E-Shrine to the Divine Masculine

𝓐pollo is most famous for such aspects of His as healing, art, and music. However, while valid, those are some of the latest inventions of the Apollonian cults. Some of the oldest found archeological evidence allows us to tie Apollo to very primal, nature-tied aspects of the world such as the heat of the Earth, prophetic fumes, and the Underworld.

Apollo Soranus is one of the least spoken of incarnations of the God and one of the most curious ones. As Soranus, Apollo was closely associated with the Underworld, given human sacrifices to, and worshipped alongside Dis Pater, the Lord of the Dead.

“Phoibos (Phoebus) [Apollon], of you even the swan sings with clear voice to the beating of his wings, as he alights upon the bank by the eddying river Peneios; and of you the sweet-tongued minstrel, holding his high-pitched lyre, always sings both first and last. And so hail to you lord! I seek your favour with my song.” - Homeric Hymn 21 to Apollo 

Απολλων - APOLLON 

Apollo is the olympian god of prophecy and oracles, music, song and poetry, archery, healing, plague and disease, and the protection of the young. He is often associated with the Sun. More specifically: Apollo is the god who punishes and destroys. The god who affords help and wards off evil. The god of prophecy. The god of song and music. The god who protects the flocks and cattle. The god who delights in the foundation of towns and the establishment of civil constitutions.

His parents were the olympian Zeus and the goddess Leto. He has a twin sister, Artemis. 

His surname is Lukêgenês, meaning either “Born in Lycia” or “Born of Light,” though his birthplace has been argued among scholars and traditions. But the opinion most universally received was, that Apollo, the son of Zeus and Leto, was born in the island of Delos, together with his sister Artemis; and the circumstances of his birth there are detailed in the Homeric hymn on Apollo, and in that of Callimachus on Delos. The myth states that Hera was enacting revenge on Leto for sleeping with her husband, so that Leto couldn’t find a place to peacefully give birth- until she ended up on the island of Delos. Apollo was believed to be born on the 7th of the month: hebdomagenês. The number 7 is sacred to the god. 

Apollo has many titles and epithets, many of which can be found here. 

Symbols of Apollo: 

Bow and arrows

The lyre

The raven

Rays of light radiating from his head

Branch of laurel

Wreath

Want to read more? Check out my sources! 

Theoi Apollo Page

Apollo’s Epithets 

Symbols of Apollo

Apollo Facts Britannica 

Apollo Wiki Page

Apollo Olympian Facts

Deity Aesthetic: Apollo

Greek God of prophecy and oracles, light, music,art, poetry, archery, healing, plague and disease, and the protection of the young.

Hellenic Epithets:

Thearios (Of the Oracle)

Proopsios (Foreseeing)

Mousêgetês (Leader of the Muses)

Klêdônes (Omen in Words and Sounds)

Oulios (Of Sound Health)

Paiôn (Healer)

Lykios (Of the Wolves)

Delphinios (Of the Dolphin)

Alexikakos (Averter of Evil, Harm)

Symbolism of Apollo:

The Lyre

Bows

Laurel Tree

Laurel Wreath

The Chariot

Wolves

Dolphins

Ravens

Pythons

Chthonic deities are the ones that live underworld, or beneath the earth, so Apollo is technically not a chthonic deity. But if you meant to ask for Apollo’s association with death, then there are some. Though, I think the prominent one would be Soranus, the Roman underworld deity, being replaced by Apollo and His cults (I’ll talk about that in the end since it’s explanation might a bit lengthy).

> Apollo is the God of tombs/cemeteries. He guards the souls in the tomb till the body decays and soul can be separated. Hermes is the god who conducts the souls to underworld, but Apollo separates the soul from the flesh. The Ionian tombs have inscriptions asking Apollo to guard the dead bodies and purify their souls. 

> Apollo is the God of disease, and that’s his deadly side. He brings death to old and young alike (especially to the young boys). I know any God can bring death to a mortal if They wished, but it was under immediate care of Apollo and Artemis, and They were famously called as bringers of sudden deaths.

> Apollo is especially concerned with dead bodies and their proper burial. This can also be seen when He scolds the other Gods during Trojan war for letting Achilles drag Hector’s dead body. Apollo also protects the dead body by His magic. He is also the one to retrieve the dead body Sarpedon (a son of Zeus) from the battlefield. 

> Apollo’s connection with decaying of dead bodies can also be taken from Apollo’s punishment to Python. Python means “rotter”, and the first ever punishment given by Apollo is rotting. His epithet, Pythios, also derives it’s origin from this feat of His.

> The cycle of life and death is a part of Apollo’s nature. His visit to Hyperborea brings winter to the world (and was considered as His “annual death” in Delphi.) He brought death to everything (vegetation especially)with His departure. With His return, new life would be generated. Through the summer and winter cycle He caused, Apollo was both the bringer of life and death.

> Apollo has “consumed” some Gods. I mean, Python was considered as an oracular deity so Apollo basically killed a deity and established His own cult there. And Python wasn’t the only one. Apollo also replaced Paean, an early Greek deity of healing (Paean is now only an epithet of Apollo). Hyacinthus was a pre-hellenic God as well, whose cults were consumed by cults of Apollo, or rather, both were merged and considered as one God - Apollo Hyacinthus. And the most interesting one - Soranus, a Roman underworld deity, was also subsumed by Apollo (Here He is called Apollo Soranus). Hence Apollo basically has taken over the chthonic responsibilities of the former deity - death and purification.

The golden god of healing

The dark lord of epidemics

The god of duality

Apollo’s daughter…