Apollo: Greek God of Light and Arts
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ScribdTranslationsThe god Apollo
Apollo is, in Greek and Roman mythology, the god of the day, of light, and of
of the arts, of prophecy, protector of poetry and music, leader of the choir of the Muses,
personification of the Sun, also known as Phoebus-Apollo.
He was the son of Zeus and Leto. Because Hera, out of jealousy, had denied Leto a place.
where she could give birth, Poseidon brought forth, from the waves of the sea, the island of Delos. There, after nine
After nine days and nine nights of suffering, Leto gave birth to twins: Apollo and Artemis.
Niobe was the queen of Thebes and the first mortal woman loved by Zeus. She had fourteen children.
seven girls and seven boys. For this reason, she reproaches Latona that she should not be
offended, Artemis and Apollo take revenge on the queen because she only has two children.
killing the children. Artemis targets the girls while Apollo targets the boys. In the end, he spares only two of them.
these. Due to maternal pain, Niobe transforms into stone.
Miraculously growing very quickly, just a few days after birth, Apollo, whose bow and
whose arrows had become feared, went to Delphi, where he killed the Python snake, once set
to follow Leto and who later became the terror of the entire land. After that,
Apollo established his own oracle there, while also instituting the Pythian Games.
the name carried by the god, that of Pythius).
Another episode attributed to him was that of the killing of the cyclopes: the son of Apollo, Asclepios,
initiated by the centaur Chiron in the mysteries of medicine, he no longer settled for healing, but began to
He resurrects the dead. This act brought upon him the wrath of Zeus, who killed him with his lightning.
Grieved by his loss and unable to take revenge on Zeus, Apollo punished them for
the death of his son on the cyclopes, killing them in turn with his arrows. Their only fault was
the fact that they had forged Zeus's thunderbolt. As a punishment for his reckless act, Apollo was
condemned by Zeus to serve for a year, as a slave, to a mortal. He has served his punishment
guarding the flocks of Admetus.
Apollo loved many nymphs and mortals, including Cyrene, Marpessa, and Cassandra.
and sometimes even young like Hyacinthus and Cyparisus.
Probably the most well-known love story of Apollo is nonetheless the one with Daphne.
Leucippus, the son of a king, falls in love with the beautiful maiden Daphne, but he decides not to
flirted openly because he knew she avoided men. Because of this, Leucippus
dressed in women's clothes and won his friendship. Daphne then became very fond of the prince.
However, Apollo also loved Daphne and out of jealousy and anger made her wish to
she swims in a river alongside her "friend". Leucippus is exposed in this way and, feeling
deceived, Daphne commands to be killed. Apollo then tries to win over the nymph but she
fleeing out of fear. Feeling the breath of the god on her neck, Daphne prays to her father, the river Peneus,
to save her. He transforms her into a laurel (also known as bay). Apollo, seeing the transformation,
he kisses the cold bark of the tree and makes a crown of laurel leaves on his head. This story
it is the basis of crowning the athletes or champions' hair with laurel leaves.
Apollo was the god invoked in journeys by those who sailed the seas, who protected the cities and
the new constructions. It was said that together with Alcathous they helped to rebuild the city of Megara,
what had been destroyed. Finally, Apollo was considered as the god of light (hence the epithet of
Phoebus) and was often identified with the Sun itself. It was celebrated in numerous centers of the world.
Greek: at Delphi, Delos, Claros, Patara, etc.
Having, as has been shown, a predominant role in Greek mythology, Apollo was
borrowed from early times and from other tribes. For example, he was honored by the ancient Etruscans and later
he was adopted by the Romans. In his honor, the Ludi Apollonares were established in Rome, and also there, on
in the time of Emperor Augustus, he was given special honors.
He is a healing god, a power that he passed on to his son Asclepius.
He exploited his ability to heal by raising people from the dead. Zeus punished him by striking him.
with a fatal lightning bolt. Apollo retaliated by killing the cyclopes, who created the lightning.
Zeus punished his son Apollo by condemning him to a year of servitude, which he spent as
a shepherd for the mortal king Admetus. Euripides' tragedy tells the story of the reward that
Apollo paid her to Admet.
In the Trojan War, Apollo and his sister Artemis joined the Trojans. In the first book of
In the Iliad, he is angry with the Greeks for refusing to return the daughter of his priest Chryses.
To punish them, the god struck the Greeks with plague arrows, possibly bubonic, because
Apollo, who sent the plague, was associated with mice.
Apollo was also associated with the laurel crown of victory. In one myth, Apollo was
sort of a disastrous and unreciprocated love for Daphne. Daphne has transformed into a
laurel to avoid it. Bay leaves were later used to crown the victors at
dwarf games.
Apollo is represented as a young athletic man with long hair. He plays the lyre, a crafted instrument.
the god Hermes. Among his symbols are the bow and arrows, the laurel, the Python, and the lyre.
Together with his sister Artemis, the two embody the Sun-Moon couple. Apollon is the founder
The Oracle of Delphi.
Bibliography
1. Pr. Prof. Conf. Univ. Dr. George Adrian Boldi ș or, Course: The History and Philosophy of Religions
Craiova, 2021-2021
2. Mitu Alexandru, Legendele Olimpului, Zeii, Vol 1, Ed. Ion Creangă, Bucure ș ti 1983.
3. Anca Balaci, Mic dic ț ionar de mitologie greacă ș i romană, Ed. Mondero, Bucure ș ti
1992.
4. George Lăzărescu, Dictionary of Mythology, Casa Odeon Publishing, Bucharest, 1992.
