After Zeus Apollo is said to be the most powerful of the Olympian gods. He is referred to as the god of youth, music, poetry, and oracles. During the Hellenic age he was also called the god of healing and purity.
Apollo”s Father is Zeus and his mother is Leto. He has a twin sister named Artemis and he had a son named Asclepias to his wife the nymph Coronis. Apollo also had another son with the muse Calliope named Orpheus. Asclepias would later be known as the god of healing.
Apollo was born on the island of Delos, where his mother fled to escape the wrath of Hera. From Birth Apollo was proficient in the use of sun shafts, his deadly invisible arrows, which he hurled against his enemies. One of his earliest battles was killing The Python a monstrous serpent at a very young age that guarded the oracle. Apollo also killed the three Cyclopes for having forged thunderbolts used by Zeus to kill Asclepias. As a punishment Zeus made Apollo a servant of a mortal for a year. Apollo also created a storm on the Corinthian Sea, then appeared in the form of a dolphin and led a ship in distress safely to the shore. There he transformed himself into a brilliant star and guided the mariners to Delphi were the mariners founded on of the greatest shines of the ancient world.
As Apollo”s followers grew he became know as the god o Spiritual light and worshiped as the averter of evil and the protector of orderliness, simplicity, purity, and reasonableness. In homers Novel the Iliad Apollo took the Trojans side of the war and rained arrows down on the Greek encampments. Apollo is also of said to of guided Paris”s arrow into Achilles heel.
According to Greek mythology Apollo was a very vengeful. On one occasion There was a satyr named Marsyas that challenged Apollo to a music contest. When Marsyas lost Apollo had him flayed alive. In his memory, the blood and tears of Marsyas and his friends formed a river that was named after him. Another tale of Apollo vengefulness is from Homer”s Iliad when a mother of 12 children compares herself to Leto Apollo”s mother. Apollo and Artemis kill all 12 of her children with arrows.
Apollo was not just a fighter he had 6 loves. Daphne his first love fled from him and was turned into a laurel which is sacred to Apollo. Another one of his loves was Cassandra who Apollo gave the gift of Prophecies. When Cassandra refused him he turned her gift into a curse.
Then there was Calliope who gave him the child Orpheus and Coronis who gave him his son Asclepias. Sibyl of Cumae rejected Apollo and became another victim of his anger.
Apollo”s cult at Delphi was the religious center of the Greek world. His oracles were widely consulted on all matters. The oracles would sit on a tripod chair above an opening in the ground and in a trance they would mutter words claimed to be the word of Apollo. Now days Apollo is considered the god of law and orderliness and is worshiped every may to celebrate and give thanks for the renewal of vegetation. The Pythia is held every fourth or eight summer different sources said different dates to honor Apollo”s victory over the Python.
