Apollo is considered one of the most important and complex gods in both Roman and Greek mythology as he is usually associated with healing properties but is also blamed for sickness. He is the son of Jupiter and Latona and has a twin sister called Diana. In the first few minutes that Diana was born, she was made to assist her mother in labor in order to successfully produce the second twin child; Apollo.
The story of Apollo begins when he has become a very skilled archer at just the age of 4 days old. In order to quickly prove his skill and talent he killed a Python who had been harassing his mother (Latona) ever since she had become pregnant with the twins. Turns out this Python wasn’t any ordinary snake was actually the famed Oracle of Delphi (greatest prophet of all time). Killing this Python was no small matter, although Jupiter was very proud of his son for killing the Python and saving his mother, he was not pleased. Jupiter would no longer have anyone to resort to when he needed advice. Although Apollo was still Jupiter’s favorite child, he still exiled him to live on Earth as a mortal and help King Admetus.
During that year of exile, Admetus was very kind to him and treated him very well. Appreciative of this, he decided to tell Admetus his future and fate (i.e. when and how he dies) also warning him that it was reversible if someone would die in his place. Luckily or unluckily, only his wife was willing to die in his place and Admetus lived a regretful life from then on before Hercules brought her back to life (that part was not necessary but thought it was interesting). A famous story relating to Apollo was the story of Apollo and his first love. The story begins with Cupid playing with Apollo’s silver bow and arrows, he chased Cupid around, telling him that they were not toys. Weirdly offended by this comment Cupid decided to shoot Apollo with one of his arrows telling him that they were not toys either, the only problem being that these arrows were dipped in aphrodisiac and made the person who had been shot fall in love with the first person they meet. Right after Apollo had been shot, poor Daphne, the daughter of a river god came strolling down and Apollo was instantly in love.
The cheeky Cupid, however, drew another arrow, this time with a potion that would make love seem repulsive to the victim, and shot Daphne with it. Daphne quickly ran home, with Apollo chasing her, and swore an oath to her father to never get married. Apollo who had been struck by her beauty made a series of pledges of undying love. With Apollo continually trying to chase her around for her hand in marriage, she cried out to mother earth to change her form so that she would be less attractive. Instantly, she changes forms into a laurel tree! Apollo who was clearly heartbroken from this situation, tore off many branches and leaves from the tree telling Daphne that her name would forever be remembered. Like some of the other gods within Apollo’s generation, she never married but seduced many goddesses and mortals (just like his father). He had a good idea of what was right and wrong and was usually calm-headed.
Believing strongly in law and order, he created some laws for the mortals and even was believed to have introduced the civic court so matters were able to be fixed without any bloodshed. He was portrayed as an idealist and had a vision of society that he could live freely and be protected under the law. Although the festivals that the Romans celebrated to worship Apollo were relatively smaller than the festivals to honor the bigger deities such as Jupiter and Minerva, Apollo was still heavily worshipped in Roman culture! The main festival is the Pythian Games (named after the Python he killed) held every four years at Delphi (his assumed birthplace). This festival was also 1 of 4 that were considered part of the Panhellenic games!
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Essay on Roman Gods: Apollo as a God of Prophecy.
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