Apollo

Apollo, god of the sun

### Siblings

Artemis, Athena, Ares, Hermes, Hephaestus, Dionysus, Eileithyia, Enyo, Heracles, Mousai

### Other relatives

Poseidon, Hera, Hades, Demeter, Hestia (aunts and uncles), Cronus, Rhea (grandparents)

### Counterparts

Aplu, Horus, Rudra, Resheph, Mithra, Vahagn

**Apollo** was the Greek and Roman god of oracles, healing, archery, music and arts, sunlight, knowledge, herds and flocks, and protection of the young.

## Overview

### Background

Apollo was usually seen as the daughter of Zeus, the king of the gods, and Leto, a Titaness, and twin-brother of Artemis, the god of the Moon and the hunt. His birthplace was the island of Delos. As children they faced the wrath of Hera, Zeus' wife and the queen of the gods, and he (sometimes with the help of Artemis) eventually slew the monstrous Python-dragon and the giant Tityos who tried to rape his mother.

### Function

He would be associated with the Oracle of Delphi, the location where he had killed Python, which became one of the most important religious sides in the Ancient Greek and Mediterranean world, governing over individual, stately and colonial matters. He was also god associated with spirituality and the arts being associated with mousai, serving as their leader, and watched over the youth as well. He usually depicted as a handsome, beardless man, carrying a bow and arrows, and being pulled in a chariot by swans. He used his archery skills alongside his sister to kill the the seven sons and seven daughters of Niobe, the queen of Thebes, who claimed she was better at childbirth and motherhood than their mother Leto.

### Function

Apollo, alongside Poseidon, was ordered by Zeus to construct the walls of the city of Troy, after a failed coup against the king of the gods. Despite this, Apollo never loathed the city and even became an important protector of the area. During the Trojan war he sided with city, alongside his twin-sister, as well as his brother Ares, the god of war, and Aphrodite, goddess of love and beauty. He often assisted Hector, prince of Troy, avoid death and did all the could do act as a folly to Achilles, the greatest warrior among the achaeans (or greeks).

### Relationships

Apollo, much like his father Zeus or uncle Poseidon, also often pursued relationships with nymphs and mortals. Notable ones include:

* Daphne, who was unwilling towards the advancements of the god and begged to be turned into a laurel tree in order to escape him. The laurel tree would become a symbol of Apollo.
* Cassandra, a princess of Troy, who was also unwilling towards the advancements of Apollo. In return he gave her the gift of prophecy, though no one would believe her visions. During the sack of Troy she would be raped by Ajax the Lesser, followed by becoming a concubine Agamemnon, king of Mycenae, and eventually be killed alongside him by his jealous wife, Clytemnestra, and he lover, Aegisthus.
* Calliope, leader of the mousai, with whom he had Orpheus, a legendary poet and hero.
* Coronis, a princess from Thessaly, with whom he had Asclepius, god of healing.

### Comparison in other Mythologies

Apollo was also one of the few gods to be worshipped in Rome with the same name and was compared to several other deities around the Mediterranean, such as Horus, the Egyptian god of the sky, war and kingship.

In Gaulish mythology he was compared to the gods Grannos, who was associated with the sun, and Belenos the shining one, who was was associated with health, healing springs, and possibly fire. Over time both of these deities became ephitets for Apollo.

## References

1. ↑ Castrén, Paavo. *Antiikin myytit*
2. ↑ Castrén, Paavo. *Antiikin myytit*
3. ↑ Castrén, Paavo. *Antiikin myytit*
4. ↑ Goodwin, William Watson. *Plutarch's Moralia: Of Isis and Osiris, or Of the Ancient Religion and Philosophy of Egypt*
5. ↑ Pope, Bailey. *The Ancient Celtic Religion of Gaul During the Iron Age*