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Apollo
Parnassus
Apollo Raphael 1511
The god Apollo is a Solar deity: a
god of light, prophecy, eloquence, music, the fine arts and medicine. He
is one of the twelve Olympians and the son of Zeus
and Leto and brother to Artemis, the huntress and goddess of the hunt,
childbirth and animals. Hera, the 'wife' of Zeus, was not amused and
pursued the pregnant Leto in the hope that Leto would be denied repose
required to give birth to Apollo. Poseidon intervened by causing the
Island of Delos to rise above the waves, surrounded by a flock of swans,
to provide refuge. It was there that Leto first gave birth to Artemis, who
then aided in the birth of her twin brother.
Apollo had several lovers, including
Daphne, Calliope, Cyrene, Hyacinthus, Thero and Eudne, daughter of
Poseidon. Apollo had well known oracles at Delos and Tenodos, and at
Delphi. The fame of the Pythian oracle at Delphi is connected to the
slaying of Python by Apollo immediately after his birth. This imparted
particular prominence to the idea of Apollo as a god of prophecy.
Although Apollo's sister, Artemis, is
known as a virgin goddess, she was not totally immune to Cupid's dart. She
fell in love with the beautiful hunter Orion, but he died, either stung by
a scorpion (Scorpio) because he ravished her, or shot by Artemis herself,
who was tricked into the deed by Apollo. For there is also a tradition
that Apollo was infatuated with Artemis, his sister, and ravished her on
his altar at Delos. (Incidentally, Orion's dog, Sirius, was also killed by
the scorpion.) (Larousse 121, 144; Willis 139)
Detail of amphora showing Artemis and
Apollo hunting Niobe
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