Zeus vs Odin - Comparing The Greek and Norse Gods, Who is Eileithyia, the Greek Goddess of Childbirth and, 2023 Symbols and Meanings - Your Ultimate Guide for Symbolism. He captured the old people and children and sent them to his army to hold them for ransom. He is a frequent guest of the Bacchanalia, and many ancient ceramics depict him being at ease amidst the maenads and satyrs. He says that the matter should be brought before Athena. In retaliation, Apollo shot and killed Caanthus. [80], Homer pictures Apollo on the side of the Trojans, fighting against the Achaeans, during the Trojan War. He became the god of beekeeping, cheese making, animal husbandry and more. Martin Nilsson (1967) Vol I, pp. [77] In the Homeric Hymn, Apollo appeared as a dolphin and carried Cretan priests to Delphi, where they evidently transferred their religious practices. Spartan annual festivals were the Carneia and the Hyacinthia. 3, Philostratus the Younger, Imagines 2 (trans. [citation needed], The life-size so-called "Adonis" found in 1780 on the site of a villa suburbana near the Via Labicana in the Roman suburb of Centocelle is identified as an Apollo by modern scholars. [214] After Zeus urged Apollo to join the war, he went to the battlefield. [238], Hecuba was the wife of King Priam of Troy, and Apollo had a son with her named Troilus. Hermes, however, once stole fifty of these . Apollo brought him up and educated him in mantic arts. 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. Bolina was admired by Apollo but she refused him and jumped into the sea. Amphion, at the sight of his dead sons, either killed himself or was killed by Apollo after swearing revenge. He is the son of Zeus and the youngest Olympian. Not only did Apollo save Hector from Achilles, he also tricked Achilles by disguising himself as a Trojan warrior and driving him away from the gates. [151][152] Shamans like Abaris and Aristeas were also the followers of Apollo, who hailed from Hyperborea. [262] His other daughters include Eurynome, Chariclo wife of Chiron, Eurydice the wife of Orpheus, Eriopis, famous for her beautiful hair, Melite the heroine, Pamphile the silk weaver, Parthenos, and by some accounts, Phoebe, Hilyra and Scylla. Zeus and Leto are the parents of Apollo. [184], Immediately after his birth, Apollo demanded a lyre and invented the paean, thus becoming the god of music. However, a number of men would be stationed all around below rock to catch the criminal and take him out of the borders in order to exile him from the island. Hera once again sent another giant, Tityos to rape Leto. Later, when Creusa left Ion to die in the wild, Apollo asked Hermes to save the child and bring him to the oracle at Delphi, where he was raised by a priestess. [221] According to another tale, Apollo killed them by sending a deer between them; as they tried to kill it with their javelins, they accidentally stabbed each other and died. [174] Other versions make both Apollo and Poseidon the builders of the wall. [64][65][66] Paean was the personification of holy songs sung by "seer-doctors" (), which were supposed to cure disease.[67]. He is described as "the rouser of armies" because he rallied the Trojan army when they were falling apart. The order was almost abandoned for the Ionic order, but the Ionic capital also posed an insoluble problem at the corner of a temple. Later, his great-grandson Neoptolemus was present in the wooden horse that lead to the downfall of Troy). [355][354] In many myths Apollo is transformed into a hawk. His body is fair from head to foot, his limbs shine bright, his tongue gives oracles, and he is equally eloquent in prose or verse, propose which you will. The historic Greek metropolis of Delphi, situated on the slopes of Mount Parnassus, was residence to the primary Temple of Apollo and the famend Oracle of Delphi . [182], Idmon was educated by Apollo to be a seer. Out of Hyacinthus' blood, Apollo created a flower named after him as a memorial to his death, and his tears stained the flower petals with the interjection , meaning alas. During a duel with Achilles, when Hector was about to lose, Apollo hid Hector in a cloud of mist to save him. Arion began singing a song in praise of Apollo, seeking the god's help. The ancient Greeks believed that Mercury as observed during the morning was a different planet than the one during the evening, because each twilight Mercury would appear farther from the Sun as it set than it had the night before. Although Sibyl did live an extended life as Apollo had promised, he did not give her agelessness along with it, so she shrivelled and shrank and only her voice remained.[332]. Apollo's lyre has the power to turn itemslike stonesinto musical instruments. In the cave, he found a tortoise and killed it, then removed the insides. It was in this way that Apollo had become recognized as the god of music. Upon discovering the theft, Apollo confronted Hermes and asked him to return his cattle. Not wanting to have the child, she entrusted the infant to Apollo and left. As the patron deity of Delphi (Apollo Pythios), Apollo is an oracular godthe prophetic deity of the Delphic Oracle. What Are The Sacred Plants Of Apollo/Apollon? [59] Apollo also had many epithets relating to his function as a healer. Bresson (2007) 154-5, citing the excavations reports of zgnel (2001). Apollo then ordered the hero to serve under Omphale, queen of Lydia for one year in order to purify himself. R. S. P. Beekes rejected the connection of the theonym with the noun apellai and suggested a Pre-Greek proto-form *Apalyun. The island later became sacred to Apollo. [337] In later times when Apollo was regarded as identical with the sun or Helios, Artemis was naturally regarded as Selene or the moon. Capercaillie and black grouse live in the park, as do golden eagles and the rare white-backed woodpecker. If you liked reading the piece, you will probably enjoy our post on Artemis symbols here. Her tears formed the river Achelous. Some commonly-used examples are "paion" ( literally "healer" or "helper")[60] "epikourios" (, "succouring"), "oulios" (, "healer, baleful")[61] and "loimios" (, "of the plague"). Apollo spent the winter months among the Hyperboreans. He was ambushed and killed by Achilleus, and Apollo avenged his death by killing Achilles. At last when the moment of departure came, Apollo expressed his grief with tears in his eyes and bid farewell to Amphiaraus, who was soon engulfed by the Earth.[217]. He wished to plunder Delphi for its wealth. They spend their time on Parnassus, which is one of their sacred places. Apollo did not want to suffer such a depraved pair of ears any longer, and caused them to become the ears of a donkey. [237], Hyrie or Thyrie was the mother of Cycnus. In the traditionally Celtic lands, he was most often seen as a healing and sun god. Being Zeus' favorite children, they were given more powers and duties. Apollo has been adopted by Romans, too, therefore, he went by the same name in Roman mythology. [175] When the work was completed, three snakes rushed against the wall, and though the two that attacked the sections of the wall built by the gods fell down dead, the third forced its way into the city through the portion of the wall built by Aeacus. Athena helped the hero Odysseus while Ares fought alongside of the Brygoi. When she reached the sanctuary of Apollo in Argos, she confided in him her love and sorrow. To avoid her death, Apollo turned her into a nymph, saving her life. The Trojan hero Hector (who, according to some, was the god's own son by Hecuba[177]) was favored by Apollo. The bow and arrow symbol is also a reference to Apollo as the god of plagues who shot plague arrows at the enemy during the Trojan war. 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). [188], Among the Pythagoreans, the study of mathematics and music were connected to the worship of Apollo, their principal deity. Heartbroken, Aphrodite wandered looking for the rock of Leukas. [87] In Iliad, his priest prays to Apollo Smintheus,[88] the mouse god who retains an older agricultural function as the protector from field rats. Apollo is associated with the cow as he has had the famous cattle that Helios, the god of the sun, was looking over and which Hermes stole when he was born. Finally, the voice of unborn Apollo informed his mother about a floating island named Delos that had once been Asteria, Leto's own sister. The sons of Apollo who participated in the Trojan War include the Trojan princes Hector and Troilus, as well as Tenes, the king of Tenedos, all three of whom were killed by Achilles over the course of the war. [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. 4. After watching The Killing of a Sacred Deer, Yorgos Lanthimos's brilliant follow-up to his critically beloved and surprisingly lucrative The Lobster, you may have some questions. Delphi is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. She displayed hubris when she boasted that she was superior to Leto because she had fourteen children (Niobids), seven male and seven female, while Leto had only two. The nymphs decided that Apollo's argument was just. Apollo (Apollon, Apellon, Phoebus Apollo, Aplu) was a god of light and the sun, truth and prophecy, healing, plague, music, and poetry. His main symbol is the grapevine. He was ultimately given immortality for the benefits he bestowed upon the humanity. Apollo's most common attributes were the bow and arrow. Unfortunately, Daphne was cursed by the Goddess Eros to have a hatred of love and lust. Only then would Alcides be absolved of his sin. Apollo also renamed him as Heracles. Apollo also fostered Carnus, the son of Zeus and Europa. [230][229] This was the same rock from which, according to a legend, Sappho took her suicidal leap.[228]. Admetus was the king of Pherae, who was known for his hospitality. This was one way Cupid could restore the women's' beauty. Apollo is an important pastoral deity, and was the patron of herdsmen and shepherds. Artemis was the daughter of Zeus and Leto and the twin sister of Apollo. [173] Apollo guarded the cattle of Laomedon in the valleys of mount Ida, while Poseidon built the walls of Troy. Apollo's capacity to make youths grow is one of the best attested facets of his panhellenic cult persona. 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. Marsyas could not do this. [219], The Aloadae, namely Otis and Ephialtes, were twin giants who decided to wage war upon the gods. [170][171], According to another version, or perhaps some years later, when Zeus struck down Apollo's son Asclepius with a lightning bolt for resurrecting the dead, Apollo in revenge killed the Cyclopes, who had fashioned the bolt for Zeus. Eventually, after Daphne grew tired of Apollo's chasing she begged her father the river god Peneus for help. After he was freed from his servitude to Eurystheus, Heracles fell in conflict with Iphytus, a prince of Oechalia, and murdered him. Apollo took care of the male offspring and Artemis of Niobe 's daughters. All the goddesses except Hera were present to witness the event. Julian the Apostate (359361) tried to revive the Delphic oracle, but failed."[9]. After Apollo was victorious, they also brought him gifts and gave the Corycian cave to him. [21] The Hittite testimony reflects an early form *Apeljn, which may also be surmised from comparison of Cypriot with Doric . Her father Oceanus sent one of his sons, Caanthus, to find her, but Caanthus could not take her back from Apollo, so he burned Apollo's sanctuary. What of his lyre that flashes gold, gleams white with ivory, and shimmers with rainbow gems? Hera is the eldest daughter of the titans, Cronus and Rhea. To avenge the trouble given to his mother, Apollo went in search of Python and killed it in the sacred cave at Delphi with the bow and arrows that he had received from Hephaestus. Apollo's birth fixed the floating Delos to the earth. 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. After the child was born, Apollo sent snakes to feed the child some honey. Only Midas dissented and questioned the justice of the award. Apollo held a grudge against Achilles throughout the war because Achilles had murdered his son Tenes before the war began and brutally assassinated his son Troilus in his own temple. Though he greatly favored the Trojans, Apollo was bound to follow the orders of Zeus and served his father loyally during the war. 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. Artemis rushed to support Apollo, while Athena supported Heracles. In Ovid's account, Apollo completes his task by playing his tunes on his lyre. [146] There, a vast forest of beautiful trees was called "the garden of Apollo". Apollo had a famous oracle in Delphi, and other notable ones in Claros and Didyma. Horse is strongly associated with her. Ourea, a daughter of Poseidon, fell in love with Apollo when he and Poseidon were serving the Trojan king Laomedon. When Iamus reached the age of education, Apollo took him to Olympia and taught him many arts, including the ability to understand and explain the languages of birds. It seems that the first peripteral temples were rectangular wooden structures. She was armed with golden bow and arrows, weapons made by the Cyclopes (the masters of manufacturing weapons for the Gods!). He shook his locks of hair, put an end to the night voices, and took away from mortals the truth that appears in darkness, and gave the privilege back again to Loxias. Olympus by piling up mountains, and threatened to fill the sea with mountains and inundate dry land. Angered that she broke her promise, Apollo cursed her that even though she would see the future, no one would ever believe her prophecies. The bay laurel plant was used in expiatory sacrifices and in making the crown of victory at these games. Apollo had to serve as a slave for nine years. Performing a ritual involving murder. 6, with reference to. When he got severely injured, Apollo healed him and encouraged him to take up his arms. Hare was a sacred animal to both Aphrodite and Eros because it has high amount of libido. Thus, dolphins are considered to the brightest of all animals and at the same time aware of the unseen. However, Heracles soothed the goddess and explained his situation to her. d. !Participating in cannibalism. During the gigantomachy, Apollo and Heracles blinded the giant Ephialtes by shooting him in his eyes, Apollo shooting his left and Heracles his right. Periphas was an Attican king and a priest of Apollo. o Mother was a mortal woman that died in labor o Name means "to cut open" o Was able . [94][95] Apollo's cult was already fully established when written sources commenced, about 650 BCE. During the war, the Greek king Agamemnon captured Chryseis, the daughter of Apollo's priest Chryses, and refused to return her. [207], When the Argonauts faced a terrible storm, Jason prayed to his patron, Apollo, to help them. The Roman worship of Apollo was adopted from the Greeks. She also is the protector of the young, especially girls. Cyparissus was so saddened by its death that he asked Apollo to let his tears fall forever. Because of this people were very fond of him and started honouring him to the same extent as Zeus. Offerings - Create a special offering table in the delivery room. The statues of Apollo embody beauty, balance and inspire awe before the beauty of the world. Asclepius is the most famous son of Apollo. - Artemis: Sister of Apollo, goddess of the hunt, protectress of wild animals, patroness of the young and innocent, of women (especially when pregnant); virgin, naturally hostile to Aphrodite. Apollo then enveloped Aeneas in a cloud to protect him. Python, a chthonic serpent-dragon, was a child of Gaia and the guardian of the Delphic Oracle, whose death was foretold by Apollo when he was still in Leto's womb. Hesychius connects the name Apollo with the Doric (apella), which means "assembly", so that Apollo would be the god of political life, and he also gives the explanation (sekos), "fold", in which case Apollo would be the god of flocks and herds. By their union, she became mother of Chaeron, who was famed as "the tamer of horses". Ares Ares is the son of Zeus and Hera. C.F.Beck Verlag.Munchen. One of Apollo's sacred animals was the cow. Zeus considered Apollo's words and agreed to let him live. To virtue they bring shame alone!'[199]. The invention of string music is attributed to him. The lyrewhich is perhaps his most well-known symbolsignifies that Apollo is the god of music. The national divinity of the Greeks, Apollo has been recognized as a god of archery, music and dance, truth and prophecy, healing and diseases, the Sun and light, poetry, and more. Apollo fell in love with the instrument and offered to exchange the cattle for the lyre. As the myth goes, Cronus learned of a prophecy in which he was fated to be overthrown by one of his children. Orestes and Pylades carry out the revenge, and consequently Orestes is pursued by the Erinyes or Furies (female personifications of vengeance). Paean serves as the healer of the gods in the Iliad, and seems to have originated in a pre-Greek religion. Evadne was a nymph daughter of Poseidon and a lover of Apollo. [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. Homer illustrated Paeon the god and the song both of apotropaic thanksgiving or triumph. [138] Zeus, who had calmed Hera by then, came and adorned his son with a golden headband.[141][142]. [citation needed], The naked bodies of the statues are associated with the cult of the body that was essentially a religious activity. Other attributes of his included the kithara (an advanced version of the common lyre), the plectrum and the sword. When Zeus allowed the other gods to get involved in the war, Apollo was provoked by Poseidon to a duel. The chief Apollonian festival was the Pythian Games held every four years at Delphi and was one of the four great Panhellenic Games. Receiving the aegis from Zeus, Apollo entered the battlefield as per his father's command, causing great terror to the enemy with his war cry. Here we have an apotropaic situation, where a god originally bringing the plague was invoked to end it. Zeus killed him for bringing back the dead, but upon Apollo's request, he was resurrected as a god. He had found an aulos on the ground, tossed away after being invented by Athena because it made her cheeks puffy. As the divine singer, he is the patron of poets, singers and musicians. In Classical Greece he was the god of light and of music, but in popular religion he had a strong function to keep away evil. Apollo then brought her to the rock of Leukas and asked her to throw herself from the top of the rock. [82] However, recent scholars have cast doubt on the identification of Qdns with Apollo. [246][247] During his exile, which lasted either for one year or nine years,[248] Apollo served Admetus as a herdsman. 9. 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. In literary contexts, Apollo represents harmony, order, and reasoncharacteristics contrasted with those of Dionysus, god of wine, who represents ecstasy and disorder. Marpessa was kidnapped by Idas but was loved by Apollo as well. [138], When Apollo was born, clutching a golden sword,[139] everything on Delos turned into gold[137] and the island was filled with ambrosial fragrance. As the patron of Delphi (Pythian Apollo), Apollo was an oracular godthe prophetic deity of the Delphic Oracle. According to other versions, she cried for help during the chase, and Gaia helped her by taking her in and placing a laurel tree in her place. Because Python was a child of Gaia, Gaia wanted Apollo to be banished to Tartarus as a punishment. [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. The crew was awed into submission and followed a course that led the ship to Delphi. Also, she was protector of young children and was know to bring and relieve disease in women. Angered by the unpaid labour and the insults, Apollo infected the city with a pestilence and Posedion sent the sea monster Cetus. Leto, insulted by this, told her children to punish Niobe. [376], Apollo has been depicted in modern filmsfor instance, by Keith David in the 1997 animated feature film Hercules,[377] by Luke Evans in the 2010 action film Clash of the Titans,[378] and by Dimitri Lekkos in the 2010 film Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief. As for her sacred animals, these were the deer, four of which had golden horns and were pulling her golden chariot. Apollo 's sacred plants were the Laurel, the Larkspur and the Cypress. His skills as a physician surpassed that of Apollo's. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library. "In the 3rd century, Apollo fell silent. They both united on the day the walls of Troy were built. The laurel wreath that Apollo wears is a symbol of victory and honor, which was used in Greek times to identify the victors in athletic competitions, including the Olympics. Tiger. Apollo had also once convinced Athena to stop the war for that day, so that the warriors can relieve themselves for a while. Hermes' lyre, therefore, would be a reinvention.[198]. Seeing his plight, Apollo pleaded Zeus to release the kind Titan, while Artemis and Leto stood behind him with tears in their eyes. A mushroom is highlighted as a special ingredient to be added along with other plants to the mixing of a pithos of wine. Parnassus near the Gulf of Corinth, it was home to the famous oracle of Apollo which gave cryptic predictions and guidance to both city-states and individuals.In addition, Delphi was also home to the panhellenic Pythian Games. [365] Significantly more rare are the life-sized bronze statues. In the pre-Hellenic period, their relationship was described as the one between husband and wife, and there seems to have been a tradition which actually described Artemis as the wife of Apollo. The Greek god of the sun, like all the other gods and goddesses in Greek mythology, had several symbols representing him. [220] They even dared to seek the hand of Hera and Artemis in marriage. Gill, N.S. ", For the iconography of the AlexanderHelios type, see H. Hoffmann, 1963. Apollo appears as the companion of the Muses, and as Musagetes ("leader of Muses") he leads them in dance. These animals were one of many which were sacred to the forest goddess. Finally, Apollo came to put an end to this cruelty. The reason for Dionysus' association with Dolphins stems from when he was at Naxos headed for Asia a group of pirates who planned to sell him into slavery. The terrible god is called "the archer" and the bow is also an attribute of Shiva. https://www.thoughtco.com/apollo-god-symbols-117070 (accessed March 4, 2023). [228], Once, Aphrodite fell deeply in love with Adonis, a young man of great beauty who was later accidentally killed by a boar. [156] Phoebe, his grandmother, gave the oracular shrine of Delphi to Apollo as a birthday gift. [17] Mythographers agree that Artemis was born first and subsequently assisted with the birth of Apollo or was born on the island of Ortygia then helped Leto cross the sea to Delos the next day to give birth to Apollo. The invention of lyre is attributed either to Hermes or to Apollo himself.