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Caption | The Louvre Apollo Sauroctonos by Praxiteles 4th century BC |
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Name | Apollo |
God of | God of music, poetry, plague, oracles, sun, medicine, light and knowledge |
Abode | Mount Olympus |
Symbol | Lyre, laurel wreath, python, raven, bow and arrows |
Parents | Zeus and Leto |
Siblings | Artemis |
Children | Asclepius, Troilus, Aristaeus, Orpheus |
Roman equivalent | Apollo |
Apollo (Attic, Ionic, and Homeric Greek: Ἀπόλλων, Apollōn (gen.: Ἀπόλλωνος); Doric: Ἀπέλλων, Apellōn; Arcadocypriot: Ἀπείλων, Apeilōn; Aeolic: Ἄπλουν, Aploun; ) is one of the most important and diverse of the Olympian deities in Greek and Roman mythology. The ideal of the kouros (a beardless, athletic youth), Apollo has been variously recognized as a god of light and the sun, truth and prophecy, medicine, healing, plague, music, poetry, arts and more. Apollo is the son of Zeus and Leto, and has a twin sister, the chaste huntress Artemis. Apollo is known in Greek-influenced Etruscan mythology as Apulu. Apollo was worshiped in both ancient Greek and Roman religion, and in the modern Greco–Roman Neopaganism.
As the patron of Delphi (Pythian Apollo), Apollo was an oracular god—the prophetic deity of the Delphic Oracle. Medicine and healing were associated with Apollo, whether through the god himself or mediated through his son Asclepius, yet Apollo was also seen as a god who could bring ill-health and deadly plague. Amongst the god's custodial charges, Apollo became associated with dominion over colonists, and as the patron defender of herds and flocks. As the leader of the Muses (Apollon Musegetes) and director of their choir, Apollo functioned as the patron god of music and poetry. Hermes created the lyre for him, and the instrument became a common attribute of Apollo. Hymns sung to Apollo were called paeans.
In Hellenistic times, especially during the 3rd century BCE, as Apollo Helios he became identified among Greeks with Helios, Titan god of the sun, and his sister Artemis similarly equated with Selene, Titan goddess of the moon. In Latin texts, on the other hand, Joseph Fontenrose declared himself unable to find any conflation of Apollo with Sol among the Augustan poets of the 1st century, not even in the conjurations of Aeneas and Latinus in Aeneid XII (161–215). Apollo and Helios/Sol remained separate beings in literary and mythological texts until the 3rd century CE.
Several instances of popular etymology are attested from ancient authors. Thus, the Greeks most often associated Apollo's name with the Greek verb ἀπόλλυμι (apollymi), "to destroy". Plato in Cratylus connects the name with (apolysis), "redeem", with (apolousis), "purification", and with (aploun), "simple", in particular in reference to the Thessalian form of the name, , and finally with (aeiballon), "ever-shooting". Hesychius connects the name Apollo with the Doric απέλλα (apella), which means "assembly", so that Apollo would be the god of political life, and he also gives the explanation σηκός (sekos), "fold", in which case Apollo would be the god of flocks and herds.
Following the tradition of these Ancient Greek folk etymologies, in the Doric dialect the word originally meant wall, fence from animals and later assembly within the agora. In the Ancient Macedonian language (pella) means stone, and some toponyms are derived from this word: (Pella:capital of Ancient Macedonia), (Pellini-Pallini).
A number of non-Greek etymologies have been suggested for the name,The form Apaliunas () is attested as a god of Wilusa in a treaty between Alaksandu of Wilusa and the Hittite great king Muwatalli II ca 1280 BCE.Alaksandu could be Paris-Alexander of Ilion",whose name is Greek. The Hittite testimony reflects an early form , which may also be surmised from comparison of Cypriot Απειλων with Doric Απελλων. A Luwian etymology suggested for Apaliunas makes Apollo "The One of Entrapment", perhaps in the sense of "Hunter".
Among the proposed etymologies is the Hurrian and Hittite divinity, Aplu, who was widely invoked during the "plague years". Aplu, it is suggested, comes from the Akkadian Aplu Enlil, meaning "the son of Enlil", a title that was given to the god Nergal, who was linked to Shamash, Babylonian god of the sun.
Apollo, like other Greek deities, had a number of epithets 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 ( ; Φοίβος, Phoibos, literally "radiant"), which was very commonly used by both the Greeks and Romans in Apollo's role as the god of light.
As sun-god and god of light, Apollo was also known by the epithets Aegletes ( ; Αἰγλήτης, Aiglētēs, from αἴγλη, "light of the sun"), Helius ( ; Ἥλιος, Helios, literally "sun"), Phanaeus ( ; Φαναῖος, Phanaios, literally "giving or bringing light"), and Lyceus ( ; Λύκειος, Lukeios, from Proto-Greek *λύκη, "light"). The meaning of the epithet "Lyceus" later became associated Apollo's mother Leto, who was the patron goddes of Lycia (Λυκία) and who was identified with the wolf (λύκος), earning him the epithets Lycegenes ( ; Λυκηγενής, Lukēgenēs, literally "born of a wolf" or "born of Lycia") and Lycoctonus ( ; Λυκοκτόνος, Lukoktonos, from λύκος, "wolf", and κτείνειν, "to kill"). As god of the sun, the Romans referred to Apollo as Sol ( ; literally "sun" in Latin).
In association with his birthplace, Mount Cynthus on the island of Delos, Apollo was called Cynthius ( ; Κύνθιος, Kunthios, literally "Cynthian"), Cynthogenes ( ; Κύνθογενης, Kunthogenēs, literally "born of Cynthus"), and Delius ( ; Δήλιος, Delios, literally "Delian"). As Artemis's twin, Apollo had the epithet Didymaeus ( ; Διδυμαιος, Didumaios, from δίδυμος, "twin").
in southern Greece]] Apollo was worshipped as Actiacus ( ; Ἄκτιακός, Aktiakos, literally "Actian"), Delphinius ( ; Δελφίνιος, Delphinios, literally "Delphic"), and Pythius ( ; Πύθιος, Puthios, from Πυθώ, Pūthō, the area around Delphi), after Actium (Ἄκτιον) and Delphi (Δελφοί) respectively, two of his principal places of worship. An etiology in the Homeric hymns associated the epithet "Delphinius" with dolphins. He was worshipped as Acraephius ( ; Ἀκραιφιος, Akraiphios, literally "Acraephian") or Acraephiaeus ( ; Ἀκραιφιαίος, Akraiphiaios, literally "Acraephian") in the Boeotian town of Acraephia (Ἀκραιφία), reputedly founded by his son Acraepheus; and as Smintheus ( ; Σμινθεύς, Smintheus, "Sminthian"—that is, "of the town of Sminthos or Sminthe") near the Troad town of Hamaxitus. The epithet "Smintheus" has historically been confused with σμίνθος, "mouse", in association with Apollo's role as a god of disease. For this he was also known as Parnopius ( ; Παρνόπιος, Parnopios, from πάρνοψ, "locust") and to the Romans as Culicarius ( ; from Latin culicārius, "of midges").
,dedicated to Apollo (478 BC).19th century pen-and-wash restoration]] ,Turkey]] In Apollo's role as a healer, his appellations included Acesius ( ; Ἀκέσιος, Akesios, from ἄκεσις, "healing"), Acestor ( ; Ἀκέστωρ, Akestōr, literally "healer"), Paean ( ; Παιάν, Paiān, from παίειν, "to touch"), and Iatrus ( ; Ἰατρός, Iātros, literally "physician"). Acesius was the epithet of Apollo worshipped in Elis, where he had a temple in the agora. The Romans referred to Apollo as Medicus ( ; literally "physician" in Latin) in this respect. A temple was dedicated to Apollo Medicus at Rome, probably next to the temple of Bellona.
As a protector and founder, Apollo had the epithets Alexicacus ( ; Ἀλεξίκακος, Alexikakos, literally "warding off evil"), Apotropaeus ( ; Ἀποτρόπαιος, Apotropaios, from ὰποτρέπειν, "to avert"), and Epicurius ( ; Ἐπικούριος, Epikourios, from ἐπικουρέειν, "to aid"), or Musegetes ( ; Μουσηγέτης, Mousēgetēs, from Μούσα, "Muse", and ἡγέτης, "leader").
As a god of archery, Apollo was known as Aphetor ( ; Ἀφήτωρ, Aphētōr, from ὰφίημι, "to let loose") or Aphetorus ( ; Ἀφητόρος, Aphētoros, of the same origin), Argyrotoxus ( ; Ἀργυρότοξος, Argurotoxos, literally "with silver bow"), Hecaërgus ( ; Ἑκάεργος, Hekaergos, literally "far-shooting"), and Hecebolus ( ; Ἑκηβόλος, Hekēbolos, literally "far-shooting"). The Romans referred to Apollo as Articenens ( ; "bow-carrying"). Apollo was called Ismenius ( ; Ἰσμηνιός, Ismēnios, literally "of Ismenus") after Ismenus, the son of Amphion and Niobe, whom he struck with an arrow.
Apollo Atepomarus ("the great horseman" or "possessing a great horse"). Apollo was worshipped at Mauvières (Indre). Horses were, in the Celtic world, closely linked to the sun.
Apollo Belenus ('bright' or 'brilliant'). This epithet was given to Apollo in parts of Gaul, Northern Italy and Noricum (part of modern Austria). Apollo Belenus was a healing and sun god.
Apollo Cunomaglus ('hound lord'). A title given to Apollo at a shrine in Wiltshire. Apollo Cunomaglus may have been a god of healing. Cunomaglus himself may originally have been an independent healing god.
Apollo Grannus. Grannus was a healing spring god, later equated with Apollo.
Apollo Moritasgus ('masses of sea water'). An epithet for Apollo at Alesia, where he was worshipped as god of healing and, possibly, of physicians.
Apollo Vindonnus ('clear light'). Apollo Vindonnus had a temple at Essarois, near Châtillon-sur-Seine in Burgundy. He was a god of healing, especially of the eyes.
Homer illustrated Paeon the god, and the song both of apotropaic thanksgiving or triumph. Such songs were originally addressed to Apollo, and afterwards to other gods: to Dionysus, to Apollo Helios, to Apollo's son Asclepius the healer. About the 4th century BCE, the paean became merely a formula of adulation; its object was either to implore protection against disease and misfortune, or to offer thanks after such protection had been rendered. It was in this way that Apollo had become recognised as the god of music. Apollo's role as the slayer of the Python led to his association with battle and victory; hence it became the Roman custom for a paean to be sung by an army on the march and before entering into battle, when a fleet left the harbour, and also after a victory had been won
The earth deity had power over the ghostly world and it is believed that she was the deity behind the oracle. The older tales mentioned two dragons who were perhaps intentionally conflated. A female dragon named Delphyne (δελφύς:womb) who is obviously connected with Delphi and Apollo Delphinios and a male serpent Typhon (τύφειν:smoke), the adversary of Zeus in the Titanomachy, who the narrators confused with Python. Python was the good daemon (αγαθός δαίμων) of the temble as it appears in Minoan religion, but she was represented as a dragon as it often happens in Northern European folklore and also in the East.
The old oracles in Delphi seem to be connected with a local tradition of the priesthood and there is not clear evidence that a kind of inspiration -prophecy existed in the temple.This led some scholars to the conclusion that Pythia carried on the rituals in a constant procedure through many centuries,according to the local tradition.In that regard the mythical seeress Sibyl of Anatolian origin with her exstatic art,looks unrelated with the oracle itself.However the Greek tradition is referring to the existence of vapours and chewing of laurel-leaves which seem to be confirmed by recent studies. Plato describes the priestesses of Delphi and Dodona like frenzied-women,obsessed by "mania" (μανία:frenzy),a Greek word connected with "mantis" (μάντις:prophet).Frenzied women like Sibyls from whose lips the god speaks are recorded in the Near-East as Mari in the second milemnium BC. Although Crete had contacts with Mari from 2000 BC, there is not any evidence that the exstatic prophetic-art existed during the Minoan and Mycenean ages.It is more possible that this art was introduced later from Anatolia and regenerated an existing oracular-cult which was local in Delphi and dormant in several areas of Greece.
The Late Bronze Age (from 1700–1200 BCE) Hittite and Hurrian Aplu, was a god of plagues,who was invoked during the plague years.Here we have an apotropaic situation, where a god originally bringing the plague was invoked to end it.Aplu (the son of) was a title given to the god Nergal who was linked to the Babylonian god of the sun Shamash. In Ilias his priest is praying to Apollo Smintheus, the mouse-god who keeps an older agricultural function as the protector from the field-rats. All these functions including the function of the healer-god Paean who seems to have Mycenean origin, are fused in the cult of Apollo.
Oracles were also given by sons of Apollo.
It is also stated that 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 (8 m) long, of amber. Mythographers agree that Artemis was born first and then assisted with the birth of Apollo, or 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 seventh day () of the month Thargelion —according to Delian tradition—or of the month Bysios—according to Delphian tradition. The seventh and twentieth, the days of the new and full moon, were ever afterwards held sacred to him.
Hera then sent the giant Tityos to kill Leto. This time Apollo was aided by his sister Artemis in protecting their mother. During the battle Zeus finally relented his aid and hurled Tityos down to Tartarus. There he was pegged to the rock floor, covering an area of , where a pair of vultures feasted daily on his liver.
In the Iliad, when Diomedes injured Aeneas, 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.
Apollo aided Paris in the 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.
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 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.
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in the Galleria Borghese]] In explanation of the connection of Apollo with δάφνη (daphnē), the laurel whose leaves his priestess employed at Delphi, it is told that Apollo chased a nymph, Daphne, daughter of the river god Peneus, who had scorned him. In Ovid's telling for a Roman audience, Phoebus Apollo chaffs Cupid for toying with a weapon more suited to a man, whereupon Cupid wounds him with a golden dart; simultaneously, however, Cupid shoots a leaden arrow into Daphne, causing her to be repulsed by Apollo. Following a spirited chase by Apollo, Daphne prays to her father, Peneus, for help, and he changes her into the laurel tree, 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 dove 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, the use of nets and traps in hunting, and how to cultivate olives.
With Hecuba, wife of King Priam of Troy, Apollo had a son named Troilus. An oracle prophesied that Troy would not be defeated as long as Troilus reached the age of twenty alive. He was ambushed and killed by Achilles.
Apollo also fell in love with Cassandra, daughter of Hecuba and Priam, and Troilus' 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 she could only see the future tragedies and 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 spreading untruths. When he found out the truth he sent his sister, Artemis, to kill Coronis (in other stories, Apollo himself had killed 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.
In Euripides' play Ion, Apollo fathered Ion by Creusa, wife of Xuthus. Creusa left Ion to die in the wild, but Apollo asked Hermes to save the child and bring him to the oracle at Delphi, where he was raised by a priestess.
One of his other liaisons was with Acantha, the spirit of the acanthus tree. Upon her death, Apollo transformed her into a sun-loving herb.
According to the Biblioteca, the "library" of mythology mis-attributed to Apollodorus, he fathered the Corybantes on the Muse Thalia.
Another male lover was Cyparissus, a descendant of Heracles. Apollo gave him 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 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.
Callimachus sang that Apollo rode on the back of a swan to the land of the Hyperboreans during the winter months.
Apollo turned Cephissus into a sea monster.
Another contender for the birthplace of Apollo is the Cretan islands of Paximadia.
Apollo has ominous aspects aside from his plague-bringing, death-dealing arrows: 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. The contest was judged by the Muses. After they each performed, both were deemed equal until Apollo decreed they play and sing at the same time. As Apollo played the lyre, this was easy to do. Marsyas could not do this as he only knew how to use the flute and could not sing at the same time. Apollo was declared the winner because of this. Apollo flayed Marsyas alive in a cave near Celaenae in Phrygia for his hubris to challenge a god. He then nailed Marsyas' shaggy skin to a nearby pine-tree. Marsyas' 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.
("Apollo with a kithara"), Musei Capitolini, Rome]] As god of colonization, Apollo gave oracular guidance on colonies, especially during the height of colonization, 750–550 BCE. According to Greek tradition, he helped Cretan or Arcadian colonists found the city of Troy. However, this story may reflect a cultural influence which had the reverse direction: Hittite cuneiform texts mention a Minor Asian god called Appaliunas or Apalunas in connection with the city of Wilusa attested in Hittite inscriptions, which is now generally regarded as being identical with the Greek Ilion 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).
In literary contexts, Apollo represents harmony, order, and reason—characteristics contrasted with those of Dionysus, god of wine, who represents ecstasy 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 Delphic oracle to Dionysus. This contrast appears to be shown on the two sides of the Borghese Vase.
Apollo is often associated with the Golden Mean. This is the Greek ideal of moderation and a virtue that opposes gluttony.
In art, Apollo is depicted as a handsome beardless young man, often with a kithara (as Apollo Citharoedus) or bow in his hand, or reclining on a tree (the Apollo Lykeios and Apollo Sauroctonos types). He was the ideal of the Kouros,the modern term given to those representations of male youths which first appear in the archaic period in Greece.These free standing statues were usually marble.He is often depicted with a kithara (as Apollo Citharoedus) or bow in his hand, or reclining on a tree (the Apollo Lykeios and Apollo Sauroctonos types).The Apollo Belvedere is a marble sculpture that was rediscovered in the late 15th century; for centuries it epitomized the ideals of Classical Antiquity for Europeans, from the Renaissance through the 19th century. The marble is a Hellenistic or Roman copy of a bronze original by the Greek sculptor Leochares, made between 350 and 325 BCE.
)]] The lifesize so-called "Adonis" found in 1780 on the site of a villa suburbana near the Via Labicana in the Roman suburb of Centocelle and now in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, is identified as an Apollo by modern scholars. It was probably never intended as a cult object, but was a pastiche of several 4th-century and later Hellenistic model types, intended to please a Roman connoisseur of the 2nd century CE, and to be displayed in his villa.In the late 2nd century CE floor mosaic from El Djem, Roman Thysdrus, he is identifiable as Apollo Helios by his effulgent halo, though now even a god's divine nakedness is concealed by his cloak, a mark of increasing conventions of modesty in the later Empire.
Another haloed Apollo in mosaic, from Hadrumentum, is in the museum at Sousse. 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 (Bieber 1964, Yalouris 1980). Some time after this mosaic was executed, the earliest depictions of Christ would also be beardless and haloed. Apollo).Vatican Museum]]
The statue of Apollo from the west pediment of the Temple of Zeus at Olympia (currently in the Archaeological Museum of Olympia) was depicted on the obverse of the Greek 1000 drachmas banknote of 1987–2001.
In Archetypal psychology, the Apollo archetype is one of the Jungian archetypes, which according to Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung are the innate universal psychic dispositions that form the substrate from which the basic symbols or representations of unconscious experience emerge.
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