|
 One of the 12 Olympians of Greek Myth, Apollo is the god of light,
youth, beauty, and prophesy. One of Apollo's great deeds was the killing of the serpent Python, the
feared beast residing in the hills near Delphi. Apollo came down from Mount Olympus and with his
silver bow and golden arrows, he slayed the beast in one shot to save the people of the land. In
rememberance of his deed, it's said that Apollo created the Pythian Games, held every four years.
Today we have a very similar form of games, the summer olympics. After taking control of the oracle
from Python, he bestowed special abilities of prophecy upon one of his priestesses and named her
Pythia.
Apollo is also well known for his big mistake in mocking a fellow god. One day he made fun of Eros,
saying he had no archery skill and was too small to have much significance. Eros then shot an arrow
at Apollo, making him infatuated with the sea nymph Daphne. He then shot another arrow at Daphne
which made her unable to love anyone. Apollo continuously persued Daphne until she finally called
for help from a river god and she was changed into a laural tree before Apollo could get to her. This
is
why the laurel is his sacred tree.
Another interesting myth about Apollo is his love for another guy...a mortal by the name of
Cyparissus, decendent of Heracles. As a token of his love, Apollo gave to Cyparissus a deer.
Cyparissus and the deer were close companions until Cyparissus accidently threw a javelin into the
deer, killing it. Cyparissus begged Apollo to let him die and allow his tears to forever fall. With
that,
Apollo turned him into a tree...a Cypress. The sap of the tree falls like that of tears.
Apollo was the son of Zeus and Leto. He was also the twin brother of Artemis.
|
