Hello everyone! We wanted our first informative post to be about this amazing god who has lighten our paths many times during these years. So here you have a small post about him!
Apollo is the son of Zeus and Leto, titan of the light of night and, later, light of day; and twin brother of Artemis.
God of light, medicine, diseases, plagues, dance, music, writing, arts, divination and prophecy, initiation, colonization, archery, youth and male beauty, among other things.
His best known places of worship were Delphi and Delos, but Apollo's cults have been all over Greece and have been very varied. Moreover, as a god of colonization, many of his cults invaded the lands of others and forced them to worship Apollo. A well-known case is that of the women who worshipped Gaia who ended up being massacred by one of the cults of Apollo, and it was this fact that gave rise to the myth of Apollo and Daphne.
Being such a popular god in both Greece and Rome, he has a multitude of myths that reflect very well his diversity and ambivalence. Let's talk about, for example, that of his birth, which can also be consulted in the Homeric Hymn III to Apollo. Here we will speak only of one of the versions, since it has several.
It all begins when Zeus got Leto pregnant. Hera, who was jealous, made it impossible for Leto to give birth anywhere both on land and in the ocean. Luckily for Leto, his sister Asteria had also been harassed by Zeus and, to escape from him, had turned herself into a floating island by the name of Ortigia. Thus, Leto found a place to rest.
However, Hera had put more obstacles in her way. She had forbidden Ilithia, goddess of childbirth, to attend the titanide, so Leto spent nine days and nine nights in agony until the other gods managed to bribe Ilithia.
First Artemis was born, who assisted her mother to help in the birth of Apollo; he was born on the seventh day of the month, hence the number usually associated with the god.
Ortigia was renamed Delos, where a temple and a statue were established in honor of Apollo. From here comes one of his epithets: Delius Apollo.
On the other hand, the serpent or dragon Python resided in Delphi, where he had an oracle. It is said that one of his prophecies spoke that it would be a son of Leto who would kill him, so he had pursued the Titan during her pregnancy and did not stop until Zeus put a stop to it.
Thus, on the fourth day of his birth, Apollo set out for Delphi with his bow and arrows in hand to avenge his mother. There he killed Python with one of his arrows, and one of his epithets is "Apollo far-shooter", and took the oracle. Other versions say that he chased the dragon to Tempe and killed him there.
Apollo established his oracle in Delphi and, in honor of Python, placed his bones in a cauldron that would serve both for the oracle and for the initiation of the Pythia. And here is born another of his epithets: Apollo Pythius.
As you can see, he is a rational and at the same time visceral god. He has his reasons for killing Python, but he still doesn't think twice and does it.
There are many more myths, such as that of Admetus and Apollo, Niobe and the children of Leto, or the well-known myths of Apollo and his lovers (which are not few), such as Daphne, Hyacinth, Cassandra, Cipariso or Coronis. I invite you to read them and learn about him.
As for his attributes, Apollo is related to the number 7, to wolves for shepherding, to mice for plagues, to laurel for his myth with Daphne or even for his myth with Python and his victory against him, to hyacinths for the myth of Hyacinth and an endless number of animals, plants and crystals such as crows, cypresses or the sunstone.
He is also characterized by his silver bow, the sun and the lyre, which he acquired from Hermes.
Apollo is the chief of the muses and nymphs, the lord of the arts in all fields, although at the beginning it was especially of dance. And, if you want to work something related to the arts, Apollo is the right god.
The arts, oratory, divination, sports, self-esteem, self-respect, anxiety, medicine (biosanitary field in general), decision making, personal growth, etc., are areas that can be worked with him.
Personally I have a very good relationship with Apolo. I have been in contact with him for a few years now and we have worked on some things together, and I can assure you that it is a pleasure to work and talk with him. I don't want to generalize, because the gods present themselves differently to each person, but he tends to be patient and very kind, as well as funny if he trusts you.
Apollo is, in my opinion, such a diverse and magnificent god that you can learn everything from him. Just don't piss him off, because his bow never misses and it hurts when he shoots an arrow.
And so much for this divine Sunday! This month we dedicate it to Apollo in the account. What did you think? Do you want to know more about him? Have a sunny day ☀️
