The God Apollo
By: Timothy Buff
Tom MacDonald
David Deluca
Peter Thomann
The Greek God Apollo General
Information
• Apollo is the god of music, medicine, light,
prophecy, law, intellectual pursuits, plague,
and the sun.
• Apollo is one of the Twelve Olympians.
• Apollo in the Trojan War helped Paris kill
Achilles.
• He greatly enjoyed the charms of nymphs.
The Symbols of Apollo
• His symbols are the bow and arrow, the lyre,
the laurel, the sun, swans, wolves, raven,
snakes, gold, flute, grasshoppers.
Apollo’s Attributes Animals and
Powers
• He is depicted as a beardless young man.
• His attributes are the tripod, omphalos, lyre,
bow and arrows, laurel, hawk, raven or crow,
swan, fawn, roe, snake, mouse, grasshopper,
and griffin.
• He had the power of plague, healing and
many others.
• The cow, snake, crow, deer, dolphin, and
swans represented him.
The Birthplace
• The god Apollo was born on the Greek island
of Delos with his twin sister Artemis who was
the goddess of the hunt.
• Hera cursed his mother that she could not
give birth on land because Leto, his mother,
had an affair with Zeus.
• She found an island called Delos that was not
attached to the ocean floor and gave birth to
Apollo and his sister on it.
The Story of His Birth
• When Zeus’s wife Hera figured out that Leto
was pregnant she forbade her to give birth on
the Earth besides the island of Delos. She
gave birth to Apollo and Artemis there. Hera
also kidnapped the goddess of birth to
prevent her from going into labor.
Youth
• Apollo as a child killed the dragon Python.
Hera sent the snake to follow Leto around.
Apollo begged Hephaestus for a bow and
arrows.
Family
• His father was Zeus, the God of all Gods. His
Roman name was Jupiter. He was chief of
Mount Olympus and had the child with Leto.
• His mother was Leto. She was the goddess of
motherhood and the bride of Zeus.
• He had a twin sister Artemis.
Artemis
• She was the twin sister of Apollo.
• She never married nor had any children.
• She was the Greek God of hunting, wilderness
and wild animals.
Female and Male Lovers
• His female lovers are Daphne, Marpessa,
Chione, Koronis, Daphne, Arsinoe,
Kassandra,Kyrene, Melia, Eudne, Thero,
Psamathe, Linos, Philonis, Philammon and
Chrysothemis.
• His male lovers are Hyakinthos, Kyparissos.
•
Apollo and His Love for Daphne
One day while Apollo was out hunting he came
upon Eros, the God of Love who was also out
hunting with his bow. Apollo started to insult
his archery skills saying that being his size he
cannot shoot an arrow very far. Eros then shot
two arrows, one that as gold and would make
the person it hits fall in love and another that if
it hits someone they would not fall in love. The
golden arrow hit Apollo and the lead one hit
Daphne, the daughter of the river god Peneus,
so she was a nymph and she loved to hunt.
Apollo fell in love with her and she wanted
nothing to do with him, so he chased her four
hours. Eventually when she was far enough
from him she stopped and begged her father for
help. So Peneus turned her into a Laurel tree.
That is why the Laurel tree is a symbol of
Apollo, and also that is one of the reasons the
Olympic champions won laurel reefs when they
won.
Strengths and Weaknesses
• Some of the strengths of Apollo was that he
was creative, handsome, and supportive of all
of the arts of civilization.
• The weaknesses of Apollo was that he enjoyed
the charms of nymphs, as well as the youth,
and his conquests number in the dozens.
The Conflicts and Myths of Apollo
• Apollo has many myths. They include The
Slaying of the serpent
Python, the
Destruction of Neobe, The Trojan War, The
Conflict with Hermes.
The Trojan War
• In the Trojan War, Apollo took the side of the
Trojans.
• He helped guide Paris’s arrow into Achilles’
heel, and thus allowed the Trojans to escape.
• He also plagued the Greeks.
The Destruction of Neobe
• When Neobe, a Queen who had 14 children, insulted
Apollo’s mom, he and his sister, Artemis joined up
and killed all of Neobe’s children. They killed all of
the children because she boasted she was more
fertile than Leto.
–
Apollo, Hermes and the
Lyre.
The reason that the lyre is a symbol of Apollo has to
do with a story involving the baby Hermes. Hermes
was the son of Zeus and Maia. Hermes was born
the morning he was conceived , in Arcadia. While
his mother was sleeping Hermes squirmed and freed
himself from his blankets and walked to Thessaly,
the place were his brother Apollo kept his cattle. He
stole many of them and hid them in a grotto near
Pylos. Then on the way back to the cave he caught
a turtle, and removed its organs, then with the
intestines of one of Apollo’s cattle he made the
strings and attached them to the turtle shell with
branches. Thus he created the first lyre and
wrapped himself in back up in his blankets. The next
day Apollo went to check on his cattle and realized
they were missing. He then went to Maia and
accused Hermes of stealing them. Hermes denied
this and Zeus had to intervene and he said the he
saw Hermes steal the cattle and that he would have
to return them. While the argument went on Hermes
started to play his lyre. Enchanted by the music
Apollo offered to let Hermes keep the cattle if he
could have the lyre. So Hermes took the offer and
now the lyre is a very well known symbol of Apollo.
The Golden Chariot
• The Chariot was given to him by his father,
Zeus.
• When the twins were born they were both
given silver bows and arrows.
• Zeus promised Artemis she never had to
marry if she didn’t want to and gave Apollo a
golden chariot pulled by horses.
Music Contests
• Marsyas had challenged Apollo to a music
contest over the flute he got from Athena.
Marsyas lwon in the first round and in the
second round Apollo said they would both
play instruments upside down. He then had
Marsyas tied to a tree and flayed alive.
Apollo Today
• The famous Apollo Space Program was named
after the god. It was from 1963 to 1972.
There are about 20 Apollo Programs that have
sent the United States into space.
Temple Sites To Apollo
• There are many temples to Apollo. They are
in Greece, Italy, Cyprus and Turkey. There are
13.
Hymns to Apollo
• Paeans were the name of hymns sung to
Apollo.
• The most famous paeans are those of
Bacchylides and Pindar. Paeans were sung at
the festivals of Apollo. In later times they were
addressed not only to the gods, but to human
beings as well.
Festivals
• The chief Apollonian festivals were the
Boedromia, Carneia, Carpiae,
Daphnephoria, Delia, Hyacinthia,
Metageitnia, Pyanepsia, Pythia and
Thargelia.
The End
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