thousands of oracles everyday, not to mention jam session with the Nine Muses on Mount Parnassus every sundown before the feasts of Olympus!"
"Consequences are consequences, brother mine. Thou art wise, now thou must find thyself" Artemis preached and mocked her brother. Apollo shot daggers in her direction. She was DEFINITELY kidding him.
The moon goddess waited until she was a safe distance away and burst out laughing hysterically.
That night at the Olympian feast, Apollo and Artemis normally sat next to each other yet Apollo wouldn't even look at her. Artemis burst out giggling every five minutes to the questioning gaze of the other gods. Athena raised her eyebrows quizzically at her but Artemis shook her head, giggling in vain silently. Aphrodite looked up from gossiping with the three Graces and Artemis glared at the meddlesome love goddess. "Mind your business, slutty bitch" Artemis snarled. The moon goddess sent her another glare that excelled even the terror of the void of Chaos and Aphrodite winced, continuing to gossip with the Graces. Zeus signaled for entertainment. This was when Apollo and Artemis would perform a number with the Nine Muses, Harmonia, Hebe, the three Graces, and Aphrodite. Everyone got to their position and began dancing as the music started, yet Artemis tried in vain to hold back laughter and collided into Calliope and Clio, then stopped abruptly when Terpsichore and Euterpe whirled into her, both of them dropping their instruments. "Keep going, KEEP GOING" Apollo muttered out of the side of his mouth, his face reddening in embarrassment. He was gonna KILL his sister. They NEVER screwed up before all Olympus and Artemis never made a fool out of herself when everyone was on stage, ready to go. Everyone was always in sync.
The next day was worse. Apollo finished his oracle duties at Delphi and hurried to his sister's temple in Brauron, already late.
"Hello, you have reached Artemis' prayer hotline. My sister cannot answer them right now. She is busy with other duties". Apollo recited. He felt like a fool. The young boys crowded around him gazed at him quizzically.
"Lord Apollo may I ask WHY Lady Artemis won't answer prayers from her own citizens?"
Apollo sighed. The boy was so young, probably eight or nine. It didn't matter to Artemis. She wouldn't have any boy in her temple.
"I am sorry, child. These are her rules. I am protector of young boys. I would normally answer them. Artemis answers prayers from young girls only." Apollo answered truthfully. He was god of truth and reason. He was not a lying bastard like his stupid brother Hermes, which one of those days he was gonna repay him for stealing his cattle.
"I have a question about hunting"…The same boy began. Apollo gulped. Hunting. He was god of archery, of course but hunting was always Artemis' domain. His knowledge of hunting came mostly from her even if he was too proud to admit it.
"I am god of archery I suppose I can answer this one" Apollo began.
"Great! So I am about to capture this emu".. The boy trailed on and on about hunting techniques and hunting season. Apollo did his best to nod regally, and offer his best knowledge on tracking tips, hunting advice and it was frail and pathetic compared to his sister's vast knowledge on the subject. Hunting and wilderness just wasn't his domain. No god knows about another god's domain that well! This was why people don't pray to Artemis for wisdom or weaving or mathematics or literature-that was Athena's domain, or no one in their right mind asked Athena about love, relationships, or fashion and beauty-that was strictly limited to Aphrodite only. Apollo would thrash anyone who tried to ask Hermes for an oracle or music lesson. THAT was his domain. Every god presided over their own domain, their own sphere of influence on human society ordained to them by the Fates. No god was allowed to perform another's duties. Nothing was said about answering prayers on another god's behalf though, but most gods don't bother. Every god had their own main city to preside over; Athena at Athens, Hera at Samos and Argos, Artemis at Ephesus, Brauron, and Sparta, Aphrodite at Cyprus, Demeter at Eleusis, Apollo at Delphi, so on and so forth, and their own batch of prayers to answer. Every god has thousands of daily prayers to respond to aside from their godly duties. They simply have no time to answer their own prayers AND another god's. If they had to, that other god simply was too lazy and irresponsible.
The day continued with Apollo bluffing his way through all those questions related to hunting, wild animals, tracking beasts, development of hunting nets and other equipment. He was worse than a deer in the headlights. He felt less than godly. Finally, he had enough. At sundown he rushed to Mount Parnassus, eager to begin his nightly routine of leading the Nine Muses in dance rehearsal before their nightly feasts on Olympus. He was usually the first one there, eagerly awaiting the nine Muses to appear before him at once so they can get rehearsal on the way. When he arrived, the nine sisters got there before him, their less than radiant faces annoyed. Calliope folded her arms and glared at him icily. Clio tapped her book impatiently with her scrolls and rolled her eyes. Terpsichore stood gracefully on the tip of her toes in a ballerina position with her tambourine in her left hand, her right arm raised in mid-air and raised her eyebrows at Apollo in puzzlement of his tardiness. Euterpe practiced on her flute a bit then laid it quietly on her lap glancing at Apollo warily. Melpomene's somber face was gloomier than ever. She was always the most serious of the sisters, but today Apollo's lateness put her in a worse mood. Polyhymnia was in mid prayer and stopped her chants, shooting Apollo looks of befuddlement. Erato and Thalia were giggling and gossiping when they spotted Apollo and stopped, giving him looks of disbelief. Since when was APOLLO late? Urania was dreamily gazing into the heavens and snapped out of her trance when she cast an eye at Apollo, her gaze frozen.
"Okay ladies, calm down. I know I am late-" Apollo began, holding up his hands to placate the nine sisters.
"You're OVER HALF AN HOUR LATE!" Calliope screeched.
"What's gotten into you, Apollo, trying to create history as the tardiest god on Parnassus?" Clio snapped.
"That's not funny, Apollo. If this is a joke, for once I am not laughing". Thalia added icily.
"I know you have a thing for the ladies, but seriously lover boy, you have your duties" Erato snickered.
"This is a tragedy. Oh no girls, I am getting a vision!" Melpomene winced. Her eight sisters stared at her as she paused for dramatic effect.
"I see Zeus roaring mad. I think we're gonna be FIRED!" Melpomene wailed.
"Save it drama queen, He can't fire us- we're his daughters and the MUSES" Thalia scoffed.
"No never mind" Melpomene added, to her sisters' relief. Melpomene always expected the worst and her visions were nothing to joke about.
"Okay I am SORRY but Artemis has me answering HER prayers at her temple all day" Apollo pleaded. The nine sisters looked at each other incredulously and back at Apollo as if he'd lost his mind.
"Why would Artemis ask you to answer HER prayers?" Calliope demanded.
"She has a no-boys policy" Apollo began
"Which is HER business. Your business is to attend to US on Mount Parnassus everyday at sundown. You cannot neglect your duties!" Calliope fired back. Calliope was the eldest and the wisest, most reasonable of the nine sisters. Challenging her to any debate or argument was unwise. She had a temper that can rival Athena on a bad day. The night got worse as Apollo and the nine Muses were uncharacteristically late to the banquet on Olympus. Everyone cast their eyes at the sun god and his entourage. Thankfully Zeus wasn't roaring mad. He drummed his fingers in annoyance and signaled for Apollo and the Muses to perform while Artemis, Aphrodite, Harmonia, the Three Graces and Hebe joined them on stage. Apollo attempted to step on Artemis' foot whenever she whirled past him in the dance. Once or twice he tried to catch her gaze and glare at her to no avail. She hardly noticed him. She was too busy enjoying herself and dancing her heart out.
The next day Apollo went to Artemis completely outraged and told her everything.
"I am NOT answering your prayers, okay Father could have fired me, and the nine Muses were PISSED at how late I was to rehearsal yesterday on Parnassus because I was so busy finishing YOUR prayers for the day! Deal with the no boys policy yourself!"
"Apollo you're unbelievable! BOYS are your domain while GIRLS are mine!" Artemis snarled.
"Really, so is it I am late to my own rehearsal on Parnassus MY FAULT?!"
"What do you want ME to do then?!"
"Answer prayers for me on Delphi!" Apollo sneered.
"WHAT?!"
"Payback, sister."
"Apollo you're LOW! I know nothing about oracles or healing or philosophy" Artemis wailed.
"About time you learned" Apollo laughed hysterically.
Artemis sat miserably at Apollo's temple at Delphi while young girls who would be priestesses to the sun god soon asked the moon goddess dozens of questions on truth, healing, oracles, philosophy, literature that she knew nothing about. She snucked into Apollo's palace at times and read a few of his books on music and literature, as well as dance but she knew nothing about philosophy. Apollo had made his point perfectly clear. What she did was unfair to Apollo, detaining him from rehearsal with the nine Muses, nearly getting father furious with him for being late to the Olympus banquet. Artemis herself barely had time to watch the bear dance her own priestesses had prepared for her for months, training adolescent girls in the dance steps, ensuring it was nothing less than perfection in Artemis' eyes, hoping it would please the goddess and she would ensure them happiness as they prepared for marriage. Artemis' oceanides and river nymphs had to deal with her being late to their moonlight dance and fishing retreat in the woods at midsummer eve. She was busy answering her brother's prayers.
"My lady, I cannot believe you're late!" Crocale, Artemis' personal hairdresser fumed.
"My lady we do this every year, you've never been late!" Rhanis the oceanid chimed in
"What got into you, my lady?" Hyale, another oceanid demanded.
"My lady we should have started half an hour ago!" Pscecas added.
"Girls" Artemis held up her hand. "I have to pay the consequences of asking my brother to perform the impossible task of answering prayers on my behalf yesterday. Now I bear the burden to do the same for him in his city of Delphi"
"My lady you would never" Melite the Oceanid began, utterly shocked.
"I would do a lot of things, dear. He is my brother and we bicker but I have to assume my responsibilities. It is unfair to him to bear the burden alone but I did learn quite a lot on philosophy and literature and the like but I'll never be him" Artemis mused, gazing at the moonlight on the horizon.