Apollo
|
---|
|
|
Abode
| Mount Olympus
|
---|
Symbol
| Lyre
,
laurel
wreath,
python
,
raven
,
swan
, bow and arrows, sword
|
---|
|
Consort
| Daphne
,
Kyrene
,
Cassandra
,
Calliope
,
Coronis
,
Thalia
,
Leucothea
,
Hyacinth
|
---|
Children
| Asclepius
,
Troilus
,
Aristaeus
,
Orpheus
,
Korybantes
|
---|
Parents
| Zeus
and
Leto
|
---|
Siblings
| Artemis
,
Aeacus
,
Angelos
,
Aphrodite
,
Ares
,
Athena
,
Dionysus
,
Eileithyia
,
Enyo
,
Eris
,
Ersa
,
Hebe
,
Helen of Troy
,
Hephaestus
,
Heracles
,
Hermes
,
Minos
,
Pandia
,
Persephone
,
Perseus
,
Rhadamanthus
, the
Graces
, the
Horae
, the
Litae
, the
Muses
, the
Moirai
|
---|
Apollo
is a god in
Greek mythology
, and one of the
Twelve Olympians
. He is the son of
Zeus
and
Leto
and the
twin
brother of
Artemis
. He is the
god
of
healing
,
medicine
,
archery
,
music
,
dance
,
poetry
,
prophecy
,
knowledge
,
light
and the sun. He is the leader of the
Muses
. He also is a god of
prophecy
, and his Oracle at Delphi is very important. He also is the god of justice. During the 5th century BC, Apollo became also known as the god of
Sun
, becoming one with the god
Helios
, and getting the name
Phoebus
. He is shown as a handsome young man, wearing a
laurel wreath
and playing the lyre or kithara. It is known as his symbol. His other symbols include the raven.
Apollon or Apollo was one of the
Twelve Olympians
, the 12 most important
gods
in Greek mythology. Because of this, there are many myths about him:
Apollo and his twin sister Artemis were the children of
Zeus
, the king of the Greek gods, and the goddess
Leto
. When Leto became pregnant, Zeus already had a wife, the queen of the gods
Hera
. Hera was angry that Zeus was having children with Leto, and cursed Leto so that she could not ever give birth to her children anywhere on the earth where the sun shone. Hera then sent a lion called
Python
to eat her. Python chased Leto to the edge of the sea, where Leto swam to the island of Delos. Python could not swim, however, and had to leave her alone. The island of Delos was at that time just a big rock floating on the sea, not an island yet, so it wasn't "on the earth". So Leto climbed under the shade of a palm tree and gave birth to her daughter Artemis, and then her son Apollo. Delos then became Apollo's and Artemis' sacred land. It varies from myth to myth what twin was born first.
When Apollo grew up, he went to his father Zeus and asked for a golden bow with arrows as bright and sharp as the sunshine. Then he went looking for a place to build his temple. He came to a spring that belonged to a
nymph
called
Telphusa
and tried to build his temple there, but Telephusa suggested he build his temple at Delphi instead, since there was already a shrine there to Themis, the goddess of telling the future. Apollo went to Delphi but found out it was taken over by Python, the dragon who had tried to eat his mother. He killed the Python with a hundred arrows and claimed Delphi as his temple. He got two sailors to be his priests and then gave a girl the power of telling the future. The girl became his priestess or
oracle
. The little god
Eros
, the son of the love goddess Aphrodite, had watched Apollo kill Python and worshiped Apollo as his idol. Apollo, however, was annoyed by Eros and insulted him. Eros got angry and shot Apollo with his magic arrow, making him fall in love with a
nymph
named Daphne. Daphne didn't love Apollo and shunned him. Apollo chased her, and she turned herself into a
laurel
tree to escape him. Apollo still loved her and made the laurel one of his symbols.
Apollo looked after the cattle of the sun-god Helios while Helios was driving the sun through the sky. While Apollo was chasing Daphne, the mischievous baby god
Hermes
stole the cattle and confused Apollo by making the cattle walk backward as they left their pen. When Apollo went looking for them, it looked like they had walked into the ranch instead of out. Hermes also told a nearby man that he would make him rich if he told no one about what he saw Hermes do. The man, Battos, told Apollo anyway and was later turned into stone by Hermes as punishment. Apollo took Hermes in front of all the gods to be judged. Hermes acted innocent, though, and finally convinced Apollo to forgive him by giving him the
lyre
. Apollo loved this lyre so much that he not only let
Hermes
keep the cattle but also gave him the caduceus, a magic wand that could heal wounds and cause sleep. Hermes tried the caduceus out on two dying snakes, who came back to life and curled around the wand for the rest of eternity.
Media related to
Apollo
at Wikimedia Commons