Artemis and Apollo

Of the twin gods Apollo and Artemis, Artemis was the strongest goddess. However, she was the female twin and Apollo was the male twin. Males are generally regarded as being physically stronger than females and in the Roman Empire it was unheard of for a female to be stronger than a male. Apollo was also the god of the sun. The sun is largely regarded as being stronger than the moon, of which Artemis is the goddess of. The sun is thought to be more powerful than the moon because it can light the Earth. Therefore, humans are awake and able to do work. People rest and sleep when the moon is out. People usually do not think of sleeping as stronger or more powerful then accomplishing work. Hence, the sun is seen to be stronger than the moon.
So, with the sun being stronger than the moon and males being stronger than females it only makes sense that the male god would be the god of the sun and the female goddess the goddess of the moon. Artemis was also the goddess of the nymphs. Many myths are of the stories of nymphs that were raped by male gods. Rape itself is an act in which one person (usually a male) asserts his dominance over a weaker, more vulnerable person (usually a female). He takes advantage of the vulnerability of the female. Apollo himself was guilty of this crime. He raped one of Artemis’ nymphs, Daphne. The fact that Apollo and the other male gods were able to overpower the nymphs and rape them shows that they were physically stronger than Artemis and her nymphs.
However, the term “strong” has more than one meaning. It can mean something more than brute, physical strength. One can have strength of character, strength of mind, and strength of perseverance. Artemis may not have been the strongest twin physically, but she had the strongest mind and the strongest character. Apollo and many of his fellow male gods had very weak characters. They were obsessed with sex and would get it from their desired partner by any means necessary. Perhaps the greatest show of the male gods’ lack of character and integrity is in the myth of “Callisto”. Callisto was one of Artemis’ nymphs. The god Jupiter raped her and she conceived their son Arcas. Callisto and her son were shunned and were later turned into the constellations Ursa Major and Ursa Minor. All of these bad things happened to Callisto because of Jupiter’s selfish desire.
By Roman standards Apollo was stronger than Artemis because he was a male; but there are more important things in life than physical strength, especially when that strength is misused, like when Apollo raped Daphne. So what if Apollo brings the sun every day with his chariot? Is he really chasing away darkness? He brought darkness to women. He helped to create a world where women only mattered for making dinner and children and bringing pleasure to men. The stories of the male gods served as a model for young Roman men. Thus, it was common for women to be raped in Ancient Rome. The only thing that made the male gods better than humans was their strength. They had no higher code of morals and they were just as susceptible to temptation as humans are. That is why Artemis is the strongest of the twin gods. She may not be as strong as Apollo, but what Apollo has in physical strength he lacks in strength of character.