APOLLO
In Greek and Roman mythology, Apollo, is one of the most important and many-sided of the Olympian deities.
The ideal of the kouros (a beardless youth), 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 son of Zeus and
Leto, and has a twin sister, the chaste huntress Artemis. Apollo is known in
Greek-influenced Etruscan mythology as Apulu. In Roman mythology he is known as
Apollo.
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.
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. 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 Musagetes) 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 third century BCE, as Apollo Helios
he became identified among Greeks with Helios, god of the sun, and his sister
Artemis similarly equated with Selene, goddess of the moon. In Latin texts,
however, Joseph Fontenrose declared himself unable to find any conflation of
Apollo with Sol among the Augustan poets of the first 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 third
century CE.
In Greek and Roman mythology, Apollo, is one of the most important and many-sided of the Olympian deities.
The ideal of the kouros (a beardless youth), 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 son of Zeus and
Leto, and has a twin sister, the chaste huntress Artemis. Apollo is known in
Greek-influenced Etruscan mythology as Apulu. In Roman mythology he is known as
Apollo.
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.
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. 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 Musagetes) 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 third century BCE, as Apollo Helios
he became identified among Greeks with Helios, god of the sun, and his sister
Artemis similarly equated with Selene, goddess of the moon. In Latin texts,
however, Joseph Fontenrose declared himself unable to find any conflation of
Apollo with Sol among the Augustan poets of the first 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 third
century CE.