Phoebus Apollo vs. Artemis Essay

Whatever Diana can do, Phoebus Apollo can do better.
Luke Forrester
Ovid’s Metamorphoses contain myths about numerous powerful creatures and deities.
But among them one set of twins stands out. Phoebus Apollo and Diana are twins who control
very important aspects of nature. Apollo is the sun god who carries the sun across the sky. But
he is also the god of music, the arts, and medicine. His sister, Diana, is a goddess of nature, who
is in charge of numerous nymphs. They are both expert archers and essential to the natural
balance. But in the myths of the Metamorphoses the twins are not represented equally. One of
the two stands out in stark contrast when viewed with the other. One of the twins is easily seen
as the more powerful. That twin is Phoebus Apollo. He is a better fighter, archer, god than
Diana. Apollo is more powerful that Diana because he is tasked the more difficult jobs and
shows his skill more than Diana.
One myth that shows the endurance and power of Phoebus Apollo is Phoebus and
Daphne. Throughout the story, Apollo peruses Daphne because of his love for her. Apollo keeps
chasing after her but she fears the god and because of this asks her father to change her form.
She gets transformed into a laurel bush and escapes from the god. But Phoebus Apollo decides
that because he cannot have the nymph he will wear the laurels as a crown. This shows that
Apollo is never willing to give up. He will endure any situation to get what he desires. And
Apollo also starts a Roman tradition by wearing the crown of laurels. Apollo is held in such high
regard that a simple act of his love inspired an iconic Roman image. And although it can be seen
that Phoebus Apollo lost the day, Daphne will always be seen as his nymph and lost love. So, it’s
true that Apollo has loved and lost, but how is he in a contest?
The story of King Midas is a very well known and popular myth. It involves the foolish
and greedy king of Phrygia who gains the ability to turn objects to gold using his touch. But not
many people are aware that King Midas had a whole different adventure which involved him
judging a musical contest between Pan and Apollo. The contest involved Apollo playing his lyre
and singing against Pan who played his pipe. The mountain god Tmolus was the fair and just
judge. He saw Apollo’s superiority to Pan and declared him the winner. The skill of Pan is well
known, he was the god who invented the reed pipe. But his defeat by Phoebus Apollo shows
that Apollo was the master of musical skill. He even defended the ruling by giving King Midas
the ears of a donkey (Midas had unwisely ruled Pan as the winner). Phoebus Apollo has done
great things on his own but how does he compare when he works with his sister? Is Diana really
more powerful than her sun-god brother? The answer lies in the story of Latona and Niobe.
When Phoebus Apollo and Diana’s mother Latona is angered by a mortal woman, it falls
to her children to dole out the punishment. Latona tells them to kill the children of Niobe as
payback for her arrogance. The twins do just that. Apollo kills the seven sons and Diana kills the
seven daughters. Here is where a hint of symbolism is detected. While it is easily understood
why Apollo would kill the boys and Diana the girls, this shows their measure of strength. Who
would have been harder to kill, seven men or seven women? In the context of the story, the
obvious answer is the seven men. The twins both use the same method to dispatch the children
of Niobe. But Phoebus Apollo comes out the better archer. This myth is the definite proof of
which twin is stronger. Apollo is a better archer, he can defeat stronger opponents, and he has
a take charge attitude. Phoebus Apollo is superior to his sister, Diana.
Although Diana is the twin of Phoebus Apollo she seems to always take the back seat
whenever she is mentioned in a myth. The only exception to this rule would be in the story of
Latona and Niobe, but even there she is shown up by her brother. Diana is more of a figurehead
than a real active goddess. Many of the myths in Metamorphoses have nymphs as main

characters. These nymphs are usually nymphs of Diana, and are vowed to her for life. But in
story Phoebus and Daphne, she isn’t even willing to help one of her own devotes. Diana is
pictured as weak and inactive, a goddess of the earth who seems to just exist. A goddess who
allows her nymphs to be pursued by gods and creatures of all likes. She is much weaker than
her brother and could only aspire to be as powerful as Apollo.
Ovid’s take on the twins Phoebus Apollo and Diana shows that ancient myths
represented the beliefs and feelings of the time. In all the myths he is featured in, Apollo is
shown as superior while Diana doesn’t do much. She will always be second to her brother in all
aspects, from archery to musical talent. Although Diana could be viewed as a strong individual,
she is not represented as one in Ovid’s tome. Phoebus Apollo and Diana always had a strong
bond, but they could never have been equal.