aka / Phoebus ("shining"); epithets: "far-shooter", Pythian, Lycian (could be from Lycia or "wolflike"), Paieon, Loxias
Genealogy: / Son of Leto and Zeus, (twin?) brother of Artemis, father of Asclepius (healing god)
Locations: / Delos, Delphi (Pytho)
Associates: / Muses (Apollo is Musagetes, "leader of the Muses"); epic singers and Kithara players
Attributes: / Purification and healing; prophecy, music and poetry. Associated strongly with the lyre. Weapon is the bow, plant is the laurel. Song to Apollo is a paean. Sometimes called a sun god
Depictions / Young, beardless, beautiful: the ideal youthful athlete.
Storylines: / Apollo was born on the island of Delos, after Leto's wandering in search of a safe birthplace (Homeric Hymn to Apollo). [In some versions, his sister Artemis is born first and then helps with the birth of her twin brother Apollo.] Immediately upon his birth, Apollo claims mastery of the lyre and the bow and says that he will be a prophet to men of the will of Zeus. He founds his oracle at Delphi after killing the serpent, gaining his name "Pythian". In the Hymn to Hermes, Apollo has a herd of cattle which his infant brother Hermes steals. Apollo must track them down and in the end, Hermes gives Apollo the lyre which Hermes himself had invented. In the Iliad, Apollo is allied with the Trojans. He sends a plague upon the Greeks and his intervention causes the death of Patroclus. In other epics, it appears that Apollo helped kill Achilles as well. His numerous relations with women (e.g. Coronis, Daphne) are mentioned sporadically in ancient Greek versions but retold prominently in Roman-period literature (e.g. Ovid's Metamorphoses). He was also enamored of two boys: Hyacinthus and Kyparissus. The first died of a discus throw, the second of grief over the death of his pet stag. Helps kill children of Niobe. Appealed to by Orestes for purification.
Ancient Sources: / Homeric Hymn to Apollo, H.H. Hermes; Homeric poetry (prominent in Iliad); Athenian Tragedy, Pindar (especially Paeans)
Cult: / Delos, Delphi; Apollo was worshipped all over Greece; Festivals of Karneia, Hyakinthia, Daphnephoria; Apollo oracles in Asia Minor as well.
For more information, check out:
Gantz 87-96; Burkert Greek Religion 142-9; Zaidman and Pantel 191-8
Greek Myth - Summer 2003 - Allen J. Romano
Profile of Apollo