Page 126 - Purple Butterfly (1)

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Next came the twins, Apollo and Artemis, who were as different as night and day. This was quite literal, since Apollo was god of the sun, and Artemis of the moon. Apollo was also god of knowledge, healing, plague, archery, and the arts. He was supposed to be incredibly beautiful. He would ride around in his chariot, dragging the sun through the sky. He was incredibly vain, and very protective of his sister.
Artemis was also the goddess of hunting, childbirth, girls, and all animals. She preferred to be away from the other gods, and would rather be hunting in the woods by herself. Unlike Hades, who was lonely most of the time, she wanted to be alone instead.
Unlike Artemis, who preferred to be alone, Hermes spent all of his time running, or flying, towards people. He was the messenger of the gods, and the god of commerce, thieves, and magic. He had a magic wand, which is a staff with two snakes entwined around it, which is now the international symbol for medicine. He wore winged sandals that let him fly incredibly fast. Ironically though, his favorite animal was the tortoise.
Athena was the goddess of wisdom, strategy, and defense. She showed the calmer, planning, and more thought-out kind of fighting. Her symbols are the owl and the olive tree. The story of her birth is a strange one. When Zeus was complaining of a headache, Hephaestus split his head open with an axe, and Athena rose from her father’s head, fully grown and in armor. She was incredibly smart, and her side won most of its wars.
The opposite of Athena is Ares. He didn’t plan or make strategies; he just liked chaos and violence. He was the god of war and bloodshed. Every god, except Aphrodite, loathed him, for he was savage, violent, and destructive without reason. He was basically the god of bullies, but, like most bullies, he was really a horrible coward.
Only Aphrodite looked past this. She was the goddess of love and beauty. When she was first born, rising fully grown from the sea, every god wished to marry her, since she was so incredibly beautiful. So they wouldn’t fight, Zeus made her marry his son, Hephaestus. She, however, didn’t like her ugly but caring husband, and was instead in love with Ares.
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