Various conflicting accounts are given in Classical Greek mythology of the birth of Artemis and her twin brother, Apollo. All accounts agree, however, that she was the daughter of Zeus and Leto and that she was the twin sister of Apollbecause he had impregnated Leto.
Apollo is a mythological god of the Greek culture. He is considered to be the god of prophecy and predictions. He is also the guardian of youngsters. According to the myth Apollo was born on an island called Delos and he was the son of Zeus. This particular island is the most scared of all the islands and had several temples and ruins. Some of these temples described in the mythological stories can be seen even today. |
- Apollo, byname Phoebus, in Greco - Roman mythology, a deity of manifold function and meaning, one of the most widely revered and influential of all the ancient Greek and Roman gods.
- The Greek god Apollo was the son of Zeus and the twin brother of Artemis, goddess of the hunt and the moon. In later periods, Apollo was commonly considered to have been the driver of the solar disc, but Apollo was not associated with the sun during Homeric Greek times.
Apollo killed a huge snake called the Python and in Delphi and the site, the mountains Parnassus was dedicated to him thereafter. The ompahlos or the navel stood near the mountain and it was considered as the center of the earth by the Greeks.
The oracle set up by Zeus was visited by several common people and great kings. Delphi games were dedicated to Apollo. Apollo was also considered as the perfect god and he entertained the other gods by playing lyre. He was a brave hero, a very good archer and great athlete. That is why the athletic games were dedicated to him. Apollo was a very handsome man and also one of the best looking gods in Greek mythology. There have been several legends and stories about Apollo written. Most of the stories have him deeply in love with women and if the women did not reciprocate he was known for avenging them. Apollo was a healer and the god of diseases. According to the stories of Greek mythology nobody would invite the wrath of Apollo.
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Apollo
The Story of Apollo
The mythical story and history of Apollo
by E.M. Berens
The Mythical Story of Apollo
Apollo, the god of Light, Prophecy, Music, Poetry, and the Arts and Sciences, is by far the noblest conception within the whole range of Greek mythology, and his worship, which not only extended to all the states of Greece, but also to Asia Minor and to every Greek colony throughout the world, stands out among the most ancient and strongly-marked features of Grecian history, and exerted a more decided influence over the Greek nation, than that of any other deity, not excepting Zeus himself.
Apollo was the son of Zeus and Leto, and was born beneath the shade of a palm tree which grew at the foot of Mount Cynthus, on the barren and rocky island of Delos. The poets tell us that the earth smiled when the young god first beheld the light of day, and that Delos became so proud and exultant at the honour thus conferred upon her, that she covered herself with golden flowers; swans surrounded the island, and the Delian nymphs celebrated his birth with songs of joy.
The unhappy Leto, driven to Delos by the relentless persecutions of Hera, was not long permitted to enjoy her haven of refuge. Being still tormented by her enemy, the young mother was once more obliged to fly; she therefore resigned the charge of her new-born babe to the goddess Themis, who carefully wrapped the helpless infant in swaddling-clothes, and fed him with nectar and ambrosia; but he had no sooner partaken of the heavenly food than, to the amazement of the goddess, he burst asunder the bands which confined his infant limbs, and springing to his feet, appeared before her as a full-grown youth of divine strength and beauty. He now demanded a lyre and a bow, declaring that henceforth he would announce to mankind the will of his father Zeus. 'The golden lyre,' said he, 'shall be my friend, the bent bow my delight, and in oracles will I foretell the dark future.' With these words he ascended to Olympus, where he was received with joyful acclamations into the assembly of the celestial gods, who acknowledged him as the most beautiful and glorious of all the sons of Zeus.
Phoebus-Apollo was the god of light in a twofold signification: first, as representing the great orb of day which illumines the world; and secondly, as the heavenly light which animates the soul of man. He inherited his function as sun-god from Helios, with whom, in later times, he was so completely identified, that the personality of the one became gradually merged in that of the other. We, accordingly, find Helios frequently confounded with Apollo, myths belonging to the former attributed to the latter; and with some tribes—the Ionic, for instance—so complete is this identification, that Apollo is called by them Helios-Apollo.
As the divinity whose power is developed in the broad light of day, he brings joy and delight to nature, and health and prosperity to man. By the influence of his warm and gentle rays he disperses the noxious vapours of the night, assists the grain to ripen and the flowers to bloom.
But although, as god of the sun, he is a life-giving and life-preserving power, who, by his genial influence, dispels the cold of winter, he is, at the same time, the god who, by means of his fiercely darting rays, could spread disease and send sudden death to men and animals; and it is to this phase of his character that we must look for the explanation of his being considered, in conjunction with his twin-sister, Artemis (as moon-goddess), a divinity of death. The brother and sister share this function between them, he taking man and she woman as her aim, and those especially who died in the bloom of youth, or at an advanced age, were believed to have been killed by their gentle arrows. But Apollo did not always send an easy death. We see in the Iliad how, when angry with the Greeks, the 'god of the silver bow' strode down from Olympus, with his quiver full of death-bringing darts, and sent a raging pestilence into their camp. For nine days he let fly his fatal arrows, first on animals and then on men, till the air became darkened with the smoke from the funeral pyres.
In his character as god of light, Phoebus-Apollo is the protecting deity of shepherds, because it is he who warms 1]the fields and meadows, and gives rich pastures to the flocks, thereby gladdening the heart of the herdsman.
As the temperate heat of the sun exercises so invigorating an effect on man and animals, and promotes the growth of those medicinal herbs and vegetable productions necessary for the cure of diseases, Phoebus-Apollo was supposed to possess the power of restoring life and health; hence he was regarded as the god of healing; but this feature in his character we shall find more particularly developed in his son Asclepius (aesculapius), the veritable god of the healing art.
Apollo Myth Summary
Picture of Apollo