Apollon

Apollon

Apollo is the son of Zeus and Leto. His twin sister is Artemis. He was the god of the arts, music, healing, and archery, he also showed men the art of medicine. Both Apollo and Artemis have the power over plague.

He is famous for his oracle at Delphi. People traveled to it from all over the Greek world to divine the future.

Mythology

Birth of Apollo

Apollo is known to be the God of Light.

When Apollo's mother was in labor with him and his twin sister Artemis, she was looking for a place to give birth, but Hera had made all land shun her so she was unable to find a place to give birth. Hera was very sour towards her because Zeus was her children's father and Hera disliked that Zeus kept having children with other women and goddesses. But Poseidon took pity on Leto and showed her an island that was not attached to the sea floor so it technically was not considered land. So Leto traveled there and gave birth. The little floating island is called Delos.

God of Prophecy

Since Apollo was the god of prophecy he decided that he needed a place where mortals could come and ask questions to him and he would use his gift of prophecy to answer them. He found a perfect place called Pytho. The only bad part was that a terrible, giant snake called Python was living there and was terrorizing all the other living creatures there. So he killed the snake and renamed the place Delphi. He created his temple and the oracles spoke to the mortals prophecies in which Apollo would give to them to give to mortals.

More about Apollo

Eros was a very mischievous god and liked to cause all sorts of trouble. So one day he shot Apollo with a golden arrow to make him fall in love with a beautiful nymph named Daphne. But Eros shot Daphne with a lead arrow making her feel hatred for Apollo. Apollo ran after her and she ran away. Daphne was frightened so she called to her father, a sea god, and he transformed her into a laurel tree. So Apollo, saddened by her running away from him, took some of the leaves and made a laurel wreath so that she would always be close to him.There is a version of this myth saying that Apollo caused this trouble with Eros.  It says that he saw Eros playing with his bow, and he insulted him, telling him to "play with his own little bows and arrows" because he had slain a mighty serpent with his bow.  Eros was offended, and decided to play a trick on him, and that is why he caused the trouble with Daphne.

Music Contest

There was once a satyr named Marsyas. He was a wonderful pan pipe player and all the forests came to listen to him play the pipes. One day Marsyas said that he was a better musician that the god of music himself...Apollo! This angered Apollo and so Apollo challenged Marsyas to a music competition. The winner could do anything they want to the loser. Marsyas played his pipes and he was wonderful but when Apollo played the lyre...he was better. So Apollo won and because Marsyas had dared to even say that he was even close to being as good at him, he skinned him alive and hung him from a tree.

Niobe's Jealousy

There was once a mortal named Niobe who was angry at the popularity Leto had because she had twins but Niobe given birth to 14 children. Niobe started telling people that she was more important than Leto. Then Apollo and Artemis, who were very protective of their mother, came down to earth and shot every single one of her children with their bow and arrows. Niobe started sobbing and kept on and on. So Zeus took pity on her and turned her into a rock...but she still kept crying. Her crying eventually created the River Achelous.

Agamemnon's Mistake

There was once an old man who was a priest of Apollo. The old man respected Apollo and didn't ever disrespect him. But one day the Greek hero Agamemnon insulted the old man and he was angry. So the old man prayed to Apollo to get revenge on the man for the insult. And Apollo, grateful for the man's service as a priest, went to the Greek camp for nine days and shot poisoned arrows at the men and all their animals, spreading a plague on the Greeks in the Trojan War.

Fued over Hyacinth

Apollo and Zephyrus both loved spartan prince named Hyacinth. To win him over, both threw a discus, trying to see which one threw it further. Apollo won the match. However, Hyacinth died when a discus hit his head (several versions of the tale claim a jealous Zephyrus was responsible), and to honor his beloved prince, Apollo made his blood become the hyacinth flowers.

A similar tale happened with another male lover, Cyparissos, which became a cyprest. Zeus killed him, and Apollo became filled with rage, but dared not to attack his father, so instead he killed the cyclops who forged the divine lightning.

Cassandra

Apollo once fell in love with a princess Cassandra (without the help of Eros). She was the daughter of Priam, the king of Troy, and Hecuba. Because he liked her he gifted her with the gift of prophecy. Even though Apollo gave her the gift of prophecy she still disliked him. So he made it so that nobody would believe whatever she said about the future. She foretold the downfall of Troy, but nobody believed her. She foretold the dangers of the Trojan Horse, but nobody believed her. Then finally she foretold that Clytemnestra, the wife of Agamemnon, was going to kill him. But he didn't believe her. And as Agamemnon returned to his wife, she and the male she really liked murdered him.

The Erymanthian Boar

Once, a son of Apollo, Erymanthos, saw the goddess of love and beauty Aphrodite bathing, and Aphrodite was so outraged she blinded the poor demigod. When Apollo heard this, he created the Erymanthian Boar and ordered it to kill Adonis, one of Aphrodite's favorite mortals. For Heracles' fourth labor, he was to capture the mighty beast and bring it to Eurystheus alive. He did so by luring the Boar into thick snow, then snaring it in a net while it struggled to free him. He died later on in his life after he got married.

Sphere of Control

Apollo is the god of the Sun, music, medicine, healing, truth, prophecy, plague, poetry, education, archery, and the protection of the young. He is sometimes shown with a golden bow and arrow, as he is the god of archery. He also has the power over plague, along with his twin sister, Artemis.

Attributes

Animals

• Dolphin
• Hawk
• Raven
• Dog
• Seal
• Eagle
• Swan

Plants

• Laurel Tree
• Laurel Wreath
• Palm Tree

Objects

• Bow and Arrows
• Lyre
• Oracle
• Tripod

Relationships

Parents: Zeus and Leto

Siblings: twin sister named Artemis

Children:

• Asclepius
• Orpheus
• Aristaeus
• Troilus
• Hymen
• Cyrene

Friends:

• The Pythia
• Poseidon
• Dionysus
• Hermes

Enemies:

• Hera
• Eros
• Agamemnon
• Niobe
• Marsyas
• Orion

Trivia

• Apollo is god of the sun. His twin sister Artemis is goddess of the moon. That's why there is a spaceship to the moon named Apollo.
• He guided the arrow that struck Achilles in his one vulnerable spot, killing him
• He leads the Muses.
• Apollo's throne was made of highly polished gold. There was a sundisk above it with twenty-one rays made of arrows. There were magical sayings on the back and sides. He sat on a cushion of python skin.

Other Names

• Apollo (Roman Mythology)
• Απόλλων (in Greek)
• Phoebus Apollo ("Shining One")
• Delphinios
• The Archer