Hi guys!
Welcome to my channel.
I’m telling you history
and mythology here.
In this video,
I’m going to tell you
about Apollo.
Apollo is one
of the Olympian deities
in classical Greek and
Roman religion and
Greek and Roman mythology.
The national divinity
of the Greeks, Apollo
has been recognized
as a god of archery,
music and dance,
truth and prophecy,
healing and diseases,
the Sun and light,
poetry, and more.
One of the most important
and complex of the
Greek gods,isn’t he?
He is the son of
Zeus and Leto,
and the twin brother
of Artemis, goddess of the
hunt and the moon.
Seen as the most
beautiful god
and the ideal of
an athletic youth.
He is the only Olympian
that does not have a Roman name.
Let’s begin!
Medicine and healing
are associated with Apollo,
whether through the god himself
or mediated through
his son Asclepius.
Apollo delivered people
from epidemics,
yet he is also a god
who could bring ill-health
and deadly plague
with his arrows.
The invention of archery itself
is credited to Apollo
and his sister Artemis.
Apollo is usually described
as carrying a golden bow
and a quiver of silver arrows.
Apollo's capacity
to make youths grow
is one of the
best attested facets of
his panhellenic cult persona.
Apollo is the god
who nurtures
and protects children
and the young,
especially boys.
He oversees their education
and their passage
into adulthood.
Education is
said to have originated
from Apollo and the Muses.
Many myths have him
train his children.
It was a custom for boys
to cut and dedicate
their long hair to Apollo
after reaching adulthood.
In art
Apollo was represented
as a beardless youth,
either naked or robed.
Distance, death,
terror, and awe
were summed up
in his symbolic bow.
A gentler side of his nature,
however, was shown
in his other attribute,
the lyre,
which proclaimed the joy of
communion with Olympus
(the home of the gods)
through music,
poetry, and dance.
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 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),
ravens, hawks,
crows (Apollo
had hawks and crows
as his messengers),
snakes (referencing Apollo's function
as the god of prophecy),
mice and griffins,
mythical eagle–lion hybrids
of Eastern origin.
Apollo is an important
pastoral deity, and
was the patron of herdsmen
and shepherds.
Protection of herds,
flocks and crops
from diseases,
pests and predators
were his primary duties.
As the god of Music
(art of Muses),
Apollo presides over
all music, songs,
dance and poetry.
He is the inventor
of string-music,
and the frequent companion
of the Muses, functioning
as their chorus leader
in celebrations.
The lyre is
a common attribute of Apollo.
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 CE.
Apollo and Helios/Sol
remained separate beings
in literary and
mythological texts
until the 5th century CE.
Apollo was the son of Zeus,
the king of the gods,
and Leto, his previous wife
or one of his mistresses.
When Zeus' wife
Hera discovered that
Leto was pregnant,
she banned Leto
from giving birth
on terra firma.
Leto sought shelter
in many lands,
only to be rejected
by them.
Finally,
the voice of unborn Apollo
informed his mother
about a floating island
named Delos which
had once been Asteria,
Leto's own sister.
Since it was
neither a mainland
nor an island,
Leto was readily
welcomed there
and gave birth to her children
under a palm tree.
All the goddesses
except Hera
were present to witness the event.
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
eight point two meters long.
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.
In his early years
when Apollo spent his time
herding cows,
he was reared by Thriae,
the bee nymphs,
who trained him
and enhanced his
prophetic skills.
Apollo is also said
to have 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.
Although Apollo had
many love affairs,
they were mostly unfortunate:
Daphne, in her efforts
to escape him, was
changed into a laurel,
his sacred shrub;
Coronis (mother of Asclepius)
was shot by
Apollo’s twin, Artemis,
when Coronis proved unfaithful;
and Cassandra
(daughter of King Priam of Troy)
rejected his advances
and was punished
by being made to utter
true prophecies
that no one believed.
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 that
she was superior 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.
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.
When Chloris married
and had children,
Apollo granted her son Nestor
the years
he had taken away
from the Niobids.
Hence, Nestor
was able to live for 3 generations.
Once Apollo and Poseidon
served under the
Trojan king Laomedon
in accordance to Zeus' words.
Apollodorus states that
the gods willingly
went to the king
disguised as humans
in order to
check his hubris.
Apollo guarded the
cattle of Laomedon
in the valleys of mount Ida,
while Poseidon
built the walls of Troy.
Other versions make
both Apollo and Poseidon
the builders of the wall.
However,
the king not only refused
to give the gods
the wages he had promised,
but also threatened
to bind their feet and hands,
and sell them as slaves.
Angered by the
unpaid labour and the insults,
Apollo infected the city
with a pestilence
and Posedion sent
the sea monster Cetus.
To deliver the city from it,
Laomedon had to sacrifice
his daughter Hesione
(who would later
be saved by Heracles).
During his stay in Troy,
Apollo had a lover
named Ourea,
who was a nymph
and daughter of Poseidon.
Together they had a son
named Ileus,
whom Apollo loved dearly.
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,
whereas 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 fell in love
with the instrument
and offered to exchange the cattle
for the lyre.
Hence,
Apollo then became
the master of the lyre.
According to other versions,
Apollo had invented the lyre himself,
whose strings he tore
in repenting of the
excess punishment
he had given to Marsyas.
Hermes' lyre, therefore,
would be a reinvention.
Once Pan had the audacity
to compare his music
with that of Apollo and
to challenge the god of music
to a contest.
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 was pleased
with the judgement.
Only Midas dissented
and questioned the justice
of the award.
Apollo did not want to suffer
such a depraved
pair of ears any longer,
and caused them
to become the
ears of a donkey.
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,
or the nymphs of Nysa.
Athena was also present
to witness the contest.
The Muses and Athena
sniggered at this comment.
The contestants
agreed to take turns
displaying their skills
and the rule was that
the victor could
"do whatever he wanted"
to the loser.
According to one account,
after the first round,
they both were deemed equal
by the Nysiads.
But in the next round,
Apollo decided to
play on his lyre and
add his melodious voice
to his performance.
Marsyas argued against this,
saying that Apollo
would have an advantage
and accused Apollo of cheating.
But Apollo replied that
since Marsyas played the flute,
which needed air blown
from the throat,
it was similar to singing,
and that either they both
should get an equal chance
to combine their skills
or none of them
should use their mouths at all.
The nymphs decided that
Apollo's argument was just.
Apollo then played his lyre
and sang at the same time,
mesmerising the audience.
Marsyas could not do this.
Apollo was declared
the winner and,
angered with Marsyas' haughtiness
and his accusations,
decided to flay the satyr.
According to another account,
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
upside down.
Marsyas could not do this
with his instrument.
So the Muses who
were the judges
declared Apollo the winner.
Apollo hung Marsyas
from a tree to flay him.
Apollo flayed the
limbs of Marsyas alive
in a cave for his hubris
to challenge a god.
He then gave the rest
of his body for proper burial
and nailed Marsyas' flayed skin
to a nearby pine-tree
as a lesson to the others.
Marsyas' blood
turned into the river Marsyas.
But Apollo soon repented
and being distressed
at what he had done,
he tore the strings of his lyre
and threw it away.
The lyre was later
discovered by the Muses
and Apollo's sons
Linus and Orpheus.
The Muses fixed the middle string,
Linus the string struck
with the forefinger,
and Orpheus the lowest string
and the one next to it.
Daphne was a nymph
whose parentage varies.
She scorned
Apollo's advances 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 Gaia 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 its 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.
Asclepius is probably
Apollo’s most well-known son,
although he had many offspring.
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 Coronis' belly
and gave it to the
centaur Chiron to raise.
The raven is a symbol
of Apollo's anger.
Once all ravens
were white birds
or so goes the myth,
but after delivering
bad news to the god
he scorched the wings of the raven
so that all ravens
going forward were black.
The bad news
brought by the bird
was that of the infidelity
of his lover Coronis
who, pregnant with Asclepius,
fell in love and
slept with Ischys.
When the raven told Apollo
of the affair,
he became enraged
that the bird had not
pecked out Ischys' eyes,
and the poor raven
was an early example
of the messenger being shot.
Hyacinth or Hyacinthus was
one of Apollo's favorite lovers.
He was a Spartan prince,
beautiful and athletic.
The pair was practicing
throwing the discus
when a 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.
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 its 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.
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