APOLLO

The God of Sun, Music, Medicine, Prophecy, Reason, and Intelligence

APOLLO’S ORGIN• The Greek god Apollo is the brother of Artemis (huntress

and sometimes thought of as the moon goddess), and the son of Zeus and Leda.

• Apollo is associated with the prophecies coming from the Delphic oracle and the laurel, since when he pursued Daphne she was turned into a laurel tree to escape from him.

• Apollo had few children and many romances. The healing god Asclepius was one of these children. Because of his gifts, Asclepius not only could, but did bring mortals back to life. Zeus was horrified and so stopped him by killing him.

APOLLO’S APPEARANCE

•Apollo was a handsome, strong and youthful god with curly golden hair.

APOLLO’S SYMBOLS

•The Sun

•Lyre

•Bow and Arrow

•Raven

•Dolphin

•Wolf

•Swan

•Mouse

APOLLO’S STRENGTH

•Creative, handsome, supportive of all the arts of civilization.

APOLLO’S WEAKNESSES

•Like his father Zeus , Apollo is all too happy to enjoy the charms of nymphs, as well as the occasional youth, and his conquests number in the dozens.

BIRTH PLACE OF APOLLO

•On the sunny Greek island of Delos, where he was born along with his twin sister, Artemis. A palm tree is pointed out as the actual site of the birth. Another tradition gives the islands of Lato, the Letoides, now called Paximadia, off the southern coast of Crete.

SPOUSE OF APOLLO

• Apollo had many encounters, but no marriages. Flings with Cassandra, to whom he gave the gift of prophecy; Daphne, who fled from his embrace and turned into a laurel tree; Acacallis, a maiden from the Samaria Gorge on the island of Crete who was spurned by her proud family for choosing a "foreign" Greek god, and Calliope, with whom he had a child, Orpheus.

Apollo's Children

• Aristaeus, the rustic god of shepherds and cheese-making, bee-keeping, honey, honey-mead, olive growing, medicinal herbs and the Etesian winds which eased the scorching heat of midsummer.

• Asclepius, god of medicine and reputed ancestor of the Asklepiades, the ancient Greek doctors' guild.

• Phoibe and Hilaeira, daughters of Apollo who became immortal, wives to Polydeukes and Castor.

• Three Muses, daughters of the god Apollo, named Kephiso, Apollonis and Borysthenis, or Nete, Mese, Hypate. The latter represented the lowest, middle and highest strings of the lyre.

Some Major Temple Sites of Apollo

•The mountain town of Delphi, where a few columns from an early temple of Apollo still stand. The island of Delos is also sacred to him, but there is no temple remaining there today.

Interesting Fact • Apollo Delphinus or Delphinus was the dolphin-

form of the god and was revered at Delphi - despite its location high in the mountains. He supposedly commandeered a Cretan ship in his dolphin form, jumping out of the water and landing on its deck, and then forced it to the coastline at Delphi; the sailors on the ship supposedly became his first priests at Delphi. He was also believed to have destroyed an evil serpent at Delphi, and took over as the patron god of the famous oracle there. Some ancient coins show the head of Apollo with dolphins swimming in the background.