| Gods of the World |
APOLLO, god of prophecy and healing, often called Phoebus, perhaps meaning "Shiner, " is one of the most important Greek gods; he is also by far the most complex and difficult to understand. |
| Apollo has been variously recognized as a god of light and the sun; truth and prophecy; archery; medicine and healing; music, poetry, and the 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 worshipped in both ancient Greek and Roman religion, as well as in the modern Greco-Roman Neopaganism. Apollo was also seen as a god who could bring ill-health and deadly plague as well as one who had the ability to cure. 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, another Greek god of healing. Poor Ascelepius grew up with out a mother and was cared for by the centaur Chiron. His mortal mother Coronis was killed by his aunt. Coronis was unfaithful to Apollo. Auntie Artemis killed her for her unfaithfulness. Coronis was placed upon a funeral pyre. As her body started to burn, Apollo felt sorrow for his unborn son and snatched the child Asclepius from his mother's corpse, saving him from death. Apollo had many other encounters, but no marriages. Flings with mortal Cassandra, to whom he gave the gift of prophecy; nymph Daphne, who fled from his embrace and turned into a laurel tree; and muse Calliope, with whom he had a child, Orpheus. Apollo, had the most prominent male relationships of all the Greek Gods. One of them was Hyacinthus a Spartan prince, beautiful and athletic. The pair were 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. Apollo is said to be filled with grief: 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 άί άί, meaning alas. The Festival of Hyacinthus was a celebration of Sparta. 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 the sad boy into the Cypress named after him, which was said to be a sad tree because the sap forms droplets like tears on the trunk. Apollo's fame throughout the Roman Empire. In the traditionally Celtic lands he was called Apollo Belenu, sun god. Apollo Grannus was a healing spring god in Germany. He was also know as Apollo Maponus in what is now Wales. Mabon/ Maponos personified youthfulness, which would explain the association of Mabon and Apollo. In conclusion it is ironic that from the Greek god Apollo that we get the sayings "Know thyself" and the call to moderation in all things, the Golden Mean, reminding us to do "nothing in excess". He pissed off Gaia when he killed her dragon Python who guarded the oracle of Delphi,fathered more than a dozen children by at least nine partners, and killed the satyr Marsays after a music contest that he (Apollo) won and skinned him (Marsays) alive. But as alluded to in the beginning, Apollo is an Incomprehensible God. |
