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.]] In ''Not all ''kouroi'' should be idfentified as representations of Apollo(Pfeiff; Burkert), was a god of the sun, light, healing, music, prophecy, archery, and poetry. Apollo was the son of Zeus and Leto , and the twin brother of Artemis , goddess of the moon and hunt. As the prophetic deity of the Delphic Oracle , Apollo was one of the most important and many-sided of the Olympian Deities . Apollo is known in Greek-influenced Etruscan Mythology , as Aplu. In Roman mythology he is known as '''Apollo''' and increasingly, especially during the third century, as ''Apollo Helios'' he became identified with Sol , the Sun.In Hellenistic times, Apollo became conflated with Helios , God Of The Sun , and his sister similarly equated with Selene , Goddess Of The Moon . However, Apollo and Helios remained separate beings in literary and mythological texts.. ETYMOLOGY The name ''Apollo'' might have been derived from a Pre-Hellenic compound ''Apo-ollon'', likely related to an archaic verb ''Apo-ell-'' and literally meaning "he who elbows off", and thus "the Dispelling One". Indeed, he seems to have personified the power to dispel and ward off evil, which was related to his association with the darkness-dispelling power of the morning sun and the conceived power of reason and prophecy to dispel doubt and ignorance. In addition, Apollo's dispelling aspect made him associated with:
An explanation given by Plutarch in '' Moralia '' is that ''Apollon'' signified Unity , since ''pollon'' meant "many", and the Prefix ''a-'' was a negative. Thus, Apollon could be read as meaning "deprived of multitude". Apollo was consequently associated with the Monad . Hesychius connects the name Apollo with the Doric απελλα, which means assembly, so that Apollo would be the god of political life, and he also gives the explanation σηκος ("fold"), in which case Apollo would be the god of flocks and herds. CULT SITES Unusually among the Olympic deities, Apollo had two cult sites that had widespread influence: Apollo (the Apollo of Delphi) were so distinct in Hellenic practice that they might both have shrines in the same locality (Burkert). Theophoric Names such as ''Apollodorus'' or ''Apollonios'' and cittiews named Apollonia are met with throughout the Greek world. Apollo's Cult was already fully established when written sources commence, ca 700 BCE. DOMAINS AND SYMBOLS and Leto .]] Apollo was considered to have dominion over disease, beauty, light, healing, Colonists , Medicine , Archery , Poetry , Prophecy , Dance , Reason , Intellectualism , and Shaman s, and was the patron defender of herds and flocks. Apollo's most common attributes were the lyre and the bow. Other attributes of his included the Kithara (an advanced version of the common Lyre ) and Plectrum . Another common emblem was the sacrificial tripod, representing his prophetic powers. The Pythian Games were held in Apollo's honor every four years at Delphi . The Laurel bay plant was used in expiatory sacrifices and in making the crown of victory at these games. The palm-tree was also sacred to Apollo because he had been born under one in Delos . Animals sacred to Apollo included wolves, dolphins and roe, swans and grasshoppers (symbolizing music and song), hawks, ravens, crows and snakes (referencing Apollo's function as the god of prophecy), mice, and Griffin s, mythical eagle-lion hybrids of Eastern origin. As god of colonization, Apollo gave guidance on colonies, especially during the height of colonization, Cuneiform texts mention a Minor Asian god called ''Appaliunas'' or ''Apalunas'' in connection with the city of ''Wilusa'', which is now regarded as being identical with the Greek Illios by most scholars. In this interpretation, Apollo’s title of ''Lykegenes'' can simply be read as "born in Lycia", which effectively severs the god's supposed link with wolves (possibly a Folk Etymology ). Apollo popularly (e.g., in Literary Criticism ) represents harmony, order, and reasons—characteristics contrasted with those of Dionysus , god of wine, who popularly represents emotion and disorder. The contrast between the roles of these gods is reflected in the adjectives '' Apollonian '' and '' Dionysian ''. However, the Greeks thought of the two qualities as complementary: the two gods are brothers, and when Apollo at winter left for Hyperborea, he would leave the Delphi Oracle to Dionysus. WORSHIP Apollo had a famous Oracle in Delphi , and other notable ones in Clarus and Branchidae . His oracular shrine at Abai, in Phocis , was important enough to be consulted by Croesus ( Herodotus , 1.46). Apollo is known as the leader of the Muse s (''musagetes'') and director of their choir. Hymns sung to Apollo were called Paean s. The Roman worship of Apollo was adopted from the Greeks. There is a tradition that the Delphic oracle was consulted as early as the period of the Kings during the reign of Tarquinius Superbus . In 430 , a temple was dedicated to Apollo on the occasion of a pestilence. During the Second Punic War in 212 , the Ludi Apollinares were instituted in his honor. In the time of Augustus , who considered himself under the special protection of Apollo and was even said to be his son, His worship developed and he became one of the chief gods of Rome. After the Battle Of Actium , Augustus enlarged his old temple, dedicated a portion of the spoils to him, and instituted quinquennial games in his honour. He also erected a new temple on the Palatine hill and transferred the secular games, for which Horace composed his ''Carmen Saeculare'', to Apollo and Diana . The chief festivals held in honour of Apollo were the Carneia , Daphnephoria , Delia , Hyacinthia , Pyanepsia , Pythia and Thargelia . The Ludi Apollinares were solemn games held to honor him. The worship of Apollo has returned with the rise of Revivalist Hellenic Polytheism , and the contemporary Pagan movement. One example of this revival is the group Kyklos Apollon . Also, together with Athena, Apollo (under the name Phevos) was controversially designated as a mascot of the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. in a Roman floor mosaic, El Djem , Tunisia, lare 2nd century]] APOLLO IN ART In art, Apollo is usually depicted as a handsome beardless young man and often with a lyre or bow in hand. In the late 2nd century floor mosaic from (Bieber 1964, Yalouris 1980). Some time after this mosaic was executed, the earliest depictions of Christ will be beardless and haloed. MYTHOLOGY Birth When Hera discovered that Leto was pregnant and that Hera's husband, Zeus, was the father, she banned Leto from giving birth on "terra-firma", or the mainland, or any island at sea. In her wanderings, Leto found the newly created floating island of Delos , which was neither mainland nor a real island, and gave birth there. The island was surrounded by swans. Afterwards, Zeus secured Delos to the bottom of the ocean. This island later became sacred to Apollo. Alternatively, Hera kidnapped Ilithyia , 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, nine yards long, of amber. Either way, Artemis was born first and then assisted with the birth of Apollo. Another version states that Artemis was born one day before Apollo, on the island of Ortygia and that she helped Leto cross the sea to Delos the next day to give birth to Apollo. Apollo was born on the 7th day (ἡβδομαγενης) of the month Thargelion according to Delian tradition or of the month Bysios according to Delphian tradition. The 7th and 20th, the days of the new and full moon, were ever afterwards held sacred to him. Youth In his youth, Apollo killed the vicious dragon Python , which lived in Delphi beside the Castalian Spring because Python had attempted to rape Leto while she was pregnant with Apollo and Artemis.This was the spring which emitted vapors that caused the Oracle at Delphi to give her prophesies. Apollo killed Python but had to be punished for it, since Python was a child of Gaia . Apollo and Admetus When Zeus struck down Apollo's son, Asclepius , with a lightning bolt for resurrecting the dead (and thus stealing Hades 's subjects), Apollo in revenge killed the Cyclops , who had fashioned the bolt for Zeus. Apollo would have been banished to Tartarus forever, but was instead sentenced to one year of hard labour as punishment, thanks to the intercession of his mother, Leto . During this time he served as shepherd for King Admetus of Pherae in Thessaly . Admetus treated Apollo well, and, in return, the god conferred great benefits on Admetus. Apollo helped Admetus win Alcestis , the daughter of King Pelias and later convinced the Fates to let Admetus live past his time if another took his place. But when it came time for Admetus to die, his elderly parents, whom he had assumed would gladly die for him, refused to cooperate. Instead, Alcestis took his place, but Heracles managed to "persuade" Thanatos , the god of death, to return her to the world of the living. Apollo during the Trojan War Apollo shot arrows infected with the plague into the Greek encampment during the Trojan War in rage because the Greeks had kidnapped Chryseis, the daughter of Apollo's priest. He demanded her return, and the Greeks eventually complied. When Diomedes injured Aeneas during the Trojan War , Apollo rescued him. First, Aphrodite tried to rescue Aeneas but Diomedes injured her as well. Aeneas was then enveloped in a cloud by Apollo , who took him to Pergamos , a sacred spot in Troy . Artemis healed Aeneas there. Apollo aided Paris in killing of Achilles by guiding the arrow of his bow into Achilles ' heel. One interpretation of his motive is that it was in revenge for Achilles sacrilege in murdering Troilus , the god's own son by Hecuba , on the very altar of the god's own temple. Niobe A Queen of Thebes and wife of Amphion , Niobe boasted of her superiority to Leto because she had fourteen children ( Niobids ), seven male and seven female, while Leto had only two. Apollo killed her sons as they practiced athletics, with the last begging for his life, and Artemis her daughters. Apollo and Artemis used poisoned arrows to kill them, though according to some versions of the myth, a number of the Niobids were spared ( Chloris , usually). Amphion, at the sight of his dead sons, either killed himself or was killed by Apollo after swearing revenge. A devastated Niobe fled to Mt. Siplyon 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. Apollo's romantic life and children Female lovers Apollo chased the nymph Daphne , daughter of Peneus , who had scorned him. His infatuation was caused by an arrow from Eros , who was jealous because Apollo had made fun of his archery skills. Eros also claimed to be irritated by Apollo's singing. Simultaneously, however, Eros had shot a hate arrow into Daphne, causing her to be repulsed by Apollo. Following a spirited chase by Apollo, Daphne prayed to Mother earth, or, alternatively, her father - a river god - to help her and he changed her into a Laurel Tree , which became sacred to Apollo. Apollo had an affair with a human princess named Leucothea , daughter of Orchamus and sister of Clytia . Leucothea loved Apollo who disguised himself as Leucothea's mother to gain entrance to her chambers. Clytia, jealous of her sister because she wanted Apollo for herself, told Orchamus the truth, betraying her sister's trust and confidence in her. Enraged, Orchamus ordered Leucothea to be buried alive. Apollo refused to forgive Clytia for betraying his beloved, and a grieving Clytia wilted and slowly died. Apollo changed her into an incense plant, either heliotrope or sunflower, which follows the sun every day. Marpessa was kidnapped by Idas but was loved by Apollo as well. Zeus made her choose between them, and she chose Idas on the grounds that Apollo, being immortal, would tire of her when she grew old. Castalia was a Nymph whom Apollo loved. She fled from him and dived into the spring at Delphi, at the base of Mt. Parnassos , which was then named after her. Water from this spring was sacred; it was used to clean the Delphian temples and inspire poets. By Cyrene , Apollo had a son named Aristaeus , who became the patron god of cattle, Fruit Trees , hunting, husbandry and Bee-keeping . He was also a Culture-hero and taught humanity dairy skills and the use of nets and traps in hunting, as well as how to cultivate olives. With Hecuba , wife of King Priam of Troy , Apollo had a son named Troilius . An Oracle prophesied that Troy would not be defeated as long as Troilius reached the age of twenty alive. He and his sister, Polyxena were ambushed and killed by Achilles . Apollo also fell in love with Cassandra , daughter of Hecuba and Priam, and Troilius' half-sister. He promised Cassandra the gift of prophecy to seduce her, but she rejected him afterwards. Enraged, Apollo indeed gifted her with the ability to know the future, with a curse that no one would ever believe her. Coronis , daughter of Phlegyas , King of the Lapiths , was another of Apollo's liaisons. Pregnant with Asclepius , Coronis fell in love with Ischys , son of Elatus . A crow informed Apollo of the affair. When first informed he disbelieved the crow and turned all crows black (where they were previously white) as a punishment for speading untruths. When he found out the truth he sent his sister, Artemis, to kill Coronis. As a result he also made the crow sacred and gave them the task of announcing important deaths. Apollo rescued the baby and gave it to the Centaur Chiron to raise. Phlegyas was irate after the death of his daughter and burned the Temple of Apollo at Delphi. Apollo then killed him for what he did. Male lovers Apollo, the eternal beardless Kouros himself, had the most male lovers of all the Greek Gods . That was to be expected from a god who was god of the Palaestra , the athletic gathering place for youth who all competed In The Nude , a god said to represent the ideal educator and therefore the ideal Erastes , or lover of a boy (Sergent, p.102). All his lovers were younger than him, in the style of the Greek Pederastic Relationships of the time. Many of Apollo's young beloveds died "accidentally", a reflection on the function of these myths as part of Rites Of Passage , in which the youth died in order to be reborn as an adult. Hyacinth was one of his male lovers. Hyacinthus was a Sparta n prince, beautiful and athletic. The pair were practicing throwing the Discus when Hyacinthus was struck in the head by a discus blown off course by Zephyrus , who was jealous of Apollo and loved Hyacinthus as well. When Hyacinthus died, Apollo is said in some accounts to have been so filled with grief that he cursed his own immortality, wishing to join his lover in mortal death. Out of the blood of his slain lover Apollo created the Hyacinth Flower as a memorial to his death, and his tears stained the flower petals with ''άί'' ''άί'', meaning alas. The Festival of Hyacinthus was a celebration of Sparta. One of his other liaisons was with Acantha , the spirit of the Acanthus tree. Upon his death, he was transformed into a sun-loving herb by Apollo, and his bereaved sister, Acanthis, was turned into a Thistle Finch by the other gods. Another male lover was Cyparissus , a descendant of Heracles . Apollo gave the boy a tame deer as a companion but Cyparissus accidentally killed it with a Javelin as it lay asleep in the undergrowth. Cyparissus asked Apollo to let his tears fall forever. Apollo turned the sad boy into a Cypress tree, which was said to be a sad tree because the sap forms droplets like tears on the trunk. Apollo and the Birth of Hermes Hermes was born on Mount Cyllene in Arcadia. The story is told in the Homeric Hymn to Hermes . His mother, Maia , had been secretly impregnated by Zeus , in a secret affair. Maia wrapped the infant in blankets but Hermes escaped while she was asleep. Hermes ran to Thessaly , where Apollo was grazing his cattle. The infant Hermes stole a number of his 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 the first Lyre . Apollo complained to Maia that her son had stolen his cattle, but Hermes had already replaced himself in the blankets she had wrapped him in, so Maia refused to believe Apollo's claim. Zeus intervened and, claiming to have seen the events, sided with Apollo. Hermes then began to play music on the lyre he had invented. Apollo, a god of music, fell in love with the instrument and offered to allow exchange the cattle for the lyre. Hence, Apollo became a master of the lyre and Hermes invented a kind of pipes-instrument called a Syrinx . Later, Apollo exchanged a Caduceus for a Syrinx from Hermes. Other stories When Zeus killed Asclepius for raising the dead and violating the natural order of things, Apollo killed the Cyclopes in response. They had fashioned Zeus' thunderbolts, which he used to kill Apollo's son, Asclepius. As punishment, he was condemned by Zeus to year's servitude to King Admetus. Apollo gave the order, through the Oracle at Delphi, for Orestes to kill his mother, Clytemnestra , and her lover, Aegisthus . Orestes was punished fiercely by the Erinyes for this crime. In the Odyssey , Odysseus and his surviving crew landed on an island sacred to Helios the sun god, where he kept sacred cattle. Though Odysseus warned his men not to (as Tiresias and Circe had told him), they killed and ate some of the cattle and Helios had Zeus destroy the ship and all the men save Odysseus . Apollo also had a Lyre -playing contest with Cinyras , his son, who committed suicide when he lost. Apollo killed the Aloadae when they attempted to storm Mt. Olympus . It was also said that Apollo rode on the back of a swan to the land of the Hyperboreans during the winter months, a swan that he also lent to his beloved Hyacinthus to ride. Apollo turned Cephissus into a Sea Monster . Musical contests Pan Once Pan had the audacity to compare his music with that of Apollo, and to challenge Apollo, the god of the Lyre , to a trial of skill. Tmolus , the mountain-god, 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. Tmolus at once awarded the victory to Apollo, and all but Midas agreed with the judgment. He dissented, and questioned the justice of the award. Apollo would not suffer such a depraved pair of ears any longer, and caused them to become the ears of a Donkey . Marsyas , c.1570-76.]] Marsyas was a Satyr who challenged Apollo to a contest of music. He had found an Aulos on the ground, tossed away after being invented by Athena because it made her cheeks puffy. Marsyas lost and was Flayed alive in a cave near Calaenae in Phrygia for his Hubris to challenge a god. His blood turned into the river Marsyas. Another variation is that Apollo played his instrument (the lyre) upside down. Marsyas could not do this with his instrument (the Flute ), and so Apollo hung him from a tree and flayed him alive. from ''MAN MYTH & MAGIC'' by Richard Cavendish APPELLATIONS Apollo, like other Greek deities, had a number of Epithet s applied to him, reflecting the variety of roles, duties, and aspects ascribed to the god. However, while Apollo has a great number of appellations in Greek myth, only a few occur in Latin literature, chief among them Phoebus ("shining one"), which was very commonly used by both the Greeks and Romans in Apollo's role as the god of light. In Apollo's role as healer, his appellations included Akesios and '''Iatros''', meaning "healer". He was also called '''Alexikakos''' ("restrainer of evil") and '''Apotropaeus''' ("he who averts evil"), and was referred to by the Romans as '''Averruncus''' ("averter of evils"). As a plague god and defender against rats and locusts, Apollo was known as '''Smintheus''' ("mouse-catcher") and '''Parnopius''' ("grasshopper"). The Romans also called Apollo '''Culicarius''' ("driving away Midge s"). In his healing aspect, the Romans referred to Apollo as '''Medicus''' ("the Physician"), and a Temple was dedicated to ''Apollo Medicus'' at Rome, probably next to the temple of Bellona . As a god of archery, Apollo was known as Aphetoros ("god of the bow") and '''Argurotoxos''' ("with the silver bow"). The Romans referred to Apollo as '''Articenens''' ("carrying the bow") as well. As a pastoral shepherd-god, Apollo was known as '''Nomios''' ("wandering"). Apollo was also known as Archegetes ("director of the foundation"), who oversaw colonies. He was known as '''Klarios''', from the Doric ''klaros'' ("allotment of land"), for his supervision over cities and colonies. He was known as Delphinios ("Delphinian"), meaning "of the womb", in his association with ''Delphoi'' ( Delphi ). At Delphi, he was also known as '''Pythios''' ("Pythian"). An Aitiology in the Homeric Hymns connects the epitheton to Dolphin s. '''Kynthios''', another common epithet, stemmed from his birth on Mt. Cynthus . He was also known as '''Lyceios''' or '''Lykegenes''', which either meant "wolfish" or "of Lycia ", Lycia being the place where some postulate that his cult originated. Specifically as god of prophecy, Apollo was known as Loxias ("the obscure"). He was also known as '''Coelispex''' ("he who watches the heavens") to the Romans. Apollo was attributed the epithet '''Musagetes''' as the leader of the Muse s, and '''Nymphegetes''' as " Nymph -leader". Acesius was a surname of Apollo, under which he was worshipped in Elis , where he had a temple in the Agora . This surname, which has the same meaning as ''akestor'' and ''alezikakos'', characterised the god as the averter of evil. "Acesius". ''Smith's Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology''. London, 1880. SPOKEN-WORD MYTHS - AUDIO FILES IN POPULAR CULTURE In the '' Star Trek '' episode " Who Mourns For Adonis? " a man claiming to be Apollo is seen on a Greek-themed planet that Captain Kirk , Pavel Chekov , Mr. Spock , and Dr. McCoy arrive on. In the '' Battlestar Galactica '' series, one of the main characters is given the call-sign of Apollo. The song "" by Rush is about the struggle between the champions of the two Hemispheres, Apollo, the God of Reason, and Dionysus , the God of Love. The song appears of the 1978 album '' Hemispheres ''. In the sixties, NASA named its Apollo Lunar Program because Apollo was considered the god of all wisdom. Many people mistakenly believe that the rockets that carried astronauts to the Moon were called Apollo rockets; they were Saturn V rockets. Apollo is the subject of Percy Bysshe Shelley 's poem of 1820 the "Hymn of Apollo" REFERENCES ;Pre-World War I
:Modern
NOTES 2. For the iconography of the Alexander-Helios type, see H. Hoffmann, 1963. "Helios," in ''Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt'' 2 117-23; cf. Yalouris, no. 42. EXTERNAL LINKS
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