Apollo
| Apollo | |
|---|---|
God of oracles, healing, archery, music and arts, light, knowledge, herds and flocks, and protection of the young | |
 Apollo Belvedere, c. 120–140 CE | |
| Abode | Mount Olympus |
| Symbol | Lyre, laurel wreath, python, bow and arrows |
| Personal information | |
| Consort | Daphne, Kyrene, Cassandra, Calliope, Coronis, Thalia, Leucothea, Hyacinth |
| Children | Asclepius, Troilus, Aristaeus, Orpheus, Korybantes |
| Parents | Zeus and Leto |
| Siblings | Artemis, Aeacus, Angelos, Aphrodite, Ares, Athena, Dionysus, Eileithyia, Enyo, Eris, Ersa, Hebe, Helen of Troy, Hephaestus, Heracles, Hermes, Minos, Pandia, Persephone, Perseus, Rhadamanthus, the Graces, the Horae, the Litae, the Muses, the Moirai |
Apollo is a god in Greek mythology, and one of the Twelve Olympians. He is the son of Zeus and Leto and the twin brother of Artemis. He is the god of healing, medicine, archery, music, dance, poetry, prophecy, knowledge, light and the sun. He is the leader of the Muses. He also is a god of prophecy, and his Oracle at Delphi is very important. He also is the god of justice. During the 5th century BC, Apollo became also known as the god of Sun, becoming one with the god Helios, and getting the name Phoebus. He is depicted as a handsome young man, wearing a laurel wreath and playing the lyre or kithara. It is known as his symbol. His other symbols include the raven.
Myths about Apollo
[change | change source]Apollo, unlike most other Greek gods, was called 'Apollo' by the Romans too. He was one of the Twelve Olympians, some of the most important gods in Greek mythology, and he was very popular.[1] Because of this, there are many myths about him.
Birth of Apollo
[change | change source]Apollo and his twin sister Artemis were the children of Zeus, the king of the Greek gods, and the goddess Leto. Zeus' wife, the queen of the gods Hera, punished all the women who had children with Zeus, especially Leto because it was predicted that she was going to bear Zeus a son dearer than Ares,[2] and stopped Leto from giving birth by watching the skies and land, setting various gods to keep an eye out and stop Leto from reaching any safety.[2]
In some stories, Leto was chased by the serpent Python. How she escaped is different depending on the telling, whether Zeus asked the winds and/or the sea to deliver her and the serpent gave up[3] or that Apollo slays Python.[4]
Though there are myths attributing the birthplace Artemis to other locations.[5] Usually both twins but at the least Apollo was born on the island of Delos, which was occasionally called the island of Ortygia before the twins' births.[3][6] According to Hyginus, "[Ortygia] used to wander over the sea."[3] This property of the island was how Leto was able to avoid Hera's watching eyes, and Callimachus personifies Delos to tell of how she welcomed Leto despite Hera's potential wrath. After or for the sake of the twins' birth, the island became stationary.[2][7]
So Leto rested under a palm tree or clung to an olive tree,[3][5][7] and gave birth to the twins Apollo and Artemis. It varies from myth to myth which twin was born first; in some stories, the newborn Artemis acted as the midwife her own brother.[3]
Delos then became Apollo's and Artemis' sacred land.
Apollo and Delphi, the slaying of Python
[change | change source]When Apollo grew up, he went to his father, Zeus, and asked for a golden bow with arrows as bright and sharp as the sunshine. Then he went looking for a place to build his temple. He came to a spring that belonged to a nymph called Telphusa and tried to build his temple there, but Telphusa didn't want this and convinced him to build his temple at Delphi instead.[5]
Apollo went to Delphi, but found out it was taken over by Python, the serpent who had tried to eat his mother during her pregnancy. He killed Python with a hundred arrows[8] — memorialising the event with the Pythian games[7] — and claimed Delphi as his temple.[3][9]
The Pythia was a priestess, or oracle, who would prophesy. She was once chosen from the local young maidens, but then a Thessalian man called Echecrates kidnapped and raped her, so a law was passed that henceforth the Pythia was to be an older woman dressed as a virgin.[10] Other personnel of the temple included two priests that were chosen from the leading citizens of Delphi. They looked after the sanctuary and were in charge of the Pythian Games.[11]
Daphne, the Laurel Tree
[change | change source]Apollo was struck by love for the nymph Daphne. He chased her, but she did not reciprocate his care and ran from him. To get away, she begged for help from the gods (in some myths from Zeus, in others from her father Peneus); she was transformed into a laurel tree.[12] Still in love, Apollo took the laurel tree as one of his symbols, creating the story for the laurel wreath.[7]
In Ovid's Metamorphoses,[7] Apollo's love for Daphne and the consequent tragedy is because of the meddling of the little god, Eros, the son of the love goddess Aphrodite. Apollo insulted him; Eros got angry and shot Apollo with an arrow of love, making him fall in love with Daphne, and Daphne with an arrow to take all love from her.
Apollo and Hermes
[change | change source]During the night, the mischievous baby god, Hermes, stole Apollo's cattle and confused Apollo by turning the cattle's hooves backwards as they left their pen.[13] When Apollo went looking for them, it looked like they had walked into the ranch instead of out. In some translations, Hermes gives the cows shoes and they leave no tracks at all.[3]
Apollo divined the thief's location and accused Hermes. The baby god attempted and failed to trick him, and when Apollo took him in front of all the gods tried to lie and act innocent, but at last when Hermes showed Apollo the lyre he had created, Apollo happily let the baby keep the cows in exchange for the instrument. Hermes also made a syrinx, which Apollo wanted as well upon hearing it, offering in exhange the golden wand he held while herding. But in exchange for the syrinx, Hermes wanted both the wand and to learn divination. So Apollo gave him the wand that would come to be known as the caduceus and taught him the art of divining by pebbles.[3]
References
[change | change source]- ↑ "APOLLO CULT 1 - Ancient Greek Religion". www.theoi.com. Retrieved 2026-03-17.
- 1 2 3 Callimachus. "Hymn to Delos". www.loebclassics.com. Retrieved 2026-03-17.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Trzaskoma, Stephen M.; Smith, R. Scott (2007). Apollodorus' Library and Hyginus' Fabulae: Two Handbooks of Greek Mythology. Hackett Classics. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company, Inc. ISBN 978-1-60384-052-1.
- ↑ William Smith (1867). Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology.
- 1 2 3 "Hymn 3 to Apollo, To Delian Apollo". www.perseus.tufts.edu. Retrieved 2026-03-17.
- ↑ "The Geography of Strabo: Book X: Chapter V: Section 2". Loeb Classical Library. Retrieved 2026-03-17.
- 1 2 3 4 5 "The Project Gutenberg eBook of Metamorphoses, by Ovid". www.gutenberg.org. Retrieved 2026-03-17.
- ↑ Simonides. "Fragment 573". Loeb Classical Library. Retrieved 2026-03-17.
- ↑ "The Geography of Strabo: Book IX: Chapter III: Section 2". Loeb Classical Library. Retrieved 2026-03-17.
- ↑ Diodorus of Sicily. "The Library of History, Book XVI: Chapter 26". Loeb Classical Library. Retrieved 2026-03-17.
- ↑ "Apollo and Delphi". www.odysseyadventures.ca. Retrieved 2026-03-17.
- ↑ Parthenius of Nicaea. "Sufferings in Love". www.loebclassics.com. Retrieved 2026-03-17.
- ↑ "Hymn 4 to Hermes, To Hermes". www.perseus.tufts.edu. Retrieved 2026-03-17.
Primary Sources
[change | change source]Other websites
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Media related to Apollo at Wikimedia Commons
