Apollo

Hi everyone! I hope that you all had a great Samhain like I did. Though I don't believe that I came into contact with my loved ones, I think that they still heard me. At least I hope they did. Anyway, I am going to be starting a new tradition. On one day of the week, I will be posting information about any given God/Goddess - Hindu, Greek, Asian, etc. - so that you can open yourself up to the different cultures and different Gods, as well as so you can gain a better idea of what God/Goddess you would like to reign over your altar or your life. Today, I will do Apollo. I will include information about Apollo and some fun facts. Let's get started!

p.s. Don't be afraid to post any questions that you have in the comments below or like our Facebook page. The website should be located with the other websites to your right near the top of your page. If you don't really care, then this shouldn't concern you at all. 

Apollo's Appearance: A young man with curly golden hair or, sometimes, rays of the sun emanating from his head..

Symbol or Attribute of Apollo: The Sun itself, the lyre (a type of musical instrument), the bow, and the chariot he drives across the sky daily, borrowed from an earlier pre-Greek Sun god, Helios.

Apollo's Strengths:Creative, handsome, supportive of all the arts of civilization.

Apollo's Weaknesses: Like his father Zeus, Apollo is all too happy to enjoy the charms of nymphs, as well as the occasional youth, and his conquests number in the dozens.

Birthplace of Apollo: On the sunny Greek island ofDelos, where he was born along with his twin sister,Artemis. A palm tree is pointed out as the actual site of the birth. Another tradition gives the islands of Lato, the Letoides, now called Paximadia, off the southern coast of Crete.

Spouse: Apollo had many encounters, but no formal marriages. Flings with Cassandra, to whom he gave the gift of prophecy; Daphne, who fled from his embrace and turned into a laurel tree; Acacallis, a maiden from the Samaria Gorge on the island of Crete who was spurned by her proud family for choosing a "foreign" Greek god, and Calliope, with whom he had a child, Orpheus.

Apollo's Children: Information varies, but the enchanting semi-divine singer Orpheus and Asklepios, also spelled Asclepius, Aesculapius and other variants, the god of healing, are the most famous of Apollo's offspring.

Some Major Temple Sites of Apollo: The mountain town of Delphi, where a few columns from an early temple of Apollo still stand. The island of Delos is also sacred to him, but there is no temple remaining there today.

Apollo in some places replaced an earlier solar god, Helios. High mountain tops were sacred to Helios, and today, churches dedicated to Saint Elias are often found on these same spots.

Basic Story: Apollo was the son of the supreme Greek god Zeus and Leto, a nymph. Zeus's wife Hera was outraged and convinced the earth to refuse to allow Leto to give birth anywhere on its surface. But the island of Delos allowed Leto to take refuge there and give birth to Apollo and his twin sister, Artemis, goddess of the hunt and wild things. The goddess Themis assisted in raising him by feeding him ambrosia, the sacred nectar of the gods.

Interesting Fact: Apollo Delphinus or Delphinius was the dolphin-form of the god and was revered at Delphi - despite its location high in the mountains. He supposedly commandeered a Cretan ship in his dolphin form, jumping out of the water and landing on its deck, and then forced it to the coastline at Delphi; the sailors on the ship supposedly became his first priests at Delphi. He was also believed to have destroyed an evil serpent at Delphi, and took over as the patron god of the famous oracle there. Some ancient coins show the head of Apollo with dolphins swimming in the background.

Apollo was said to be the most beautiful among the Greek gods, and the embodiment of the perfect man in ancient times. He was a deity with multiple powers - a great philosopher, artist, musician and marksman. This god of light and music is the twin of Artemis, goddess of the hunt; the son of Zeus (king of the gods) and Leto, a titan nymph. Here are fun facts about one of the most revered Olympian gods:

1. Apollo's other main patronage deals with health, diseases and the healing arts. He is said to bring good health to his faithful devotees. His son, Asclepios became the god of medicine. According to legends, Asclepios was such an expert at healing the sick that he even brought the dead back to life. Ironically, the sun god is also known as the harbinger of sudden death and disease to those that displeased him. The ancient Greeks believed that Apollo shot them with poisonous arrows (filled with disease) during the famous Trojan War.

2. Considered the most beautiful among the immortals, Apollo is often depicted as an ephebe or a young man without a beard. Poets describe him as having long golden curls and a forehead that shone brilliantly like the sun.

3. Apollo had a half brother with whom he deeply contrasted. While he is known as the deity of reason, order and harmony, his brother Dionysos represented chaos and all things pleasurable; the patron of wine and women.

4. He was a completely devoted to his mother Leto, and would kill ruthlessly in her name. The jealous goddess Hera was said to have sent beasts and giants to kill Zeus's mistress Leto while she was about to give birth to the divine twins. Apollo was said to have acquired the Oracle at Delphi after killing Python, a dragon (who was sent by Hera) there. He and his sister Artemis were also involved in the killing of the queen of Thebes's fourteen children, after Queen Niobe insulted their mother Leto.

5. As beautiful and stunning as he was, Apollo had his share of unrequited love and betrayals. The philosopher Libanius recounted the story of Daphne, a nymph who begged to be turned into a laurel tree to escape the advances of the sun god. In other myths, one of Apollo's lovers, Coronis, (mother of his son Asclepios) was murdered when he found out of her infidelity.