Later on, after the birth, when she was on her way to Delphi, a giant named Tityos attempted to abduct and rape her. So, Apollo came to be identified with the Sun, just as Artemis, who came to be identified with the Moon.This website uses cookies to improve your experience. In other words, the cult of Helios was absorbed into the cult of Apollo, however, Helios was not completely overshadowed.With the passage of time, the cult of Apollo, as a whole, became so strong that he began to be worshiped for all the major aspects of human life. During this period, he served as a shepherd for the Thessalian king, Admetus. Following his friend’s death, Achilles killed Hector, and surprisingly enough, Apollo could not save him this time. That very night, he descended on Earth with a motive to destroy the entire Greek encampment. Leaves from the laurel tree were thereafter used to crown victors at the Pythian games.Apollo, the Greek God of the Sun, Music, and Prophecy He is the son of Zeus and Leto and the twin brother of Artemis. The war between Greece and Troy, the Trojan War, saw a major split in the loyalties of Olympian gods and goddesses. This was done by the , a youth from a good family, who was elected to perform the ritual. Patroclus was then killed by Hector.
With the help of Apollo, Theseus emerged victorious and commenced the festival. Their union bore the twins Apollo and Artemis, and there are several versions of the myth, telling us the story of their birth. When Daphne sought to reject Apollo, her father "helped" her by turning her into a laurel tree.He is a healing god, a power he transmitted to his son Zeus punished his son Apollo by sentencing him to a year of servitude, which he spent as a herdsman for the mortal king Admetus. According to some later sources, the Greeks made sacrifices to please the enraged god and prayed to him in order to drive the disease away and restore health, which seems to have happened. He also prayed to the God to punish Agamemnon for the terrible sin that he had committed by insulting his priest. He shot hundreds of arrows of pestilence at the Greek tents.
One of his most important aspects was spiritual healing, and this, in some form or the other, came to be associated with the characteristics of the Sun. In the first book of the "Iliad," he is angry with the Greeks for refusing to return the daughter of his priest Chryses. However, Homer’s description of the war tells us that Apollo’s involvement came some nine years after the war had commenced.The killings of Cyclops and Niobids are the two very peculiar instances in the life of Apollo. Only a solitary palm tree grew on it. Added to this, there were two more, important Apolline oracular shrines viz., those at Didyma and Clarus, both in Asia Minor. Apollo is one of the most complex figures in the whole of the Olympian pantheon.
She made sure that Leto would not find even a small patch of land, where she could give birth to her children. She has been featured by NPR and National Geographic for her ancient history expertise.The Wives, Mates, and Children of the Greek God ApolloClassic Greek Mythology: Stories from Ovid's Metamorphoses However, as we delve deeper into Apollo’s mythology, we come to realize that his new assignment as the Sun god does not minimize or in any way adversely affect his earlier functions. However, some of the later sources described him as , where ‘Phoebus’ stood for ‘bright’ or ‘radiant’.
Daphne, on the other hand, was shot by Eros with his lead-tipped arrow, so that her heart was filled with a strong feeling of hatred for Apollo. Apollo was god of many things, making him one of the more important gods in Greek mythology Later on, in a one-to-one combat between Patroclus (the King of Opus), and Hector, Apollo intervened by first knocking off Patroclus’ helmet, shield, and breastplate, and finally by cutting his spear into two halves, thus leaving him completely defenseless before Hector. Apollo was one of the most powerful Olympian gods to have intervened in this mortal conflict. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.At Delphi, alongside being an oracular deity, Apollo was also revered as . You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. He also learned that Python resided beside the ice-cold Castalian Spring, which emitted vapors that helped the Delphic Oracle to make prophecies. While some sources refer to him as their leader and master, some others consider them as his daughters. Numerous festivals were celebrated in his honor, and most of them marked his great deeds and accomplishments.Our site includes quite a bit of content, so if you're having an issue finding what you're looking for, go on ahead and use that search feature there!Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly.