Apollo (Attic, Ionic, and Homeric Greek: Ἀπόλλων,
Apollōn (GEN Ἀπόλλωνος) is one
of the most important and complex of the Olympian
deities in classical Greek and Roman religion
and Greek and Roman mythology. The national
divinity of the Greeks, Apollo has been variously
recognized as a god of music, truth and prophecy,
healing, the sun and light, plague, poetry,
and more. Apollo is the son of Zeus and Leto,
and has a twin sister, the chaste huntress
Artemis. Seen as the most beautiful god and
the ideal of the kouros (a beardless, athletic
youth), Apollo is considered to be the most
Greek of all gods. Apollo is known in Greek-influenced
Etruscan mythology as Apulu.As the patron
of Delphi (Pythian Apollo), Apollo was an
oracular god—the prophetic deity of the
Delphic Oracle.
Medicine and healing are associated with Apollo,
whether through the god himself or mediated
through his son Asclepius, yet Apollo was
also seen as a god who could bring ill-health
and deadly plague.
As an archer who never missed, Apollo carried
a golden bow (silver bow, sometimes) and a
quiver of golden arrows. As the inventor of
archery and taught the same to the people.
His arrows could inflict harm by causing sudden
deaths or deadly plague.
As the leader of the Muses (Apollon Musegetes)
and director of their choir, Apollo functions
as the patron god of music and poetry. He
is the inventor of string-music. The Cithara
and the lyre are also his inventions. The
lyre is a common attribute of Apollo. Hymns
sung to Apollo were called paeans.
Apollo favors and delights in the foundation
of towns and the establishment of civil constitution.
Hence is associated with dominion over colonists.
Additionally, he is the god of foreigners,
the protector of fugitives and refugees.
Apollo is the giver and interpreter of laws.
He presides over the divine law and custom
along with Zeus, Demeter and Themis.
As the protector of young, Apollo (kourotrophos)
is concerned with the health of children.
He presides over their education and brings
them out of their adolescence. Due to this
belief, boys in Ancient Greece, upon reaching
their adulthood, cut their hair and dedicated
it to Apollo.
He is the patron of herdsmen and protector
of herds and flocks. He is believed to cause
abundance in the milk produced by cattle,
and is also connected with their fertility.
Apollo is the god who affords help and wards
off evil. He delivered men from the epidemics.
Various epithets call him the "averter of
evil".
As an agricultural deity, Apollo protects
the crops from diseases, especially the rust
in corns and grains. He is also the controller
and destroyer of pests that infect plants
and plant harvests.
In Hellenistic times, especially during the
5th century BCE, as Apollo Helios he became
identified among Greeks with Helios, Titan
god of the sun. In Latin texts, however, there
was no conflation of Apollo with Sol among
the classical Latin poets until 1st century
AD. Apollo and Helios/Sol remained separate
beings in literary and mythological texts
until the 5th century CE.
== Etymology ==
Apollo (Attic, Ionic, and Homeric Greek: Ἀπόλλων,
Apollōn (GEN Ἀπόλλωνος); Doric:
Ἀπέλλων, Apellōn; Arcadocypriot:
Ἀπείλων, Apeilōn; Aeolic: Ἄπλουν,
Aploun; Latin: Apollō)
The 
name Apollo—unlike the related older name
Paean—is generally not found in the Linear
B (Mycenean Greek) texts, although there is
a possible attestation in the lacunose form
]pe-rjo-[ (Linear B: ]𐀟𐁊-[) on the KN
E 842 tablet.The etymology of the name is
uncertain. The spelling Ἀπόλλων (pronounced
[a.pól.lɔːn] in Classical Attic) had almost
superseded all other forms by the beginning
of the common era, but the Doric form, Apellon
(Ἀπέλλων), is more archaic, as it
is derived from an earlier *Ἀπέλjων.
It probably is a cognate to the Doric month
Apellaios (Ἀπελλαῖος), and the
offerings apellaia (ἀπελλαῖα) at
the initiation of the young men during the
family-festival apellai (ἀπέλλαι).
According to some scholars, the words are
derived from the Doric word apella (ἀπέλλα),
which originally meant "wall," "fence for
animals" and later "assembly within the limits
of the square." Apella (Ἀπέλλα) is
the name of the popular assembly in Sparta,
corresponding to the ecclesia (ἐκκλησία).
R. S. P. Beekes rejected the connection of
the theonym with the noun apellai and suggested
a Pre-Greek proto-form *Apalyun.Several instances
of popular etymology are attested from ancient
authors. Thus, the Greeks most often associated
Apollo's name with the Greek verb ἀπόλλυμι
(apollymi), "to destroy". Plato in Cratylus
connects the name with ἀπόλυσις (apolysis),
"redemption", with ἀπόλουσις (apolousis),
"purification", and with ἁπλοῦν ([h]aploun),
"simple", in particular in reference to the
Thessalian form of the name, Ἄπλουν,
and finally with Ἀειβάλλων (aeiballon),
"ever-shooting". Hesychius connects the name
Apollo with the Doric ἀπέλλα (apella),
which means "assembly", so that Apollo would
be the god of political life, and he also
gives the explanation σηκός (sekos),
"fold", in which case Apollo would be the
god of flocks and herds. In the ancient Macedonian
language πέλλα (pella) means "stone,"
and some toponyms may be derived from this
word: Πέλλα (Pella, the capital of ancient
Macedonia) and Πελλήνη (Pellēnē/Pallene).A
number of non-Greek etymologies have been
suggested for the name, The Hittite form Apaliunas
(dx-ap-pa-li-u-na-aš) is attested in the
Manapa-Tarhunta letter, perhaps related to
Hurrian (and certainly the Etruscan) Aplu,
a god of plague, in turn likely from Akkadian
Aplu Enlil meaning simply "the son of Enlil",
a title that was given to the god Nergal,
who was linked to Shamash, Babylonian god
of the sun.
The role of Apollo as god of plague is evident
in the invocation of Apollo Smintheus ("mouse
Apollo") by Chryses, the Trojan priest of
Apollo, with the purpose of sending a plague
against the Greeks (the reasoning behind a
god of the plague becoming a god of healing
is apotropaic, meaning that the god responsible
for bringing the plague must be appeased in
order to remove the plague).
The Hittite testimony reflects an early form
*Apeljōn, which may also be surmised from
comparison of Cypriot Ἀπείλων with
Doric Ἀπέλλων. The name of the Lydian
god Qλdãns /kʷʎðãns/ may reflect an
earlier /kʷalyán-/ before palatalization,
syncope, and the pre-Lydian sound change *y
> d. Note the labiovelar in place of the labial
/p/ found in pre-Doric Ἀπέλjων and
Hittite Apaliunas.
A Luwian etymology suggested for Apaliunas
makes Apollo "The One of Entrapment", perhaps
in the sense of "Hunter".
=== Greco-Roman epithets ===
Apollo's chief epithet was Phoebus ( FEE-bəs;
Φοῖβος, Phoibos Greek pronunciation:
[pʰó͜i.bos]), literally "bright". It was
very commonly used by both the Greeks and
Romans for Apollo's role as the god of light.
Like other Greek deities, he had a number
of others applied to him, reflecting the variety
of roles, duties, and aspects ascribed to
the god. However, while Apollo has a great
number of appellations in Greek myth, only
a few occur in Latin literature.
==== Sun ====
Aegletes ( ə-GLEE-teez; Αἰγλήτης,
Aiglētēs), from αἴγλη, "light of the
sun"
Helius ( HEE-lee-əs; Ἥλιος, Helios),
literally "sun"
Lyceus ( ly-SEE-əs; Λύκειος, Lykeios,
from Proto-Greek *λύκη) "light". The meaning
of the epithet "Lyceus" later became associated
with Apollo's mother Leto, who was the patron
goddess of Lycia (Λυκία) and who was
identified with the wolf (λύκος).
Phanaeus ( fə-NEE-əs; Φαναῖος, Phanaios),
literally "giving or bringing light"
Phoebus ( FEE-bəs; Φοῖβος, Phoibos),
literally "bright", his most commonly used
epithet by both the Greeks and Romans
Sol (Roman) (), "sun" in Latin
==== Wolf ====
Lycegenes ( ly-SEJ-ən-eez; Λυκηγενής,
Lukēgenēs), literally "born of a wolf" or
"born of Lycia"
Lycoctonus ( ly-KOK-tə-nəs; Λυκοκτόνος,
Lykoktonos), from λύκος, "wolf", and
κτείνειν, "to kill"
==== Origin and birth ====
Apollo's birthplace was Mount Cynthus on the
island of Delos.
Cynthius ( SIN-thee-əs; Κύνθιος, Kunthios),
literally "Cynthian"
Cynthogenes ( sin-THOJ-i-neez; Κυνθογενής,
Kynthogenēs), literally "born of Cynthus"
Delius ( DEE-lee-əs; Δήλιος, Delios),
literally "Delian"
Didymaeus ( did-i-MEE-əs; Διδυμαῖος,
Didymaios) from δίδυμος, "twin") as
Artemis' twin
==== Place of worship ====
Delphi and Actium were his primary places
of worship.
Acraephius ( ə-KREE-fee-əs; Ἀκραίφιος,
Akraiphios, literally "Acraephian") or Acraephiaeus
( ə-KREE-fee-EE-əs; Ἀκραιφιαίος,
Akraiphiaios), "Acraephian", from the Boeotian
town of Acraephia (Ἀκραιφία), reputedly
founded by his son Acraepheus.
Actiacus ( ak-TY-ə-kəs; Ἄκτιακός,
Aktiakos), literally "Actian", after Actium
(Ἄκτιον)
Delphinius ( del-FIN-ee-əs; Δελφίνιος,
Delphinios), literally "Delphic", after Delphi
(Δελφοί). An etiology in the Homeric
Hymns associated this with dolphins.
Epactaeus, meaning "god worshipped on the
coast", in Samos.
Pythius ( PITH-ee-əs; Πύθιος, Puthios,
from Πυθώ, Pythō), from the region around
Delphi
Smintheus ( SMIN-thewss; Σμινθεύς,
Smintheus), "Sminthian"—that is, "of the
town of Sminthos or Sminthe" near the Troad
town of Hamaxitus
==== Healing and disease ====
Acesius ( ə-SEE-zhəs; Ἀκέσιος, Akesios),
from ἄκεσις, "healing". Acesius was
the epithet of Apollo worshipped in Elis,
where he had a temple in the agora.
Acestor ( ə-SES-tər; Ἀκέστωρ, Akestōr),
literally "healer"
Culicarius (Roman) ( KEW-li-KARR-ee-əs),
from Latin culicārius, "of midges"
Iatrus ( eye-AT-rəs; Ἰατρός, Iātros),
literally "physician"
Medicus (Roman) ( MED-i-kəs), "physician"
in Latin. A temple was dedicated to Apollo
Medicus at Rome, probably next to the temple
of Bellona.
Paean ( PEE-ən; Παιάν, Paiān),physician,
healer
Parnopius ( par-NOH-pee-əs; Παρνόπιος,
Parnopios), from πάρνοψ, "locust"
==== Founder and protector ====
Agyieus ( ə-JY-i-yooss; Ἀγυιεύς,
Aguīeus), from ἄγυια, "street", for
his role in protecting roads and homes
Alexicacus ( ə-LEK-si-KAY-kəs; Ἀλεξίκακος,
Alexikakos), literally "warding off evil"
Apotropaeus ( ə-POT-rə-PEE-əs; Ἀποτρόπαιος,
Apotropaios), from ἀποτρέπειν,
"to avert"
Archegetes ( ar-KEJ-ə-teez; Ἀρχηγέτης,
Arkhēgetēs), literally "founder"
Averruncus (Roman) ( AV-ə-RUNG-kəs; from
Latin āverruncare), "to avert"
Clarius ( KLARR-ee-əs; Κλάριος, Klārios),
from Doric κλάρος, "allotted lot"
Epicurius ( EP-i-KEWR-ee-əs; Ἐπικούριος,
Epikourios), from ἐπικουρέειν,
"to aid"
Genetor ( JEN-i-tər; Γενέτωρ, Genetōr),
literally "ancestor"
Nomius ( NOH-mee-əs; Νόμιος, Nomios),
literally "pastoral"
Nymphegetes ( nim-FEJ-i-teez; Νυμφηγέτης,
Numphēgetēs), from Νύμφη, "Nymph",
and ἡγέτης, "leader", for his role
as a protector of shepherds and pastoral life
==== Prophecy and truth ====
Coelispex (Roman) ( SEL-i-speks), from Latin
coelum, "sky", and specere "to look at"
Iatromantis ( eye-AT-rə-MAN-tis; Ἰατρομάντις,
Iātromantis,) from ἰατρός, "physician",
and μάντις, "prophet", referring to
his role as a god both of healing and of prophecy
Leschenorius ( LES-ki-NOR-ee-əs; Λεσχηνόριος,
Leskhēnorios), from λεσχήνωρ, "converser"
Loxias ( LOK-see-əs; Λοξίας, Loxias),
from λέγειν, "to say", historically
associated with λοξός, "ambiguous"
Manticus ( MAN-ti-kəs; Μαντικός,
Mantikos), literally "prophetic"
==== Music and arts ====
Musagetes ( mew-SAJ-i-teez; Doric Μουσαγέτας,
Mousāgetās), from Μούσα, "Muse", and
ἡγέτης "leader"
Musegetes ( mew-SEJ-i-teez; Μουσηγέτης,
Mousēgetēs), as the preceding
==== Archery ====
Aphetor ( ə-FEE-tər; Ἀφήτωρ, Aphētōr),
from ἀφίημι, "to let loose"
Aphetorus ( ə-FET-ər-əs; Ἀφητόρος,
Aphētoros), as the preceding
Arcitenens (Roman) ( ar-TISS-i-nənz), literally
"bow-carrying"
Argyrotoxus ( AR-jər-ə-TOK-səs; Ἀργυρότοξος,
Argyrotoxos), literally "with silver bow"
Hecaërgus ( HEK-ee-UR-gəs; Ἑκάεργος,
Hekaergos), literally "far-shooting"
Hecebolus ( hi-SEB-əl-əs; Ἑκηβόλος,
Hekēbolos), "far-shooting"
Ismenius ( iz-MEE-nee-əs; Ἰσμηνιός,
Ismēnios), literally "of Ismenus", after
Ismenus, the son of Amphion and Niobe, whom
he struck with an arrow
=== Celtic epithets and cult titles ===
Apollo was worshipped throughout the Roman
Empire. In the traditionally Celtic lands
he was most often seen as a healing and sun
god. He was often equated with Celtic gods
of similar character.
Apollo Atepomarus ("the great horseman" or
"possessing a great horse"). Apollo was worshipped
at Mauvières (Indre). Horses were, in the
Celtic world, closely linked to the sun.
Apollo Belenus ('bright' or 'brilliant').
This epithet was given to Apollo in parts
of Gaul, Northern Italy and Noricum (part
of modern Austria). Apollo Belenus was a healing
and sun god.
Apollo Cunomaglus ('hound lord'). A title
given to Apollo at a shrine at Nettleton Shrub,
Wiltshire. May have been a god of healing.
Cunomaglus himself may originally have been
an independent healing god.
Apollo Grannus. Grannus was a healing spring
god, later equated with Apollo.
Apollo Maponus. A god known from inscriptions
in Britain. This may be a local fusion of
Apollo and Maponus.
Apollo Moritasgus ('masses of sea water').
An epithet for Apollo at Alesia, where he
was worshipped as god of healing and, possibly,
of physicians.
Apollo Vindonnus ('clear light'). Apollo Vindonnus
had a temple at Essarois, near Châtillon-sur-Seine
in present-day Burgundy. He was a god of healing,
especially of the eyes.
Apollo Virotutis ('benefactor of mankind?').
Apollo Virotutis was worshipped, among other
places, at Fins d'Annecy (Haute-Savoie) and
at Jublains (Maine-et-Loire).
== Origins ==
The cult centers of Apollo in Greece, Delphi
and Delos, date from the 8th century BCE.
The Delos sanctuary was primarily dedicated
to Artemis, Apollo's twin sister. At Delphi,
Apollo was venerated as the slayer of Pytho.
For the Greeks, Apollo was all the Gods in
one and through the centuries he acquired
different functions which could originate
from different gods. In archaic Greece he
was the prophet, the oracular god who in older
times was connected with "healing". In classical
Greece he was the god of light and of music,
but in popular religion he had a strong function
to keep away evil. Walter Burkert discerned
three components in the prehistory of Apollo
worship, which he termed "a Dorian-northwest
Greek component, a Cretan-Minoan component,
and a Syro-Hittite component."
From his eastern origin Apollo brought the
art of inspection of "symbols and omina" (σημεῖα
καὶ τέρατα : sēmeia kai terata),
and of the observation of the omens of the
days. The inspiration oracular-cult was probably
introduced from Anatolia. The ritualism belonged
to Apollo from the beginning. The Greeks created
the legalism, the supervision of the orders
of the gods, and the demand for moderation
and harmony. Apollo became the god of shining
youth, ideal beauty, fine arts, philosophy,
moderation, spiritual-life, the protector
of music, divine law and perceptible order.
The improvement of the old Anatolian god,
and his elevation to an intellectual sphere,
may be considered an achievement of the Greek
people.
=== Healer and god-protector from evil ===
The function of Apollo as a "healer" is connected
with Paean (Παιών-Παιήων), the
physician of the Gods in the Iliad, who seems
to come from a more primitive religion. Paeοn
is probably connected with the Mycenean pa-ja-wo-ne
(Linear B: 𐀞𐀊𐀺𐀚), but this is
not certain. He did not have a separate cult,
but he was the personification of the holy
magic-song sung by the magicians that was
supposed to cure disease. Later the Greeks
knew the original meaning of the relevant
song "paean" (παιάν). The magicians were
also called "seer-doctors" (ἰατρομάντεις),
and they used an ecstatic prophetic art which
was used exactly by the god Apollo at the
oracles.In the Iliad, Apollo is the healer
under the gods, but he is also the bringer
of disease and death with his arrows, similar
to the function of the Vedic god of disease
Rudra. He sends a plague (λοιμός) to
the Achaeans. The god who sends a disease
can also prevent it; therefore, when it stops,
they make a purifying ceremony and offer him
a hecatomb to ward off evil. When the oath
of his priest appeases, they pray and with
a song they call their own god, the Paean.Some
common epithets of Apollo as a healer are
"paion" (παιών literally "healer" or
"helper") "epikourios" (ἐπικούριος,
"succouring"), "oulios" (οὔλιος, "healer,
baleful") and "loimios" (λοίμιος, "of
the plague"). In classical times, his strong
function in popular religion was to keep away
evil, and was therefore called "apotropaios"
(ἀποτρόπαιος, "averting evil")
and "alexikakos" (ἀλεξίκακος "keeping
off ill"; from v. ἀλέξω + n. κακόν).
In later writers, the word, usually spelled
"Paean", becomes a mere epithet of Apollo
in his capacity as a god of healing.Homer
illustrated Paeon the god, and the song both
of apotropaic thanksgiving or triumph.
Such songs were originally addressed to Apollo,
and afterwards to other gods: to Dionysus,
to Apollo Helios, to Apollo's son Asclepius
the healer. About the 4th century BCE, the
paean became merely a formula of adulation;
its object was either to implore protection
against disease and misfortune, or to offer
thanks after such protection had been rendered.
It was in this way that Apollo had become
recognised as the god of music. Apollo's role
as the slayer of the Python led to his association
with battle and victory; hence it became the
Roman custom for a paean to be sung by an
army on the march and before entering into
battle, when a fleet left the harbour, and
also after a victory had been won.
=== Dorian origin ===
The connection with the Dorians and their
initiation festival apellai is reinforced
by the month Apellaios in northwest Greek
calendars. The family-festival was dedicated
to Apollo (Doric: Ἀπέλλων). Apellaios
is the month of these rites, and Apellon is
the "megistos kouros" (the great Kouros).
However it can explain only the Doric type
of the name, which is connected with the Ancient
Macedonian word "pella" (Pella), stone. Stones
played an important part in the cult of the
god, especially in the oracular shrine of
Delphi (Omphalos).The "Homeric hymn" represents
Apollo as a Northern intruder. His arrival
must have occurred during the "Dark Ages"
that followed the destruction of the Mycenaean
civilization, and his conflict with Gaia (Mother
Earth) was represented by the legend of his
slaying her daughter the serpent Python.The
earth deity had power over the ghostly world,
and it is believed that she was the deity
behind the oracle. The older tales mentioned
two dragons who were perhaps intentionally
conflated. A female dragon named Delphyne
(Δελφύνη; cf. δελφύς, "womb"),
and a male serpent Typhon (Τυφῶν; from
τύφειν, "to smoke"), the adversary of
Zeus in the Titanomachy, who the narrators
confused with Python. Python was the good
daemon (ἀγαθὸς δαίμων) of the
temple as it appears in Minoan religion, but
she was represented as a dragon, as often
happens in Northern European folklore as well
as in the East.Apollo and his sister Artemis
can bring death with their arrows. The conception
that diseases and death come from invisible
shots sent by supernatural beings, or magicians
is common in Germanic and Norse mythology.
In Greek mythology Artemis was the leader
(ἡγεμών, "hegemon") of the nymphs,
who had similar functions with the Nordic
Elves. The "elf-shot" originally indicated
disease or death attributed to the elves,
but it was later attested denoting stone arrow-heads
which were used by witches to harm people,
and also for healing rituals.The Vedic Rudra
has some similar functions with Apollo. The
terrible god is called "The Archer", and the
bow is also an attribute of Shiva. Rudra could
bring diseases with his arrows, but he was
able to free people of them, and his alternative
Shiba is a healer physician god. However the
Indo-European component of Apollo does not
explain his strong relation with omens, exorcisms,
and with the oracular cult.
=== Minoan origin ===
It seems an oracular cult existed in Delphi
from the Mycenaean age. In historical times,
the priests of Delphi were called Lab(r)yadai,
"the double-axe men", which indicates Minoan
origin. The double-axe, labrys, was the holy
symbol of the Cretan labyrinth. The Homeric
hymn adds that Apollo appeared as a dolphin
and carried Cretan priests to Delphi, where
they evidently transferred their religious
practices. Apollo Delphinios or Delphidios
was a sea-god especially worshiped in Crete
and in the islands. Apollo's sister Artemis,
who was the Greek goddess of hunting, is identified
with Britomartis (Diktynna), the Minoan "Mistress
of the animals". In her earliest depictions
she is accompanied by the "Mister of the animals",
a male god of hunting who had the bow as his
attribute. His original name is unknown, but
it seems that he was absorbed by the more
popular Apollo, who stood by the virgin "Mistress
of the Animals", becoming her brother.The
old oracles in Delphi seem to be connected
with a local tradition of the priesthood,
and there is not clear evidence that a kind
of inspiration-prophecy existed in the temple.
This led some scholars to the conclusion that
Pythia carried on the rituals in a consistent
procedure through many centuries, according
to the local tradition. In that regard, the
mythical seeress Sibyl of Anatolian origin,
with her ecstatic art, looks unrelated to
the oracle itself. However, the Greek tradition
is referring to the existence of vapours and
chewing of laurel-leaves, which seem to be
confirmed by recent studies.Plato describes
the priestesses of Delphi and Dodona as frenzied
women, obsessed by "mania" (μανία, "frenzy"),
a Greek word he connected with mantis (μάντις,
"prophet"). Frenzied women like Sibyls from
whose lips the god speaks are recorded in
the Near East as Mari in the second millennium
BC. Although Crete had contacts with Mari
from 2000 BC, there is no evidence that the
ecstatic prophetic art existed during the
Minoan and Mycenean ages. It is more probable
that this art was introduced later from Anatolia
and regenerated an existing oracular cult
that was local to Delphi and dormant in several
areas of Greece.
=== Anatolian origin ===
A non-Greek origin of Apollo has long been
assumed in scholarship. The name of Apollo's
mother Leto has Lydian origin, and she was
worshipped on the coasts of Asia Minor. The
inspiration oracular cult was probably introduced
into Greece from Anatolia, which is the origin
of Sibyl, and where existed some of the oldest
oracular shrines. Omens, symbols, purifications,
and exorcisms appear in old Assyro-Babylonian
texts, and these rituals were spread into
the empire of the Hittites. In a Hittite text
is mentioned that the king invited a Babylonian
priestess for a certain "purification".A similar
story is mentioned by Plutarch. He writes
that the Cretan seer Epimenides purified Athens
after the pollution brought by the Alcmeonidae,
and that the seer's expertise in sacrifices
and reform of funeral practices were of great
help to Solon in his reform of the Athenian
state. The story indicates that Epimenides
was probably heir to the shamanic religions
of Asia, and proves, together with the Homeric
hymn, that Crete had a resisting religion
up to historical times. It seems that these
rituals were dormant in Greece, and they were
reinforced when the Greeks migrated to Anatolia.
Homer pictures Apollo on the side of the Trojans,
fighting against the Achaeans, during the
Trojan War. He is pictured as a terrible god,
less trusted by the Greeks than other gods.
The god seems to be related to Appaliunas,
a tutelary god of Wilusa (Troy) in Asia Minor,
but the word is not complete. The stones found
in front of the gates of Homeric Troy were
the symbols of Apollo. A western Anatolian
origin may also be bolstered by references
to the parallel worship of Artimus (Artemis)
and Qλdãns, whose name may be cognate with
the Hittite and Doric forms, in surviving
Lydian texts. However, recent scholars have
cast doubt on the identification of Qλdãns
with Apollo.The Greeks gave to him the name
ἀγυιεύς agyieus as the protector god
of public places and houses who wards off
evil, and his symbol was a tapered stone or
column. However, while usually Greek festivals
were celebrated at the full moon, all the
feasts of Apollo were celebrated at the seventh
day of the month, and the emphasis given to
that day (sibutu) indicates a Babylonian origin.The
Late Bronze Age (from 1700 to 1200 BCE) Hittite
and Hurrian Aplu was a god of plague, invoked
during plague years. Here we have an apotropaic
situation, where a god originally bringing
the plague was invoked to end it. Aplu, meaning
the son of, was a title given to the god Nergal,
who was linked to the Babylonian god of the
sun Shamash. Homer interprets Apollo as a
terrible god (δεινὸς θεός) who
brings death and disease with his arrows,
but who can also heal, possessing a magic
art that separates him from the other Greek
gods. In Iliad, his priest prays to Apollo
Smintheus, the mouse god who retains an older
agricultural function as the protector from
field rats. All these functions, including
the function of the healer-god Paean, who
seems to have Mycenean origin, are fused in
the cult of Apollo.
== Oracular cult ==
Unusually among the Olympic deities, Apollo
had two cult sites that had widespread influence:
Delos and Delphi. In cult practice, Delian
Apollo and Pythian Apollo (the Apollo of Delphi)
were so distinct that they might both have
shrines in the same locality. Apollo's cult
was already fully established when written
sources commenced, about 650 BCE. Apollo became
extremely important to the Greek world as
an oracular deity in the archaic period, and
the frequency of theophoric names such as
Apollodorus or Apollonios and cities named
Apollonia testify to his popularity. Oracular
sanctuaries to Apollo were established in
other sites. In the 2nd and 3rd century CE,
those at Didyma and Clarus pronounced the
so-called "theological oracles", in which
Apollo confirms that all deities are aspects
or servants of an all-encompassing, highest
deity. "In the 3rd century, Apollo fell silent.
Julian the Apostate (359–361) tried to revive
the Delphic oracle, but failed."
=== 
Oracular shrines ===
Apollo had a famous oracle in Delphi, and
other notable ones in Clarus and Branchidae.
His oracular shrine in Abae in Phocis, where
he bore the toponymic epithet Abaeus (Ἀπόλλων
Ἀβαῖος, Apollon Abaios), was important
enough to be consulted by Croesus.
His oracular shrines include:
Abae in Phocis.
Bassae in the Peloponnese.
At Clarus, on the west coast of Asia Minor;
as at Delphi a holy spring which gave off
a pneuma, from which the priests drank.
In Corinth, the Oracle of Corinth came from
the town of Tenea, from prisoners supposedly
taken in the Trojan War.
At Khyrse, in Troad, the temple was built
for Apollo Smintheus.
In Delos, there was an oracle to the Delian
Apollo, during summer. The Hieron (Sanctuary)
of Apollo adjacent to the Sacred Lake, was
the place where the god was said to have been
born.
In Delphi, the Pythia became filled with the
pneuma of Apollo, said to come from a spring
inside the Adyton.
In Didyma, an oracle on the coast of Anatolia,
south west of Lydian (Luwian) Sardis, in which
priests from the lineage of the Branchidae
received inspiration by drinking from a healing
spring located in the temple. Was believed
to have been founded by Branchus, son or lover
of Apollo.
In Hierapolis Bambyce, Syria (modern Manbij),
according to the treatise De Dea Syria, the
sanctuary of the Syrian Goddess contained
a robed and bearded image of Apollo. Divination
was based on spontaneous movements of this
image.
At Patara, in Lycia, there was a seasonal
winter oracle of Apollo, said to have been
the place where the god went from Delos. As
at Delphi the oracle at Patara was a woman.
In Segesta in Sicily.Oracles were also given
by sons of Apollo.
In Oropus, north of Athens, the oracle Amphiaraus,
was said to be the son of Apollo; Oropus also
had a sacred spring.
in Labadea, 20 miles (32 km) east of Delphi,
Trophonius, another son of Apollo, killed
his brother and fled to the cave where he
was also afterwards consulted as an oracle.
== Temples of Apollo ==
Many temples were dedicated to Apollo in Greece
and the Greek colonies. They show the spread
of the cult of Apollo and the evolution of
the Greek architecture, which was mostly based
on the rightness of form and on mathematical
relations. Some of the earliest temples, especially
in Crete, do not belong to any Greek order.
It seems that the first peripteral temples
were rectangular wooden structures. The different
wooden elements were considered divine, and
their forms were preserved in the marble or
stone elements of the temples of Doric order.
The Greeks used standard types because they
believed that the world of objects was a series
of typical forms which could be represented
in several instances. The temples should be
canonic, and the architects were trying to
achieve this esthetic perfection. From the
earliest times there were certain rules strictly
observed in rectangular peripteral and prostyle
buildings. The first buildings were built
narrowly in order to hold the roof, and when
the dimensions changed some mathematical relations
became necessary in order to keep the original
forms. This probably influenced the theory
of numbers of Pythagoras, who believed that
behind the appearance of things there was
the permanent principle of mathematics.The
Doric order dominated during the 6th and the
5th century BC but there was a mathematical
problem regarding the position of the triglyphs,
which couldn't be solved without changing
the original forms. The order was almost abandoned
for the Ionic order, but the Ionic capital
also posed an insoluble problem at the corner
of a temple. Both orders were abandoned for
the Corinthian order gradually during the
Hellenistic age and under Rome.
The most important temples are:
=== Greek temples ===
Thebes, Greece: The oldest temple probably
dedicated to Apollo Ismenius was built in
the 9th century B.C. It seems that it was
a curvilinear building. The Doric temple was
built in the early 7th century B.C., but only
some small parts have been found A festival
called Daphnephoria was celebrated every ninth
year in honour of Apollo Ismenius (or Galaxius).
The people held laurel branches (daphnai),
and at the head of the procession walked a
youth (chosen priest of Apollo), who was called
"daphnephoros".
Eretria: According to the Homeric hymn to
Apollo, the god arrived to the plain, seeking
for a location to establish its oracle. The
first temple of Apollo Daphnephoros, "Apollo,
laurel-bearer", or "carrying off Daphne",
is dated to 800 B.C. The temple was curvilinear
hecatombedon (a hundred feet). In a smaller
building were kept the bases of the laurel
branches which were used for the first building.
Another temple probably peripteral was built
in the 7th century B.C., with an inner row
of wooden columns over its Geometric predecessor.
It was rebuilt peripteral around 510 B.C.,
with the stylobate measuring 21,00 x 43,00
m. The number of pteron column was 6 x 14.
Dreros (Crete). The temple of Apollo Delphinios
dates from the 7th century B.C., or probably
from the middle of the 8th century B.C. According
to the legend, Apollo appeared as a dolphin,
and carried Cretan priests to the port of
Delphi. The dimensions of the plan are 10,70
x 24,00 m and the building was not peripteral.
It contains column-bases of the Minoan type,
which may be considered as the predecessors
of the Doric columns.
Gortyn (Crete). A temple of Pythian Apollo,
was built in the 7th century B.C. The plan
measured 19,00 x 16,70 m and it was not peripteral.
The walls were solid, made from limestone,
and there was single door on the east side.
Thermon (West Greece): The Doric temple of
Apollo Thermios, was built in the middle of
the 7th century B.C. It was built on an older
curvilinear building dating perhaps from the
10th century B.C., on which a peristyle was
added. The temple was narrow, and the number
of pteron columns (probably wooden) was 5
x 15. There was a single row of inner columns.
It measures 12.13 x 38.23 m at the stylobate,
which was made from stones.
Corinth: A Doric temple was built in the 6th
century B.C. The temple's stylobate measures
21.36 x 53.30 m, and the number of pteron
columns was 6 x 15. There was a double row
of inner columns. The style is similar with
the Temple of Alcmeonidae at Delphi. The Corinthians
were considered to be the inventors of the
Doric order.
Napes (Lesbos): An Aeolic temple probably
of Apollo Napaios was built in the 7th century
B.C. Some special capitals with floral ornament
have been found, which are called Aeolic,
and it seems that they were borrowed from
the East.
Cyrene, Libya: The oldest Doric temple of
Apollo was built in c. 600 B.C. The number
of pteron columns was 6 x 11, and it measures
16.75 x 30.05 m at the stylobate. There was
a double row of sixteen inner columns on stylobates.
The capitals were made from stone.
Naukratis: An Ionic temple was built in the
early 6th century B.C. Only some fragments
have been found and the earlier, made from
limestone, are identified among the oldest
of the Ionic order.
Syracuse, Sicily: A Doric temple was built
at the beginning of the 6th century B.C. The
temple's stylobate measures 21.47 x 55.36
m and the number of pteron columns was 6 x
17. It was the first temple in Greek west
built completely out of stone. A second row
of columns were added, obtaining the effect
of an inner porch.
Selinus (Sicily):The Doric Temple C dates
from 550 B.C., and it was probably dedicated
to Apollo. The temple's stylobate measures
10.48 x 41.63 m and the number of pteron columns
was 6 x 17. There was portico with a second
row of columns, which is also attested for
the temple at Syracuse.
Delphi: The first temple dedicated to Apollo,
was built in the 7th century B.C. According
to the legend, it was wooden made of laurel
branches. The "Temple of Alcmeonidae" was
built in c. 513 B.C. and it is the oldest
Doric temple with significant marble elements.
The temple's stylobate measures 21.65 x 58.00
m, and the number of pteron columns as 6 x
15. A fest similar with Apollo's fest at Thebes,
Greece was celebrated every nine years. A
boy was sent to the temple, who walked on
the sacred road and returned carrying a laurel
branch (dopnephoros). The maidens participated
with joyful songs.
Chios: An Ionic temple of Apollo Phanaios
was built at the end of the 6th century B.C.
Only some small parts have been found and
the capitals had floral ornament.
Abae (Phocis). The temple was destroyed by
the Persians in the invasion of Xerxes in
480 B.C., and later by the Boeotians. It was
rebuilt by Hadrian. The oracle was in use
from early Mycenaean times to the Roman period,
and shows the continuity of Mycenaean and
Classical Greek religion.
Bassae (Peloponnesus):A temple dedicated to
Apollo Epikourios ("Apollo the helper"), was
built in 430 B.C. and it was designed by Iktinos.It
combined Doric and Ionic elements, and the
earliest use of column with a Corinthian capital
in the middle. The temple is of a relatively
modest size, with the stylobate measuring
14.5 x 38.3 metres containing a Doric peristyle
of 6 x 15 columns. The roof left a central
space open to admit light and air.
Delos: A temple probably dedicated to Apollo
and not peripteral, was built in the late
7th century B.C., with a plan measuring 10,00
x 15,60 m. The Doric Great temple of Apollo,
was built in c. 475 B.C. The temple's stylobate
measures 13.72 x 29.78 m, and the number of
pteron columns as 6 x 13. Marble was extensively
used.
Ambracia: A Doric peripteral temple dedicated
to Apollo Pythios Sotir was built in 500 B.C.,
and It is lying at the centre of the Greek
city Arta. Only some parts have been found,
and it seems that the temple was built on
earlier sanctuaries dedicated to Apollo. The
temple measures 20,75 x 44,00 m at the stylobate.
The foundation which supported the statue
of the god, still exists.
Didyma (near Miletus): The gigantic Ionic
temple of Apollo Didymaios started around
540 B.C. The construction ceased and then
it was restarted in 330 B.C. The temple is
dipteral, with an outer row of 10 x 21 columns,
and it measures 28.90 x 80.75 m at the stylobate.
Clarus (near ancient Colophon): According
to the legend, the famous seer Calchas, on
his return from Troy, came to Clarus. He challenged
the seer Mopsus, and died when he lost. The
Doric temple of Apollo Clarius was probably
built in the 3rd century B.C., and it was
peripteral with 6 x 11 columns. It was reconstructed
at the end of the Hellenistic period, and
later from the emperor Hadrian but Pausanias
claims that it was still incomplete in the
2nd century B.C.
Hamaxitus (Troad): In Iliad, Chryses the priest
of Apollo, addresses the god with the epithet
Smintheus (Lord of Mice), related with the
god's ancient role as bringer of the disease
(plague). Recent excavations indicate that
the Hellenistic temple of Apollo Smintheus
was constructed at 150–125 B.C., but the
symbol of the mouse god was used on coinage
probably from the 4th century B.C. The temple
measures 40,00 x 23,00 m at the stylobate,
and the number of pteron columns was 8 x 14.
=== Etruscan and Roman temples ===
Veii (Etruria): The temple of Apollo was built
in the late 6th century B.C. and it indicates
the spread of Apollo's culture (Aplu) in Etruria.
There was a prostyle porch, which is called
Tuscan, and a triple cella 18,50 m wide.
Falerii Veteres (Etruria): A temple of Apollo
was built probably in the 4th-3rd century
B.C. Parts of a teraccotta capital, and a
teraccotta base have been found. It seems
that the Etruscan columns were derived from
the archaic Doric. A cult of Apollo Soranus
is attested by one inscription found near
Falerii.
Pompeii (Italy): The cult of Apollo was widespread
in the region of Campania since the 6th century
B.C. The temple was built in 120 B.V, but
its beginnings lie in the 6th century B.C.
It was reconstructed after an earthquake in
A.D. 63. It demonstrates a mixing of styles
which formed the basis of Roman architecture.
The columns in front of the cella formed a
Tuscan prostyle porch, and the cella is situated
unusually far back. The peripteral colonnade
of 48 Ionic columns was placed in such a way
that the emphasis was given to the front side.
Rome: The temple of Apollo Sosianus and the
temple of Apollo Medicus. The first temple
building dates to 431 B.C., and was dedicated
to Apollo Medicus (the doctor), after a plague
of 433 B.C. It was rebuilt by Gaius Sosius,
probably in 34 B.C. Only three columns with
Corinthian capitals exist today. It seems
that the cult of Apollo had existed in this
area since at least to the mid-5th century
B.C.
Rome:The temple of Apollo Palatinus was located
on the Palatine hill within the sacred boundary
of the city. It was dedicated by Augustus
on 28 B.C. The façade of the original temple
was Ionic and it was constructed from solid
blocks of marble. Many famous statues by Greek
masters were on display in and around the
temple, including a marble statue of the god
at the entrance and a statue of Apollo in
the cella.
Melite (modern Mdina, Malta): A Temple of
Apollo was built in the city in the 2nd century
A.D. Its remains were discovered in the 18th
century, and many of its architectural fragments
were dispersed among private collections or
reworked into new sculptures. Parts of the
temple's podium were rediscovered in 2002.
== Mythology ==
Apollo appears often in the myths, plays and
hymns. As Zeus' favorite son, Apollo had direct
access to the mind of Zeus and was willing
to reveal this knowledge to humans. A divinity
beyond human comprehension, he appears both
as a beneficial and a wrathful god.
=== Birth ===
When Zeus' wife Hera discovered that Leto
was impregnanted by Zeus, she banned Leto
from giving birth on terra firma. In her wanderings,
Leto sought shelter on many lands, only to
be rejected by them. Finally, Apollo, still
in Leto's womb, spoke to his mother and told
her about the newly created floating island
of Delos, which was neither mainland nor a
real island. Leto, when welcomed by Delos,
gave birth there, clinging to a palm tree.
It is also stated that Hera kidnapped Eileithyia,
the goddess of childbirth, to prevent Leto
from going into labor. The other gods tricked
Hera into letting her go by offering her a
necklace of amber 9 yards or 8.2 meters long.
When Apollo was born clutching a golden sword,
the swans circled Delos seven times and the
nymphs sang in delight. Soon after he was
born, he was washed clean by the goddesses
and was covered in white garment, with golden
bands fastened around him. Since Leto was
unable to feed the new born, Themis, the goddess
of divine law, fed him the nectar, or ambrosia.
Upon tasting the divine food, Apollo broke
free of the bands fastened onto him and declared
that he would be the master of lyre and archery,
and interpret the will of Zeus to humankind.
Apollo was a precocious child. Even before
he was born, in anger he had foretold the
fate of Niobe and the death of Python during
Leto's wanderings. Leto was accepted by the
people of Delos and she promised them that
her son would be always favorable towards
the city. Afterwards, Zeus secured Delos to
the bottom of the ocean. This island later
became sacred to Apollo.
Apollo was born on the seventh day (ἑβδομαγενής,
hebdomagenes) of the month Thargelion —according
to Delian tradition—or of the month Bysios—according
to Delphian tradition. The seventh and twentieth,
the days of the new and full moon, were ever
afterwards held sacred to him. Mythographers
agree that Artemis was born first and subsequently
assisted with the birth of Apollo, or that
Artemis was born on the island of Ortygia
and that she helped Leto cross the sea to
Delos the next day to give birth to Apollo.
=== Childhood and Youth ===
As a child, Apollo is said to have built a
foundation and an altar on Delos using the
horns of the goats that his sister Artemis
hunted. Since he learnt the art of building
when young, he later became Archegetes, the
founder of towns and god who guided men to
build new cities.
In his young years when Zeus had ignored him,
Apollo spent his time herding cows. There,
he was reared by Thriae, the bee nymphs, who
trained him and enhanced his prophetic skills.
During this time, Apollo also invented the
lyre, and along with Artemis, the art of archery.
He then taught to the humans the art of healing
and archery. Phoebe, his grandmother, gave
the oracular shrine of Delphi to Apollo as
a birthday gift. Themis inspired him to be
the oracular voice of Delphi thereon.
Later, with his bow and arrows that he had
received from Hephaestus, Apollo went in search
of the chthonic dragon Python, which lived
in Delphi beside the Castalian Spring, and
was a terror to the people. Hera had sent
this serpent to hunt the pregnant Leto to
her death across the world. To avenge the
trouble given to his mother, Apollo killed
Python in the sacred cave at Delphi with his
arrows. Even though he had freed the people
from a great bane, Python was a child of Gaia.
Zeus, not wanting to incur her anger, decided
to punished Apollo.
Zeus banned Apollo from Olympus, and told
him to purify himself. Exiled, Apollo had
to serve as a slave for nine years. He also
travelled to Crete, where Carmanor performed
purification rites on him. Further, Zeus ordered
him to go to the Vale of Tempe and bath in
waters of Peneus. Apollo later established
the Pythian games to appropriate Gaia. Only
after this, he was given his place on Olympus.
Henceforth, Apollo became the god who cleansed
himself from the sin of murder and, made men
aware of their guilt and purified them.Zeus,
for his son's integrity, gave Apollo the seat
next to him on his right side. He also gifted
to Apollo a golden tripod, bow and arrows,
a golden chariot drawn by swans and the land
of Delphi.
Soon after his return, Apollo needed to recruit
people to Delphi. So, when he spotted a ship
sailing from Crete, he sprang aboard in the
form of a dolphin. The crew was awed into
submission and followed a course that led
the ship to Delphi. There Apollo revealed
himself as a god. Initiating them to his service,
he instructed them to keep righteousness in
their hearts. The Pythia was Apollo's high
priestess and his mouthpiece through whom
he gave prophecies. Pythia is arguably the
constant favorite of Apollo among the mortals.
Hera once again sent another giant, Tityos
to rape Leto. This time Apollo shot him with
his arrows and attacked him with his golden
sword. According to variations, Artemis aided
in protecting their mother by attacking with
her arrows. After the battle Zeus finally
relented his aid and hurled Tityos down to
Tartarus. There, he was pegged to the rock
floor, covering an area of 9 acres (36,000
m2), where a pair of vultures feasted daily
on his liver.
=== Exile in Troy ===
Once Apollo, along with Athena and Poseidon,
participated in Hera's scheme to hold Zeus
captive and demand a better rule from him.
This was unsuccessful and Zeus, feeling beatryed,
sent Apollo and Poseidon to serve as slaves
under the Trojan king Laomedon. According
to varied version, both gods went to test
Laomedon. Apollo guarded the cattle of Laomedon
in the valleys of mount Ida, while Poseidon
built the walls of Troy. There, Apollo had
a lover named Ourea, and sired a son Ileus
by her.
Later, Apollo was also compelled by Laomedon
to build the walls. Apollo obeyed, and by
playing on his lyre, he built the walls of
Troy. However, the king refused to give them
the wages he had promised. Angered, Apollo
sent a pestilence to the city. To deliver
the city from it, Laomedon had to sacrifice
his daughter Hesione (who would later be saved
by Heracles).
=== Trojan War ===
Apollo sided with the Trojans during the Trojan
war, a war waged by the Greeks against the
Trojans.
During the war, Agamemnon, a Greek hero captured
Chryseis, the daughter of Apollo's priest
Chryses. Angered, Apollo shot arrows infected
with the plague into the Greek encampment.
He demanded to return the girl, and the Achaeans
(Greeks) complied, indirectly causing the
anger of Achilles, which is the theme of the
Iliad.
Receiving the aegis from Zeus, Apollo entered
the battlefield, causing great terror to the
enemy with his war cry, pushing them back
and destroying many of them. He is described
as "the rouser of armies", because he rallied
the Trojan army when they were falling apart.
When Zeus allowed the other gods to get involved
in the war, Apollo was provoked by Poseidon
to a duel. However, Apollo declined to fight
him, saying that he wouldn't fight his uncle
for the sake of mortals.
When Diomedes, the greek hero, injured Aeneas,
a Trojan ally, Aphrodite tried to rescue him
but Diomedes injured her as well. Apollo then
enveloped Aeneas in a cloud to protect him.
He repelled the attacks Diomedes made on him
and gave the hero a stern warning to abstain
himself from attacking a god. Aeneas was then
taken to Pergamos, a sacred spot in Troy,
where he was healed.
After the death of Sarpedon, a son of Zeus,
Apollo rescued the corpse from the battlefield
as per his father's wish and cleaned it. He
then gave it to Sleep (Hypnos) and Death (Thanatos).
Apollo had also once convinced Athena to stop
the war for that day, so that the warriors
can relieve themselves for a while.
The Trojan hero Hector was favored by Apollo,
who, according to some, was the god's own
son by Hecuba. When he got injured, Apollo
healed him and encouraged him to take up the
arms. During a duel with Achilles, when Hector
was about to lose, Apollo hid Hector in a
cloud of mist to save him. At last, after
Hector's fated death, Apollo protected his
corpse from Achilles' attempt to mutilate
it by creating a magical cloud over the corpse.
The Greek warrior Patroclus tried to get into
the fort of Troy and was stopped by Apollo.
Encouraging Hector to attack Patroclus, Apollo
stripped the armour of Patroclus and broke
his weapons. Patroclus was eventually killed
by Hector.
Apollo held anger towards Achilles throughout
the war. The reason for this was the murder
of his son Tenes before the war began, and
brutal assassination of his another son Troilus
in his own temple, both by Achilles. Not only
did Apollo save Hector from Achilles, he also
tricked Achilles by disguising himself as
a Trojan warrior and driving him away from
the gates. He foiled Achilles' attempt to
mutilate Hector's dead body.
Finally, Apollo caused Achilles' death by
guiding an arrow shot by Paris into Achilles'
heel. In some versions, Apollo himself killed
Achilles by taking the disguise of Paris.
Apollo helped many Trojan warriors, including
Agenor, Polydamas, Glaucus in the battlefield.
Though he greatly favored the Trojans, Apollo
was bound to follow the orders of Zeus and
served his father loyally during the war.
=== Admetus ===
When Zeus struck down Apollo's son Asclepius
with a lightning bolt for resurrecting the
dead, Apollo in revenge killed the Cyclopes,
who had fashioned the bolt for Zeus. Apollo
would have been banished to Tartarus forever
for this, but his mother Leto intervened,
and reminding Zeus of their old love, pleaded
him not to kill their son. Zeus obliged and
sentenced Apollo to one year of hard labor.
During this time he served as herdsman for
King Admetus of Pherae in Thessaly. His mere
presence is said to have made the cows give
birth to twins. Apollo shared a romantic relationship
with Admetus during his stay.
Admetus treated Apollo well, and, in return,
the god conferred great benefits on Admetus.
Out of love and gratitude, Apollo helped Admetus
win Alcestis, the daughter of King Pelias
and later convinced, or tricked the Fates
to let Admetus live past his time.
The love between Apollo and Admetus was a
favorite topic of Roman poets like Ovid and
Servius.
=== Niobe ===
The fate of Niobe was prophesied by Apollo
while he was still in Leto's womb. Niobe was
the queen of Thebes and wife of Amphion. She
displayed hubris when she boasted of her superiority
to Leto because she had fourteen children
(Niobids), seven male and seven female, while
Leto had only two. She further mocked Apollo's
effeminate appearance and Artemis' manly appearance.
Leto, insulted by this, told her children
to punish Niobe. Accordingly, Apollo killed
Niobe's sons, and Artemis her daughters. Apollo
and Artemis used poisoned arrows to kill them,
though according to some versions of the myth,
among the Niobids, Chloris and her brother
Amyclas were not killed because they prayed
to Leto. Amphion, at the sight of his dead
sons, either killed himself or was killed
by Apollo after swearing revenge.
A devastated Niobe fled to Mount Sipylos in
Asia Minor and turned into stone as she wept.
Her tears formed the river Achelous. Zeus
had turned all the people of Thebes to stone
and so no one buried the Niobids until the
ninth day after their death, when the gods
themselves entombed them.
=== Other stories ===
As a child, Apollo built an altar made of
goat horns which was considered as one of
the wonders of the world.In the first Olympic
games, Apollo defeated Ares and became the
victor in wrestling. He outran Hermes in the
race and won first place.Apollo killed Aloadae,
the twin giants, when they attempted to storm
Mt. Olympus.During the gigantomachy, Apollo
killed the giant Ephialtes and with Zeus,
he killed Porphyrion, the king of giants.When
Odysseus, with the help of Athena, attacked
the Bryges (backed by Ares), he lost. This
caused Athena and Ares to enter into a direct
duel. Their fight continued until Apollo intervened
between the war siblings and resolved the
conflict.
When Heracles tried to steal the Delphic tripod
to start his own Oracle, he was stopped by
Apollo. A duel ensued between Apollo and Heracles
where Athena supported the latter. Soon, Zeus
intervened to stop the fight and punished
Heracles for his act.
When Phorbas, a robber, had seized the roads
to Delphi and was harassing the pilgrims,
Apollo defeated and killed him in a boxing
match.
Apollo rescued Hemithea and Parthenos, sisters
of Rhoeo from their drunk father and turned
them into goddesses.Apollo rescued several
dryads from drowning during the war against
Indians waged by Dionysus.When the Argonauts
were facing a terrible storm, Jason prayed
to his patron, Apollo, to help them. Apollo
used his his bow and golden arrow to shed
light upon the island Anafi, where the Argonauts
soon took shelter.
Apollo helped the Greek hero, Diomedes, to
escape from a great tempest. As a token of
gratitude, Diomedes built a temple in honor
of Apollo Epibaterius, Apollo the embarker.
Periphas, a noble king, was honoured to the
same extent as Zeus by mortals. Due to this
Zeus wished to destroy him. But Apollo requested
his father not to do so, since Periphas was
a virtuous man. Zeus agreed and metamorphosed
Periphas into an eagle and made the eagle
his companion.Apollo spoke to Zeus regarding
Prometheus, the titan who was punished by
Zeus for stealing fire. Apollo, with tears
in his eyes, pleaded Zeus to release the kind
Titan. Zeus, moved by Apollo's words and the
tears of Artemis and Leto, sent Heracles to
free Prometheus.
Chiron, the abandoned centaur was fostered
by Apollo who instructed him in medicine,
prophecy, archery and more. Chiron's calm
nature and wisdom, in contrast to rest of
the centaurs, is attributed to the education
Apollo gave him.
Apollo adopted Carnus, the abandoned son of
Zeus and Europa. He fostered him with the
help of his mother Leto and later educated
the child.
Apollo personally readied his son Aristaeus
for the Indian war by providing him with bow,
arrows and a shield. Later on, he also rescued
Aristaeus from drowning in a river during
the war.Anius, Apollo's son by Rhoeo, was
abandoned by his mother. Apollo brought him
up and educated him. Anius later became the
priest of Apollo and the king of Delos. In
a similar fashion, he had educated his sons
Idmon and Iamus (by taking him to Olympia).
Upon the death of his son Idmon, Apollo commanded
the Megarians and Boetians to build a town
around the tomb of the hero, and to honor
him for his bravery and sacrifice.Apollo saved
a shepherd (name unknown) from death in a
large deep cave, by the means of vultures.
To thank him, the shepherd built Apollo a
temple under the name Vulturius.Apollo guided
Aphrodite to his sanctuary when she was grief-stricken
with Adonis' death. He helped her free herself
from the heartbreak.
Apollo divides months into summer and winter.
He rides on the back of a swan to the land
of the Hyperboreans during the winter months,
and the absence of warmth in winters is due
to his departure. During his absence, Delphi
was under the care of Dionysus, and no prophecies
were given during winters.
=== Apollo, the god of music ===
Apollo's music is soulful and enchanting.
His music would deliver people from their
pain, and hence, like Dionysus, he is also
called the liberator.Apollo is often seen
as the companion of the Muses and as Musagetes,
he leads them into dance while he sang. He
is found delighting the immortal gods with
his songs and music on the lyre. Apollo and
the Muses are often seen on Parnassus, which
is one of their favorite spots.
Apollo was always invited to play music on
weddings of the gods, like the marriage of
Eros and Psyche, Peleus and Thetis.
==== Apollo's lyre ====
The invention of lyre is attributed either
to Hermes or to Apollo himself. Distinctions
have been made that Hermes invented lyre made
of tortoise shell, where as the lyre Apollo
invented was a regular lyre.Myths tell that
the infant Hermes stole a number of Apollo's
cows and took them to a cave in the woods
near Pylos, covering their tracks. In the
cave, he found a tortoise and killed it, then
removed the insides. He used one of the cow's
intestines and the tortoise shell and made
his lyre.
Upon discovering the theft, Apollo confronted
Hermes and asked him to return his cattle.
When Hermes acted innocent, Apollo took the
matter to Zeus. Zeus, having seen the events,
sided with Apollo, and ordered Hermes to return
the cattle. Hermes then began to play music
on the lyre he had invented. Apollo, a god
of music, fell in love with the instrument
and offered to allow exchange of the cattle
for the lyre. Hence, Apollo then became a
master of the lyre.
According to other versions, Apollo had invented
the lyre himself, whose strings he tore in
repent to the excess punishment he had given
to Marsyas. Hermes' lyre, therefore, is rather
a reinvention.
==== Musical contests ====
Apollo participated in musical contests when
challenged by others. He was the victor in
all the contests, but usually punished his
opponents severely for their hubris.
==== Pan ====
Once Pan had the audacity to compare his music
with that of Apollo and to challenge Apollo,
the god of music. The mountain-god Tmolus
was chosen to umpire. Pan blew on his pipes,
and with his rustic melody gave great satisfaction
to himself and his faithful follower, Midas,
who happened to be present. Then Apollo struck
the strings of his lyre. It was so beautiful
that Tmolus at once awarded the victory to
Apollo, and everyone were pleased with the
judgement. Only Midas dissented and questioned
the justice of the award. Apollo would not
suffer such a depraved pair of ears any longer,
and caused them to become the ears of a donkey.
==== Marsyas ====
Marsyas was a satyr who was punished by Apollo
for his hubris.
He had found an aulos on the ground, tossed
away after being invented by Athena because
it made her cheeks puffy. Athena had also
placed a curse upon the instrument, that whoever
would pick it up would be severely punished.
When Marsyas played the flute, everyone became
frenzied with joy. This led Marsyas to think
that he was better than Apollo, and he challenged
the god to a musical contest. The contest
was judged by the Muses. The contestants agreed
to the rule that the victor can do anything
with the loser.
After they each performed, both were deemed
equal until Apollo decreed they play and sing
at the same time. Marsyas argued against this,
saying that Apollo would have an advantage.
But Apollo presented the counterpoint that
since Marsyas played the flute, which needed
air blown from the throat, it was same as
singing. The judges agreed with Apollo. Apollo
played his lyre and sang at the same time,
mesmerising the audience. Marsyas could not
do this, as he only knew how to use the flute
and not singing. Apollo was declared the winner
because of this.
According to some, Marsyas played his flute
out of tune at one point and accepted his
defeat. Out of shame, he assigned to himself
the punishment of being skinned for a wine
sack.
Another variation is that Apollo played his
instrument (the lyre) upside down. Marsyas
could not do this with his instrument (the
flute), and so Apollo hung him from a tree
to flay him alive.
Apollo flayed Marsyas alive in a cave near
Celaenae in Phrygia for his hubris to challenge
a god. He then nailed Marsyas' shaggy skin
to a nearby pine-tree. Marsyas' blood turned
into the river Marsyas. But, as an act of
repent and purification for killing Marsyas,
he tore the strings of his lyre. Staying away
from music for a long time, he isolated himself
and wandered with Cybele till he reached Hyperborea,
his mother's native.
==== Cinyras ====
Cinyras was a ruler of Cyprus, who was a friend
of Agamemnon. Cinyras promised to assist Agamemnon
in the Trojan war, but did not keep his promise.
Agamemnon cursed Cinyras. He invoked Apollo
and asked the god to avenge the broken promise.
Apollo then had a lyre-playing contest with
Cinyras, and defeated him. Either Cinyras
committed suicide when he lost, or was killed
by Apollo.
=== Female lovers ===
Love affairs ascribed to Apollo are a late
development in Greek mythology. Their vivid
anecdotal qualities have made some of them
favorites of painters since the Renaissance,
the result being that they stand out more
prominently in the modern imagination.
Daphne was a nymph whose parentage varies.
She scorned Apollo's adavnces and ran away
from him. When Apollo chased her in order
to persuade her, she changed herself into
a laurel tree. According to other versions,
she cried for help during the chase, and Gaea
helped her by taking her in and placing a
laurel tree in her place. According to Roman
poet Ovid, the chase was brought about by
Cupid, who hit Apollo with golden arrow of
love and Daphne with leaden arrow of hatred.
The myth explains the origin of the laurel
and connection of Apollo with the laurel and
it's leaves, which his priestess employed
at Delphi. The leaves became the symbol of
victory and laurel wreaths were given to the
victors of the Pythian games.
Apollo is said to have been the lover of all
nine Muses, and not being able to choose one
of them, decided to remain unwed. He fathered
the Corybantes by the Muse Thalia, Orpheus
by Calliope, Linus of Thrace by Calliope or
Urania and Hymenaios(Hymen) by either Terpsichore
or Clio or Calliope.
Cyrene, was a Thessalian princess whom Apollo
loved. In her honor, he built the city Cyrene
and made her its ruler. She was later granted
longevity by Apollo who turned her into a
nymph. The couple had two sons, Aristaeus,
and Idmon.
Evadne was a nymph daughter of Poseidon and
a lover of Apollo. She bore him a son, Iamos.
During the time of the childbirth, Apollo
sent Eileithyia, the goddess of childbirth
to assist her.
Rhoeo, a princess of the island of Naxos was
loved by Apollo. Out of affection for her,
Apollo turned her sisters into goddesses.
On the island Delos she bore Apollo a son
named Anius. Not wanting to have the child,
she entrusted the infant to Apollo and left.
Apollo raised and educated the child on his
own.
Ourea, a daughter of Poseidon, fell in love
with Apollo when he and Poseidon were serving
the Trojan king Laomedon. They both united
on the day the walls of Troy were built. She
bore to Apollo a son, whom Apollo named Ileus,
after the city of his birth, Ilion (Troy).
Ileus was very dear to Apollo.Thero, daughter
of Phylas, a maiden as beautiful as the moonbeams,
was loved by the radiant Apollo, and she loved
him in return. By their union, she became
mother of Chaeron, who was famed as "the tamer
of horses". He later built the city Chaeronea.Hyrie
or Thyrie was the mother of Cycnus. Apollo
turned both the mother and son into swans
when they jumped into a lake and tried to
kill themselves.Hecuba was the wife of King
Priam of Troy, and Apollo had a son with her
named Troilus. An oracle prophesied that Troy
would not be defeated as long as Troilus reached
the age of twenty alive. He was ambushed and
killed by Achilleus, and Apollo avenged his
death by killing Achilles.
Coronis, was daughter of Phlegyas, King of
the Lapiths. While pregnant with Asclepius,
Coronis fell in love with Ischys, son of Elatus
and slept with him. When Apollo found out
about her infidelity through his prophetic
powers, he sent his sister, Artemis, to kill
Coronis. Apollo rescued the baby by cutting
open Koronis' belly and gave it to the centaur
Chiron to raise.
In Euripides' play Ion, Apollo fathered Ion
by Creusa, wife of Xuthus. He used his powers
to conceal her pregnancy from her father.
Later, when Creusa left Ion to die in the
wild, Apollo asked Hermes to save the child
and bring him to the oracle at Delphi, where
he was raised by a priestess.
=== Male lovers ===
Hyacinth or Hyacinthus was Apollo's favorite
lover. He was a Spartan prince, beautiful
and athletic. The pair was practicing throwing
the discus when the discus thrown by Apollo
was blown off course by the jealous Zephyrus
and struck Hyacinthus in the head, killing
him instantly. Apollo is said to be filled
with grief: out of Hyacinthus' blood, Apollo
created a flower named after him as a memorial
to his death, and his tears stained the flower
petals with the interjection αἰαῖ, meaning
alas. He was later resurrected and taken to
heaven. The festival Hyacinthia was a national
celebration of Sparta, which commemorated
the death and rebirth of Hyacinthus.
Another male lover was Cyparissus, a descendant
of Heracles. Apollo gave him a tame deer as
a companion but Cyparissus accidentally killed
it with a javelin as it lay asleep in the
undergrowth. Cyparissus was so saddened by
it's death that he asked Apollo to let his
tears fall forever. Apollo granted the request
by turning him into the Cypress named after
him, which was said to be a sad tree because
the sap forms droplets like tears on the trunk.
Admetus, the king of Pherae, was Apollo's
another dear lover. During his exile, which
lasted either for one year or nine years,
Apollo served Admetus as a herdsman. Developing
a passion for the king there, he herded and
fed the cattle, and caused the cows to give
birth to twin calves. He would make cheese
and serve it to Admetus and was often seen
being domestic, causing embarrassment to his
family.
Oh how often his sister (Diana) blushed at
meeting her brother as he carried a young
calf through the fields!....often Latona lamented
when she saw her son's disheveled locks which
were admired even by Juno, his step-mother...
When Admetus wanted to marry princess Alcestis,
Apollo provided a chariot pulled by a lion
and a boar he had tamed. This satisfied Alcestis'
father and he let Admetus marry his daughter.
Further, Apollo saved the king from Artemis'
wrath and also convinced the Moirai to postpone
Admetus' death once.
Branchus, a shepherd, one day came across
Apollo in the woods. Captivated by the god's
beauty, he kissed Apollo. Apollo requited
his affections and wanting to reward him,
bestowed prophetic skills on him. His descendants,
the Branchides, were an influential clan of
prophets.Other male lovers of Apollo include:
Adonis, who is said to have been the lover
of both Apollo and Aphrodite.
Atymnius, otherwise known as a beloved of
Sarpedon
Hippolytus of Sicyon (not the same as Hippolytus,
the son of Theseus)
Hymenaios, god of marriage hymns (here, the
son of Magnes
Iapis
Phorbas, the dragon slayer (probably the son
of Triopas)
=== Children ===
Apollo sired many children, from mortal women,
nymphs as well as the goddesses. His children
grew up to be physicians, musicians, poets,
seers or archers. Many of his sons founded
new cities and became kings. They were all
usually very beautiful.
Asclepius is the most famous son of Apollo.
Apollo brought the child into the world by
performing cesarean. His skills as a physician
surpassed that of Apollo's. Zeus killed him
for bringing back the dead, but later upon
Apollo's request, he was resurrected as a
god.
Aristaeus, the son of Apollo and Cyrene, was
placed under the care of Chiron after his
birth. He became the god of beekeeping, cheese
making, animal husbandry and more. He was
ultimately given immortality for the benefits
he bestowed upon the humanity.
The Corybantes were spear-clashing, dancing
demigods. They were seven sons of Apollo and
the nymph Rhetia or the Muse Thalia.
Apollo's children who became musicians and
bards include Orpheus, Linus, Ialemus, Hymenaeus,
Philammon, and Eleuther.
Apis, Idmon, Iamus, Tenerus, Mopsus and others
were gifted seers. Anius, Pythaeus and Ismenus
lived as high priests. Most of them were trained
by Apollo himself.
Delphos, Dryops, Miletos, Tenes, Epidaurus,
Ceos, Lycoras, Syrus, Pisus, Marathus, Acraepheus,
Cicon, Chaeron and many other sons of Apollo,
under the guidance of his words, founded eponymous
cities.
Apollo fathered 3 daughters, Nete, Mese, Hypate,
who formed a minor group of Muses, the "Musa
Apollonides". They were worshipped at Apollo's
shrine in Delphi and are named after the highest,
middle and lowest strings of his lyre. His
other daughters are Phemonoe (the poetess
and seer), Eriopis (known for her lovely hair),
Pamphile (silk weaver), Phoebe and Hilyra
(the wives of Dioscuri), Parthenos (turned
into a constellation upon her death) and by
some accounts, Scylla.
Additionally, Apollo fostered and educated
Chiron, the centaur who later became the greatest
teacher and educated many demigods, including
Apollo's sons. Apollo also fostered Carnus,
the son of Zeus and Europa.
=== Failed love attempts ===
Marpessa was kidnapped by Idas but was loved
by Apollo as well. Zeus made her choose between
them, and she chose Idas on the grounds that
Apollo, being immortal, would tire of her
when she grew old.
Sinope, a nymph, was approached by the amorous
Apollo. She made him promise that he would
grant to her whatever she would ask for, and
then cleverly asked him to let her stay a
virgin. Apollo kept his promise and went back.
Bolina was admired by Apollo but she refused
him and jumped into the sea. To avoid her
death, Apollo turned her into a nymph and
let her go.
Castalia was a nymph whom Apollo loved. She
fled from him and dove into the spring at
Delphi, at the base of Mt. Parnassos, which
was then named after her. Water from this
spring was sacred; it was used to clean the
Delphian temples and inspire the priestesses.
Cassandra, was a daughter of Hecuba and Priam.
Apollo wished to court her. Cassandra promised
to return his love on one condition - he should
give her the power to see the future. Apollo
fulfilled her wish, but she went back on her
word and rejected him soon after. Angered
that she broke her promise, Apollo cursed
her that even though she would see the future,
no one would ever believe her prophecies.
Hestia, the goddess of the hearth, rejected
both Apollo's and Poseidon's marriage proposals
and swore that she would always stay unmarried.
==== Consorts and children: extended list
====
Acacallis
Amphithemis (Garamas)
Naxos, eponym of the island Naxos
Phylacides
Phylander
Aethusa
Eleuther
Aganippe
Chios
AlciopeLinus (possibly)
Amphissa / Isse, daughter of Macareus
Anchiale / Acacallis
Oaxes
Areia, daughter of Cleochus / Acacallis / Deione
Miletus
Astycome, nymph
Eumolpus (possibly)
Arsinoe, daughter of Leucippus
Asclepius (possibly)
Eriopis
Babylo
Arabus
Bolina
Calliope, Muse
Orpheus
Linus
Ialemus
Cassandra
Castalia
Celaeno, daughter of Hyamus / Melaina / Thyia
Delphus
Chione / Philonis / Leuconoe
Philammon
Chrysorthe
Coronus
Chrysothemis
Parthenos
Coronis
Asclepius
Coryceia
Lycorus (Lycoreus)
Creusa
Ion
Cyrene
Aristaeus
Idmon
Autuchus
Danais, Cretan nymph
The Curetes
Daphne
Dia, daughter of Lycaon
Dryops
Dryope
Amphissus
Euboea (daughter of Macareus of Locris)
Agreus
Evadne, daughter of Poseidon
Iamus
Gryne
Hecate
Scylla
Hecuba
Troilus
Hector
Hestia (wooed her unsuccessfully)
Hypermnestra, wife of Oicles
Amphiaraus
Hypsipyle
Hyria (Thyria)
Cycnus
Lycia, nymph or daughter of Xanthus
Eicadius
Patarus
Manto
Mopsus
Marpessa
Melia
Ismenus
Tenerus
Ocyrhoe
Othreis
Phager
Parnethia, nymph
Cynnes
Parthenope
Lycomedes
Phthia
Dorus
Laodocus
Polypoetes
Prothoe
Procleia
Tenes
Psamathe
Linus
Rhoeo
Anius
Rhodoessa, nymph
Ceos, eponym of the island Ceos
Rhodope
Cicon, eponym of the tribe Cicones
Sinope
Syrus
Stilbe
Centaurus
Lapithes
Aineus
Syllis / Hyllis
Zeuxippus
Thaleia, Muse / Rhetia, nymph
The Corybantes
Themisto, daughter of Zabius of HyperboreaGaleotes
Telmessus (?)
Thero
Chaeron
Urania, Muse
Linus (possibly)
Ourea, daughter of Poseidon
Ileus
Wife of Erginus
Trophonius
Unknown consorts
Acraepheus, eponym of the city Acraephia
Chariclo
Erymanthus
Marathus, eponym of Marathon
Megarus
Melaneus
Oncius
Phemonoe
Pisus, founder of Pisa in Etruria
Younger Muses
Cephisso
Apollonis
Borysthenis
=== Female counterparts ===
==== Artemis ====
Artemis as the sister of Apollo, is thea apollousa,
that is, she as a female divinity represented
the same idea that Apollo did as a male divinity.
In the pre-hellenic period, their relationship
was described as the one between husband and
wife, and there seems to have been a tradition
which actually described Artemis as the wife
of Apollo. However, this relationship was
never sexual but spiritual, which is why they
both are seen being unmarried in the Hellenic
period.
Artemis, like her brother, is armed with a
bow and arrows. She is the cause of sudden
deaths of women. She also is the protector
of the young, especially girls. Though she
has nothing to do with oracles, music or poetry,
she sometimes led the female chorus on Olympus
while Apollo sang. The laurel was sacred to
both. Artemis Daphnaia had her temple among
the Lacedemonians, at a place called Hypsoi.
In later times when Apollo was regarded as
identical with the sun or Helios, Artemis
was naturally regarded as Selene or the moon.
The Laurel was sacred to both. Apollo Daphnephoros
had a temple in Eretria, a "place where the
citizens are to take the oaths.
==== Hecate ====
Hecate, the goddess of witchcraft and magic,
is the chthonic counterpart of Apollo. They
both are cousins, since their mothers - Leto
and Asteria - are sisters. One of Apollo's
epithets, Hecatos, is the masculine form of
Hecate, and both the names mean "working from
afar". While Apollo presided over the prophetic
powers and magic of light and heaven, Hecate
presided over the prophetic powers and magic
of night and chthonian darkness. If Hecate
is the "gate-keeper", Apollo Agyieus is the
"door-keeper". Hecate is the goddess of crossroads
and Apollo is the god and protector of streets.
The oldest evidence found for Hecate's worship
is at Apollo's temple in Miletos. There, Hecate
was taken to be Apollo's sister counterpart
in the absence of Artemis. Hecate's lunar
nature makes her the goddess of the waning
moon and contrats and complements, at the
same time, Apollo's solar nature.
==== Athena ====
As a deity of knowledge and great power, Apollo
was seen being the male counterpart of Athena.
Being Zeus' favorite children, they were given
more powers and duties. Apollo and Athena
often took up the role as protectors of cities,
and were patrons of some of the important
cities. Athena was the principle goddess of
Athens, Apollo was the principle god of Sparta.
As patrons of arts, Apollo and Athena were
companions of the Muses, the former a much
more frequent companion than the latter. Apollo
was somtimes called the son of Athena and
Hephaestus due to his wise and artistic nature.In
the Trojan war, as Zeus' executive, Apollo
is seen holding the aegis like Athena usually
does. Apollo's decisions were usually approved
by his sister Athena, and they both worked
to establish the law and order set forth by
Zeus.
=== Apollo in the Oresteia ===
In Aeschylus' Oresteia trilogy, Clytemnestra
kills her husband, King Agamemnon because
he had sacrificed their daughter Iphigenia
to proceed forward with the Trojan war. Apollo
gives an order through the Oracle at Delphi
that Agamemnon's son, Orestes, is to kill
Clytemnestra and Aegisthus, her lover. Orestes
and Pylades carry out the revenge, and consequently
Orestes is pursued by the Erinyes or Furies
(female personifications of vengeance).
Apollo and the Furies argue about whether
the matricide was justified; Apollo holds
that the bond of marriage is sacred and Orestes
was avenging his father, whereas the Erinyes
say that the bond of blood between mother
and son is more meaningful than the bond of
marriage. They invade his temple, and he drives
them away. He says that the matter should
be brought before Athena. Apollo promises
to protect Orestes, as Orestes has become
Apollo's supplicant. Apollo advocates Orestes
at the trial, and ultimately Athena rules
in favor of Apollo.
=== Roman Apollo ===
The Roman worship of Apollo was adopted from
the Greeks. As a quintessentially Greek god,
Apollo had no direct Roman equivalent, although
later Roman poets often referred to him as
Phoebus. There was a tradition that the Delphic
oracle was consulted as early as the period
of the kings of Rome during the reign of Tarquinius
Superbus.On the occasion of a pestilence in
the 430s BCE, Apollo's first temple at Rome
was established in the Flaminian fields, replacing
an older cult site there known as the "Apollinare".
During the Second Punic War in 212 BCE, the
Ludi Apollinares ("Apollonian Games") were
instituted in his honor, on the instructions
of a prophecy attributed to one Marcius. In
the time of Augustus, who considered himself
under the special protection of Apollo and
was even said to be his son, his worship developed
and he became one of the chief gods of Rome.After
the battle of Actium, which was fought near
a sanctuary of Apollo, Augustus enlarged Apollo's
temple, dedicated a portion of the spoils
to him, and instituted quinquennial games
in his honour. He also erected a new temple
to the god on the Palatine hill. Sacrifices
and prayers on the Palatine to Apollo and
Diana formed the culmination of the Secular
Games, held in 17 BCE to celebrate the dawn
of a new era.
== Festivals ==
The chief Apollonian festival was the Pythian
Games held every four years at Delphi and
was one of the four great Panhellenic Games.
Also of major importance was the Delia held
every four years on Delos.
Athenian annual festivals included the Boedromia,
Metageitnia, Pyanepsia, and Thargelia.
Spartan annual festivals were the Carneia
and the Hyacinthia.
Thebes every nine years held the Daphnephoria.
== Attributes and symbols ==
Apollo's most common attributes were the bow
and arrow. Other attributes of his included
the kithara (an advanced version of the common
lyre), the plectrum and the sword. Another
common emblem was the sacrificial tripod,
representing his prophetic powers. The Pythian
Games were held in Apollo's honor every four
years at Delphi. The bay laurel plant was
used in expiatory sacrifices and in making
the crown of victory at these games.
The palm tree was also sacred to Apollo because
he had been born under one in Delos. Animals
sacred to Apollo included wolves, dolphins,
roe deer, swans, cicadas (symbolizing music
and song), hawks, ravens, crows, snakes (referencing
Apollo's function as the god of prophecy),
mice and griffins, mythical eagle–lion hybrids
of Eastern origin.
As god of colonization, Apollo gave oracular
guidance on colonies, especially during the
height of colonization, 750–550 BCE. According
to Greek tradition, he helped Cretan or Arcadian
colonists found the city of Troy. However,
this story may reflect a cultural influence
which had the reverse direction: Hittite cuneiform
texts mention a Minor Asian god called Appaliunas
or Apalunas in connection with the city of
Wilusa attested in Hittite inscriptions, which
is now generally regarded as being identical
with the Greek Ilion by most scholars. In
this interpretation, Apollo's title of Lykegenes
can simply be read as "born in Lycia", which
effectively severs the god's supposed link
with wolves (possibly a folk etymology).
In literary contexts, Apollo represents harmony,
order, and reason—characteristics contrasted
with those of Dionysus, god of wine, who represents
ecstasy and disorder. The contrast between
the roles of these gods is reflected in the
adjectives Apollonian and Dionysian. However,
the Greeks thought of the two qualities as
complementary: the two gods are brothers,
and when Apollo at winter left for Hyperborea,
he would leave the Delphic oracle to Dionysus.
This contrast appears to be shown on the two
sides of the Borghese Vase.
Apollo is often associated with the Golden
Mean. This is the Greek ideal of moderation
and a virtue that opposes gluttony.
== Apollo in the arts ==
Apollo is a common theme in Greek and Roman
art and also in the art of the Renaissance.
The earliest Greek word for a statue is "delight"
(ἄγαλμα, agalma), and the sculptors
tried to create forms which would inspire
such guiding vision. Greek art puts into Apollo
the highest degree of power and beauty that
can be imagined. The sculptors derived this
from observations on human beings, but they
also embodied in concrete form, issues beyond
the reach of ordinary thought.
The naked bodies of the statues are associated
with the cult of the body that was essentially
a religious activity. The muscular frames
and limbs combined with slim waists indicate
the Greek desire for health, and the physical
capacity which was necessary in the hard Greek
environment. The statues of Apollo embody
beauty, balance and inspire awe before the
beauty of the world.
The evolution of the Greek sculpture can be
observed in his depictions from the almost
static formal Kouros type in early archaic
period, to the representation of motion in
a relative harmonious whole in late archaic
period. In classical Greece the emphasis is
not given to the illusive imaginative reality
represented by the ideal forms, but to the
analogies and the interaction of the members
in the whole, a method created by Polykleitos.
Finally Praxiteles seems to be released from
any art and religious conformities, and his
masterpieces are a mixture of naturalism with
stylization.
=== Art and Greek philosophy ===
The evolution of the Greek art seems to go
parallel with the Greek philosophical conceptions,
which changed from the natural-philosophy
of Thales to the metaphysical theory of Pythagoras.
Thales searched for a simple material-form
directly perceptible by the senses, behind
the appearances of things, and his theory
is also related to the older animism. This
was paralleled in sculpture by the absolute
representation of vigorous life, through unnaturally
simplified forms.Pythagoras believed that
behind the appearance of things, there was
the permanent principle of mathematics, and
that the forms were based on a transcendental
mathematical relation. The forms on earth,
are imperfect imitations (εἰκόνες,
eikones, "images") of the celestial world
of numbers. His ideas had a great influence
on post-Archaic art. The Greek architects
and sculptors were always trying to find the
mathematical relation, that would lead to
the esthetic perfection. (canon).
In classical Greece, Anaxagoras asserted that
a divine reason (mind) gave order to the seeds
of the universe, and Plato extended the Greek
belief of ideal forms to his metaphysical
theory of forms (ideai, "ideas"). The forms
on earth are imperfect duplicates of the intellectual
celestial ideas. The Greek words oida (οἶδα,
"(I) know") and eidos (εἶδος, "species"),
a thing seen, have the same root as the word
idea (ἰδέα), a thing ἰδείν to see.
indicating how the Greek mind moved from the
gift of the senses, to the principles beyond
the senses. The artists in Plato's time moved
away from his theories and art tends to be
a mixture of naturalism with stylization.
The Greek sculptors considered the senses
more important, and the proportions were used
to unite the sensible with the intellectual.
=== Archaic sculpture ===
Kouros (male youth) is the modern term given
to those representations of standing male
youths which first appear in the archaic period
in Greece. This type served certain religious
needs and was first proposed for what was
previously thought to be depictions of Apollo.
The first statues are certainly still and
formal. The formality of their stance seems
to be related with the Egyptian precedent,
but it was accepted for a good reason. The
sculptors had a clear idea of what a young
man is, and embodied the archaic smile of
good manners, the firm and springy step, the
balance of the body, dignity, and youthful
happiness. When they tried to depict the most
abiding qualities of men, it was because men
had common roots with the unchanging gods.
The adoption of a standard recognizable type
for a long time, is probably because nature
gives preference in survival of a type which
has long be adopted by the climatic conditions,
and also due to the general Greek belief that
nature expresses itself in ideal forms that
can be imagined and represented. These forms
expressed immortality. Apollo was the immortal
god of ideal balance and order. His shrine
in Delphi, that he shared in winter with Dionysius
had the inscriptions: γνῶθι σεαυτόν
(gnōthi seautón="know thyself") and μηδὲν
ἄγαν (mēdén ágan, "nothing in excess"),
and ἐγγύα πάρα δ'ἄτη (eggýa
pára d'atē, "make a pledge and mischief
is nigh").
In the first large-scale depictions during
the early archaic period (640–580 BC), the
artists tried to draw one's attention to look
into the interior of the face and the body
which were not represented as lifeless masses,
but as being full of life. The Greeks maintained,
until late in their civilization, an almost
animistic idea that the statues are in some
sense alive. This embodies the belief that
the image was somehow the god or man himself.
A fine example is the statue of the Sacred
Gate Kouros which was found at the cemetery
of Dipylon in Athens (Dipylon Kouros). The
statue is the "thing in itself", and his slender
face with the deep eyes express an intellectual
eternity. According to the Greek tradition
the Dipylon master was named Daedalus, and
in his statues the limbs were freed from the
body, giving the impression that the statues
could move. It is considered that he created
also the New York kouros, which is the oldest
fully preserved statue of Kouros type, and
seems to be the incarnation of the god himself.
The animistic idea as the representation of
the imaginative reality, is sanctified in
the Homeric poems and in Greek myths, in stories
of the god Hephaestus (Phaistos) and the mythic
Daedalus (the builder of the labyrinth) that
made images which moved of their own accord.
This kind of art goes back to the Minoan period,
when its main theme was the representation
of motion in a specific moment. These free-standing
statues were usually marble, but also the
form rendered in limestone, bronze, ivory
and terracotta.
The earliest examples of life-sized statues
of Apollo, may be two figures from the Ionic
sanctuary on the island of Delos. Such statues
were found across the Greek speaking world,
the preponderance of these were found at the
sanctuaries of Apollo with more than one hundred
from the sanctuary of Apollo Ptoios, Boeotia
alone. The last stage in the development of
the Kouros type is the late archaic period
(520–485 BC), in which the Greek sculpture
attained a full knowledge of human anatomy
and used to create a relative harmonious whole.
Ranking from the very few bronzes survived
to us is the masterpiece bronze Piraeus Apollo.
It was found in Piraeus, the harbour of Athens.
The statue originally held the bow in its
left hand, and a cup of pouring libation in
its right hand. It probably comes from north-eastern
Peloponnesus. The emphasis is given in anatomy,
and it is one of the first attempts to represent
a kind of motion, and beauty relative to proportions,
which appear mostly in post-Archaic art. The
statue throws some light on an artistic centre
which, with an independently developed harder,
simpler and heavier style, restricts Ionian
influence in Athens. Finally, this is the
germ from which the art of Polykleitos was
to grow two or three generations later.
=== Classical sculpture ===
At the beginning of the Classical period,
it was considered that beauty in visible things
as in everything else, consisted of symmetry
and proportions. The artists tried also to
represent motion in a specific moment (Myron),
which may be considered as the reappearance
of the dormant Minoan element. Anatomy and
geometry are fused in one, and each does something
to the other. The Greek sculptors tried to
clarify it by looking for mathematical proportions,
just as they sought some reality behind appearances.
Polykleitos in his Canon wrote that beauty
consists in the proportion not of the elements
(materials), but of the parts, that is the
interrelation of parts with one another and
with the whole. It seems that he was influenced
by the theories of Pythagoras.
The famous Apollo of Mantua and its variants
are early forms of the Apollo Citharoedus
statue type, in which the god holds the cithara
in his left arm. The type is represented by
neo-Attic Imperial Roman copies of the late
1st or early 2nd century, modelled upon a
supposed Greek bronze original made in the
second quarter of the 5th century BCE, in
a style similar to works of Polykleitos but
more archaic. The Apollo held the cythara
against his extended left arm, of which in
the Louvre example, a fragment of one twisting
scrolling horn upright remains against his
biceps.
Though the proportions were always important
in Greek art, the appeal of the Greek sculptures
eludes any explanation by proportion alone.
The statues of Apollo were thought to incarnate
his living presence, and these representations
of illusive imaginative reality had deep roots
in the Minoan period, and in the beliefs of
the first Greek speaking people who entered
the region during the bronze-age. Just as
the Greeks saw the mountains, forests, sea
and rivers as inhabited by concrete beings,
so nature in all of its manifestations possesses
clear form, and the form of a work of art.
Spiritual life is incorporated in matter,
when it is given artistic form. Just as in
the arts the Greeks sought some reality behind
appearances, so in mathematics they sought
permanent principles which could be applied
wherever the conditions were the same. Artists
and sculptors tried to find this ideal order
in relation with mathematics, but they believed
that this ideal order revealed itself not
so much to the dispassionate intellect, as
to the whole sentient self. Things as we see
them, and as they really are, are one, that
each stresses the nature of the other in a
single unity.
=== Pediments and friezes ===
In the archaic pediments and friezes of the
temples, the artists had a problem to fit
a group of figures into an isosceles triangle
with acute angles at the base.
The Siphnian Treasury in Delphi was one of
the first Greek buildings utilizing the solution
to put the dominating form in the middle,
and to complete the descending scale of height
with other figures sitting or kneeling. The
pediment shows the story of Heracles stealing
Apollo's tripod that was strongly associated
with his oracular inspiration. Their two figures
hold the centre. In the pediment of the temple
of Zeus in Olympia, the single figure of Apollo
is dominating the scene.
These representations rely on presenting scenes
directly to the eye for their own visible
sake. They care for the schematic arrangements
of bodies in space, but only as parts in a
larger whole. While each scene has its own
character and completeness it must fit into
the general sequence to which it belongs.
In these archaic pediments the sculptors use
empty intervals, to suggest a passage to and
from a busy battlefield. The artists seem
to have been dominated by geometrical pattern
and order, and this was improved when classical
art brought a greater freedom and economy.
=== Hellenistic Greece-Rome ===
Apollo as a handsome beardless young man,
is often depicted with a kithara (as Apollo
Citharoedus) or bow in his hand, or reclining
on a tree (the Apollo Lykeios and Apollo Sauroctonos
types). The Apollo Belvedere is a marble sculpture
that was rediscovered in the late 15th century;
for centuries it epitomized the ideals of
Classical Antiquity for Europeans, from the
Renaissance through the 19th century. The
marble is a Hellenistic or Roman copy of a
bronze original by the Greek sculptor Leochares,
made between 350 and 325 BCE.
The life-size so-called "Adonis" found in
1780 on the site of a villa suburbana near
the Via Labicana in the Roman suburb of Centocelle
is identified as an Apollo by modern scholars.
In the late 2nd century CE floor mosaic from
El Djem, Roman Thysdrus, he is identifiable
as Apollo Helios by his effulgent halo, though
now even a god's divine nakedness is concealed
by his cloak, a mark of increasing conventions
of modesty in the later Empire.
Another haloed Apollo in mosaic, from Hadrumentum,
is in the museum at Sousse. The conventions
of this representation, head tilted, lips
slightly parted, large-eyed, curling hair
cut in locks grazing the neck, were developed
in the 3rd century BCE to depict Alexander
the Great. Some time after this mosaic was
executed, the earliest depictions of Christ
would also be beardless and haloed.
== Modern reception ==
Apollo has often featured in postclassical
art and literature. Percy Bysshe Shelley composed
a "Hymn of Apollo" (1820), and the god's instruction
of the Muses formed the subject of Igor Stravinsky's
Apollon musagète (1927–1928). In 1978,
the Canadian band Rush released an album with
songs "Apollo: Bringer of Wisdom"/"Dionysus:
Bringer of Love".
In discussion of the arts, a distinction is
sometimes made between the Apollonian and
Dionysian impulses where the former is concerned
with imposing intellectual order and the latter
with chaotic creativity. Friedrich Nietzsche
argued that a fusion of the two was most desirable.
Carl Jung's Apollo archetype represents what
he saw as the disposition in people to over-intellectualise
and maintain emotional distance.
Charles Handy, in Gods of Management (1978)
uses Greek gods as a metaphor to portray various
types of organisational culture. Apollo represents
a 'role' culture where order, reason, and
bureaucracy prevail.In spaceflight, the NASA
program for landing astronauts on the Moon
was named Apollo.
== Genealogy ==
== See also ==
Dryad
Epirus
Pasiphaë
Phoebus (disambiguation)
Sibylline oracles
Tegyra
Temple of Apollo (disambiguation)
== Notes ==
== References ==
=== Primary sources ===
Hesiod, Theogony, in The Homeric Hymns and
Homerica with an English Translation by Hugh
G. Evelyn-White, Cambridge, MA., Harvard University
Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1914.
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
Homer, The Iliad with an English Translation
by A.T. Murray, Ph.D. in two volumes. Cambridge,
MA., Harvard University Press; London, William
Heinemann, Ltd. 1924. Online version at the
Perseus Digital Library.
Homer; The Odyssey with an English Translation
by A.T. Murray, PH.D. in two volumes. Cambridge,
MA., Harvard University Press; London, William
Heinemann, Ltd. 1919. Online version at the
Perseus Digital Library.
Sophocles, Oedipus Rex
Palaephatus, On Unbelievable Tales 46. Hyacinthus
(330 BCE)
Apollodorus, Apollodorus, The Library, with
an English Translation by Sir James George
Frazer, F.B.A., F.R.S. in 2 Volumes. Cambridge,
MA, Harvard University Press; London, William
Heinemann Ltd. 1921. Online version at the
Perseus Digital Library.
Ovid, Metamorphoses 10. 162–219 (1–8 CE)
Pausanias, Pausanias Description of Greece
with an English Translation by W.H.S. Jones,
Litt.D., and H.A. Ormerod, M.A., in 4 Volumes.
Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London,
William Heinemann Ltd. 1918. Online version
at the Perseus Digital Library.
Philostratus the Elder, Images i.24 Hyacinthus
(170–245 CE)
Philostratus the Younger, Images 14. Hyacinthus
(170–245 CE)
Lucian, Dialogues of the Gods 14 (170 CE)
First Vatican Mythographer, 197. Thamyris
et Musae
=== Secondary sources ===
M. Bieber, 1964. Alexander the Great in Greek
and Roman Art. Chicago.
Hugh Bowden, 2005. Classical Athens and the
Delphic Oracle: Divination and Democracy.
Cambridge University Press.
Walter Burkert, 1985. Greek Religion (Harvard
University Press) III.2.5 passim
This article incorporates text from a publication
now in the public domain: Freese, John Henry
(1911). "Apollo". In Chisholm, Hugh. Encyclopædia
Britannica. 2 (11th ed.). Cambridge University
Press. pp. 184–186.
Gantz, Timothy, Early Greek Myth: A Guide
to Literary and Artistic Sources, Johns Hopkins
University Press, 1996, Two volumes: ISBN
978-0-8018-5360-9 (Vol. 1), ISBN 978-0-8018-5362-3
(Vol. 2).
Fritz Graf (2009). Apollo. Taylor & Francis
US. ISBN 978-0-415-31711-5.
Robert Graves, 1960. The Greek Myths, revised
edition. Penguin.
Miranda J. Green, 1997. Dictionary of Celtic
Myth and Legend, Thames and Hudson.
Karl Kerenyi, 1953. Apollon: Studien über
Antiken Religion und Humanität revised edition.
Karl Kerenyi, 1951. The Gods of the Greeks
Mertens, Dieter; Schutzenberger, Margareta.
Città e monumenti dei Greci d'Occidente:
dalla colonizzazione alla crisi di fine V
secolo a.C.. Roma L'Erma di Bretschneider,
2006. ISBN 88-8265-367-6.
Martin Nilsson, 1955. Die Geschichte der Griechische
Religion, vol. I. C.H. Beck.
Pauly–Wissowa, Realencyclopädie der klassischen
Altertumswissenschaft: II, "Apollon". The
best repertory of cult sites (Burkert).
Pfeiff, K.A., 1943. Apollon: Wandlung seines
Bildes in der griechischen Kunst. Traces the
changing iconography of Apollo.
D.S.Robertson (1945) A handbook of Greek and
Roman Architecture Cambridge University Press
Smith, William; Dictionary of Greek and Roman
Biography and Mythology, London (1873). "Apollo"
This article incorporates text from a publication
now in the public domain: Smith, William,
ed. (1870). "Artemis". Dictionary of Greek
and Roman Antiquities. London: John Murray.
Spivey Nigel (1997) Greek art Phaedon Press
Ltd.
== External links ==
Apollo at the Greek Mythology Link, by Carlos
Parada
The Warburg Institute Iconographic Database:
ca 1650 images of Apollo
