These symbols were usually associated with the great accomplishments those deities made or pertained to the domains over which they ruled. There are many different schools of thought that tell Nyx's story, but all are always . He also gave to Apollo various gifts, like a golden tripod, a golden bow and arrows, a golden chariot and the city of Delphi.[167]. [33][89][90] All these functions, including the function of the healer-god Paean, who seems to have Mycenean origin, are fused in the cult of Apollo. Rhoeo, a princess of the island of Naxos was loved by Apollo. Molpadia and Parthenos were the sisters of Rhoeo, a former lover of Apollo. Though saddened that the seer was fated to be doomed in the war, Apollo made Amphiaraus' last hours glorious by "lighting his shield and his helm with starry gleam". What of his song, so cunning and so sweet? Ancient Tablets Prometheus and the Birth of Humankind. Even more often than deer, Artemis was seen with her pack of hunting dogs. Loki Loki's brood; Hel, Fenrir and Jrmungandr. [209], During the Trojan War, Odysseus came to the Trojan camp to return Chriseis, the daughter of Apollo's priest Chryses, and brought many offerings to Apollo. Apollo hung Marsyas from a tree to flay him. De Agostini / G. Nimatallah / Getty Images, Tomisti / Wikimedia Commons/ CC BY-SA 3.0. But Apollo soon repented and being distressed at what he had done, he tore the strings of his lyre and threw it away. In Aeschylus' Oresteia trilogy, Clytemnestra kills her husband, King Agamemnon because he had sacrificed their daughter Iphigenia to proceed forward with the Trojan war. Apollo armed his son with his own hands and gave him a bow and arrows and fitted a strong shield to his arm. The Trojan hero Hector (who, according to some, was the god's own son by Hecuba[177]) was favored by Apollo. [21] The Hittite testimony reflects an early form *Apeljn, which may also be surmised from comparison of Cypriot with Doric . [68] Such songs were originally addressed to Apollo and afterwards to other gods: to Dionysus, to Apollo Helios, to Apollo's son Asclepius the healer. Apollo was the son of Zeus, the king of the gods, and Leto, his previous wife[135] or one of his mistresses. Athena was also present to witness the contest. But he metamorphosed Periphas into an eagle and made the eagle the king of birds. His oracular shrines include: Oracles were also given by sons of Apollo. But Apollo, disobeying his father, went to the land of Hyperborea and stayed there for a year. Apollo granted the request by turning him into the Cypress named after him, which was said to be a sad tree because the sap forms droplets like tears on the trunk. Consequently, numerous dolphins surrounded the ship and when Arion jumped into the water, the dolphins carried him away safely. In spaceflight, the 1960s and 1970s NASA program for orbiting and landing astronauts on the Moon was named after Apollo, by NASA manager Abe Silverstein: Apollo riding his chariot across the Sun was appropriate to the grand scale of the proposed program. Marpessa was kidnapped by Idas but was loved by Apollo as well. He deflected many spears and arrows away them. [9] The name of Apollo's mother Leto has Lydian origin, and she was worshipped on the coasts of Asia Minor. The day of Apollos birth was believed to have been the seventh of the month, whence he is called hebdomagens. They both are cousins, since their mothers - Leto and Asteria - are sisters. [242] The pair was practicing throwing the discus when a discus thrown by Apollo was blown off course by the jealous Zephyrus and struck Hyacinthus in the head, killing him instantly. [166] He returned only after the Delphians sang hymns to him and pleaded him to come back. His intimate connection to wolves is evident from his epithet Lyceus, meaning wolf-like. Most of them were trained by Apollo himself. Apollo in anger turned her into a man. Once Apollo and Poseidon served under the Trojan king Laomedon in accordance to Zeus' words. To know what a thing is, we must know the look of it": Rhys Carpenter: Rufus B. Richardson, "A Temple in Eretria", See reports of the German Archaeological Institute in Archaeological Reports for 2008/9 43-45. He also killed many of the enemy warriors like Melaneus, Antiphus, Aetion, Polites and Lampus. Her tears formed the river Achelous. He also helped many Trojan heroes, the most important one being Hector. As the patron deity of Delphi (Apollo Pythios), Apollo is an oracular godthe prophetic deity of the Delphic Oracle. [15] Plato in Cratylus connects the name with (apolysis), "redemption", with (apolousis), "purification", and with ([h]aploun), "simple",[16] in particular in reference to the Thessalian form of the name, , and finally with (aeiballon), "ever-shooting". Together they had a son named Ileus, whom Apollo loved dearly.[176]. For the spaceflight program, see, "Phoebus" redirects here. Marsyas was a satyr who was punished by Apollo for his hubris. Apollo kept his promise and went back. When he got severely injured, Apollo healed him and encouraged him to take up his arms. The lyre was later discovered by the Muses and Apollo's sons Linus and Orpheus. Apollo is the god who affords help and wards off evil; various epithets call him the "averter of evil". Because of this people were very fond of him and started honouring him to the same extent as Zeus. [169] Apollo would have been banished to Tartarus for this, but his mother Leto intervened, and reminding Zeus of their old love, pleaded him not to kill their son. [79], A non-Greek origin of Apollo has long been assumed in scholarship. 3, Philostratus the Younger, Imagines 2 (trans. Soon after his return, Apollo needed to recruit people to Delphi. [369], Apollo been portrayed in modern literature, such as when Charles Handy, in Gods of Management (1978) uses Greek gods as a metaphor to portray various types of organizational culture. So why is an animal noted for its ravening nature part of his cult? He later gave this arrow to Abaris. When Niobe - a mother of six boys and as many girls - boasted that while Leto gave birth to two gods, she delivered a whole Olympus, Apollo and Artemis killed all her children. Sponsored by Trust Inform Why do I need more omega-3s in my diet? Then, Apollo struck the strings of his lyre. [208], Apollo helped the Greek hero Diomedes, to escape from a great tempest during his journey homeward. [8], The etymology of the name is uncertain. The lord made his swift way to Olympus and wound his baby hands around Zeus, asking him to take the wrath of the earth goddess from the Pythian home. By their union, she became mother of Chaeron, who was famed as "the tamer of horses". Percy Bysshe Shelley composed a "Hymn of Apollo" (1820), and the god's instruction of the Muses formed the subject of Igor Stravinsky's Apollon musagte (19271928). The contest was judged by the Muses, or the nymphs of Nysa. Shamanistic elements in Apollo's cult are often liked to his Hyperborean origin, and he is likewise speculated to have originated as a solar shaman. But when Apollo came and sent Themis, the child of Earth, away from the holy oracle of Pytho, Earth gave birth to dream visions of the night; and they told to the cities of men the present, and what will happen in the future, through dark beds of sleep on the ground; and so Earth took the office of prophecy away from Phoebus, in envy, because of her daughter. Drinking the blood of many slain animals. In Pindar's odes, the gods took a mortal named Aeacus as their assistant. However, Apollo did not tolerate this and stopped Heracles; a duel ensued between them. [215] Seeing several of his nymphs and Aristaeus drowning in a river, he took them to safety and healed them. [367] The conventions of this representation, head tilted, lips slightly parted, large-eyed, curling hair cut in locks grazing the neck, were developed in the 3rd century BCE to depict Alexander the Great. [62], Apollo in his aspect of "healer" has a connection to the primitive god Paean (-), who did not have a cult of his own. And he challenged the young and sturdy men to a match of boxing, only to cut their heads off when they would get defeated by him. Apollo gives an order through the Oracle at Delphi that Agamemnon's son, Orestes, is to kill Clytemnestra and Aegisthus, her lover. Unfortunately, Daphne was cursed by the Goddess Eros to have a hatred of love and lust. "Symbols of the Greek God Apollo." [202], Apollo flayed the limbs of Marsyas alive in a cave near Celaenae in Phrygia for his hubris to challenge a god. 2006. She bore to Apollo a son, whom Apollo named Ileus, after the city of his birth, Ilion (Troy). [244], Another male lover was Cyparissus, a descendant of Heracles. Laughter, fate, fertility, childbirth beginning at conception, petition for a male child. Delphi and Actium were his primary places of worship. This is why Apollo's most important name in the Cretan legends is Delphinius and his hereditary priests and priestesses of Pythia are the true oracles of Delphi. This may surprise you but Apollo, the God of Sun, Arts, Blessings, Love, Sports, and Magical Wisdom has picked Dolphin and his sacred animal. Dionysus's Sacred Animals. When the Greek warrior Patroclus tried to get into the fort of Troy, he was stopped by Apollo. He is the son of Zeus and the youngest Olympian. [345] There was a tradition that the Delphic oracle was consulted as early as the period of the kings of Rome during the reign of Tarquinius Superbus. Perhaps, the most well-known symbol of Apollo is his lyre. The deer that pulled her chariot were the first animals she captured and the entire species was loved by the goddess. While none of the Greek originals have survived, several Roman copies from approximately the late 1st or early 2nd century exist. Apollo gave her her wish, but then she went back on her word and refused him. Apollon (Ancient Greek: ), known in Latin as Apollo, is the son of Zeus and Leto. [201] Another variation is that Apollo played his instrument upside down. Apollo had also once convinced Athena to stop the war for that day, so that the warriors can relieve themselves for a while. Here we have an apotropaic situation, where a god originally bringing the plague was invoked to end it. This time Apollo shot him with his arrows and attacked him with his golden sword. [138] Leto promised that her son would be always favorable towards the Delians. What Are The Sacred Plants Of Apollo/Apollon? Only then would Alcides be absolved of his sin. [347] During the Second Punic War in 212 BCE, the Ludi Apollinares ("Apollonian Games") were instituted in his honor, on the instructions of a prophecy attributed to one Marcius. When she sought for the reason behind this, Apollo told her that Zeus, before taking another lover, would sit on this rock to free himself from his love to Hera. Artemis's Dominions. Akalli. During the war, the Greek king Agamemnon captured Chryseis, the daughter of Apollo's priest Chryses, and refused to return her. Online version at Harvard University Press, Online version available at The Perseus Digital Library. [199] He also further said, 'His [Apollo] hair is smooth and made into tufts and curls that fall about his brow and hang before his face. [citation needed], Numerous free-standing statues of male youths from Archaic Greece exist, and were once thought to be representations of Apollo, though later discoveries indicated that many represented mortals. Knowing that Apollo can prevent a recurrence of the plague he sent, they purify themselves in a ritual and offer him a large sacrifice of cows, called a hecatomb. Apollo's wreath combines the laurel for Daphne, the coronal effect of the sun's rays, and the beauty and power of young, beardless, athletic men. The Hyperboreans always sang and danced in his honor and hosted Pythian games. Known as the ideal of youth and athleticism, Apollo is the son of the Zeus and Leto; and his twin sister, Artemis, is the goddess of the moon and the hunt. They took it back to Apollo, but the god, who had decided to stay away from music for a while, laid away both the lyre and the pipes at Delphi and joined Cybele in her wanderings to as far as Hyperborea. He did all his duties justly. After the child was born, Apollo sent snakes to feed the child some honey. For other uses, see, God of oracles, healing, archery, music and arts, sunlight, knowledge, herds and flocks, and protection of the young, Krauskopf, I. When the sisters woke up and saw what had happened, they threw themselves off a cliff in fear of their father's wrath. Online version at the Topos Text Project. As he was known as the god of oracles and prophecy, he was believed to play a powerful role in shaping the course of events in ancient Greece. Apollo also fostered Carnus, the son of Zeus and Europa. The goddess Aphrodite was symbolized by the dove, the god Apollo by the swan, and Zeus by the eagle. [362] In 1895, V. I. Leonardos proposed the term kouros ("male youth") to refer to those from Keratea; this usage was later expanded by Henri Lechat in 1904 to cover all statues of this format. The Pythia was Apollo's high priestess and his mouthpiece through whom he gave prophecies. Vesp. Old sources say Apollo was "wolf-born", which refers to his mother Leto (see above). One of Apollo's epithets, Hecatos, is the masculine form of Hecate, and both the names mean "working from afar". Apollo advocates Orestes at the trial, and ultimately Athena rules in favor of Apollo. According to some, Apollo secured Delos to the bottom of the ocean after some time. But Apollo replied that since Marsyas played the flute, which needed air blown from the throat, it was similar to singing, and that either they both should get an equal chance to combine their skills or none of them should use their mouths at all. It was present in the sanctuary of Apollo Leukates. [138] Zeus, who had calmed Hera by then, came and adorned his son with a golden headband.[141][142]. [86] Homer interprets Apollo as a terrible god ( ) who brings death and disease with his arrows, but who can also heal, possessing a magic art that separates him from the other Greek gods. [29][30], Apollo was worshipped throughout the Roman Empire. [164] According to a variation, Apollo had also travelled to Crete, where Carmanor purified him. Apollo appears often in the myths, plays and hymns. "[57], In classical times, his major function in popular religion was to keep away evil, and he was therefore called "apotropaios" (, "averting evil") and "alexikakos" ( "keeping off ill"; from v. + n. [237], Hyrie or Thyrie was the mother of Cycnus. [356][357][358] In addition, Claudius Aelianus wrote that in Ancient Egypt people believed that hawks were sacred to the god[359] and that according to the ministers of Apollo in Egypt there were certain men called "hawk-keepers" () who fed and tended the hawks belonging to the god. [citation needed]. Thebes every nine years held the Daphnephoria. [348] 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. It is also stated that Hera kidnapped Eileithyia, the goddess of childbirth, to prevent Leto from going into labor. Known as the ideal of youth and athleticism, Apollo is the son of the Zeus and Leto; and his twin sister, Artemis, is the goddess of the moon and the hunt. [citation needed], The naked bodies of the statues are associated with the cult of the body that was essentially a religious activity. Bresson (2007) 154-5, citing the excavations reports of zgnel (2001). [344] As a quintessentially Greek god, Apollo had no direct Roman equivalent, although later Roman poets often referred to him as Phoebus. The Sibyl took a handful of sand and asked Apollo to grant her years of life as many as the grains of sand she held in her hands. Apollo's sacred animals include wolfs, dolphins, roe deer, swan, and a few more. But Apollo was also the wolf-slayer in his role as the god who protected flocks from predators. The temples should be canonic, and the architects were trying to achieve this esthetic perfection. Some of the earliest temples, especially in Crete, do not belong to any Greek order. Purified, Apollo was escorted by his half sister Athena to Delphi where the oracular shrine was finally handed over to him by Gaia. Athena was the principle goddess of Athens, Apollo was the principle god of Sparta. Apollo gave him a tame deer as a companion but Cyparissus accidentally killed it with a javelin as it lay asleep in the undergrowth. In the traditionally Celtic lands, he was most often seen as a healing and sun god. [148] Aelian says that when the singers would sing hymns to Apollo, the swans would join the chant in unison. They spend their time on Parnassus, which is one of their sacred places. Apollo turned Parthenos into a constellation after her early death. Medicine and healing are associated with Apollo, whether through the god himself or mediated through his son Asclepius. A Greek 5th-century red-figure hydria found in a cemetery of ancient Ainos (modern Enez, Turkey) depicts what is obviously a cultic scene, probably relative to the funerary rites performed for the burial of the deceased. He is associated with dominion over colonists. In literary contexts, Apollo represents harmony, order, and reasoncharacteristics contrasted with those of Dionysus, god of wine, who represents ecstasy and disorder. In North-Europe they speak of the ", Martin Nilsson (1967), Vol I, pp. This is the first of the legendary animals. The crew was awed into submission and followed a course that led the ship to Delphi. Martin Nilsson (1967) Vol I, pp. He was ultimately given immortality for the benefits he bestowed upon the humanity. After Apollo was victorious, they also brought him gifts and gave the Corycian cave to him. Also of major importance was the Delia held every four years on Delos. [200][204], Cinyras was a ruler of Cyprus, who was a friend of Agamemnon. Further, Apollo saved the king from Artemis' wrath and also convinced the Moirai to postpone Admetus' death once. [226], Prometheus was the titan who was punished by Zeus for stealing fire. Apollo, transferred the Priests from Crete to his holiest temple turning himself into a dolphin. Martin Nilsson (1967). They also believed that music was delegated to the same mathematical laws of harmony as the mechanics of the cosmos, evolving into an idea known as the music of the spheres.[192]. Arion was a poet who was kidnapped by some sailors for the rich prizes he possessed. An oracle prophesied that Troy would not be defeated as long as Troilus reached the age of twenty alive. One day, they were put in charge of watching their father's ancestral wine jar but they fell asleep while performing this duty. Accordingly, Apollo killed Niobe's sons, and Artemis her daughters. His attributes are his manly beauty and physique of near perfect form. Delphi was an ancient religious sanctuary dedicated to the Greek god Apollo. Apollo then brought her to the rock of Leukas and asked her to throw herself from the top of the rock. [161] Zeus didn't agree and instead exiled his son from Olympus, and instructed him to get purified. Apollo is the Greek God of the sun, light, music, truth, healing, poetry, and prophesy, and one of the most well-known gods in Greek mythology. Among the rural populace, Artemis was the favourite goddess. Oracular sanctuaries to Apollo were established in other sites.