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73-557: Apollo is one of the Olympian deities in classical Greek and Roman religion and Greek and Roman mythology . Apollo has been recognized as a god of archery, music and dance, truth and prophecy, healing and diseases, the Sun and light, poetry, and more. One of the most important and complex of the Greek gods, he is the son of Zeus and Leto , and the twin brother of Artemis , goddess of

146-525: A Babylonian origin. The Vedic Rudra has some functions similar to those of Apollo. The terrible god is called "the archer" and the bow is also an attribute of Shiva . Rudra could bring diseases with his arrows, but he was able to free people of them and his alternative Shiva is a healer physician god. However the Indo-European component of Apollo does not explain his strong association with omens, exorcisms, and an oracular cult. Unusually among

219-752: A city. Apollo Agyieus was the protector of the streets, public places and home entrances. In Hellenistic times, especially during the 5th century BCE, as Apollo Helios he became identified among Greeks with Helios , the personification of the Sun. Although Latin theological works from at least 1st century BCE identified Apollo with Sol , there was no conflation between the two among the classical Latin poets until 1st century CE. Apollo ( Attic , Ionic , and Homeric Greek : Ἀπόλλων , Apollōn ( GEN Ἀπόλλωνος ); Doric : Ἀπέλλων , Apellōn ; Arcadocypriot : Ἀπείλων , Apeilōn ; Aeolic : Ἄπλουν , Aploun ; Latin : Apollō ) The name Apollo —unlike

292-415: A goddess who jumped into the waters to escape the advances of Zeus and became a free-floating island of the same name. When Leto got pregnant, Hera was told that Leto's son would become more dear to Zeus than Ares. Enraged by this, Hera watched over the heavens and sent out Ares and Iris to prevent Leto from giving birth on the earth. Ares, stationed over the mainland, and Iris, over the islands, threatened all

365-452: A recurrence of the plague he sent, they purify themselves in a ritual and offer him a large sacrifice of cows, called a hecatomb . The Homeric Hymn to Apollo depicts Apollo as an intruder from the north. The connection with the northern-dwelling Dorians and their initiation festival apellai is reinforced by the month Apellaios in northwest Greek calendars. The family-festival was dedicated to Apollo ( Doric : Ἀπέλλων ). Apellaios

438-506: A she-wolf before giving birth. This is given as the reason why Homer describes Apollo as the "wolf-born god". Libanius wrote that neither land nor visible islands would receive Leto, but by the will of Zeus Delos then became visible, and thus received Leto and the children. According to Strabo, the Curetes helped Leto by creating loud noises with their weapons and thus frightening Hera, they concealed Leto's childbirth. Theognis wrote that

511-560: A single altar. Many other places had cults of the twelve gods, including Delos , Chalcedon , Magnesia on the Maeander , and Leontinoi in Sicily . As with the twelve Olympians, although the number of gods was fixed at twelve, the membership varied. While the majority of the gods included as members of these other cults of twelve gods were Olympians, non-Olympians were also sometimes included. For example, Herodorus of Heraclea identified

584-482: A terrifying sound and threatened to hurl mountain peaks into the river. But Leto herself declined his help and departed, as she did not want him to suffer for her sake. After being turned away from various lands, Apollo spoke again from the womb, asking his mother to take look at the floating island in front of her and expressing his wish to be born there. When Leto approached Asteria, all the other islands fled. But Asteria welcomed Leto without any fear of Hera. Walking on

657-458: A white garment and fastened golden bands around him. As Leto was unable to feed him, Themis , the goddess of divine law, fed him nectar and ambrosia . Upon tasting the divine food, the child broke free of the bands fastened onto him and declared that he would be the master of lyre and archery, and interpret the will of Zeus to humankind. He then started to walk, which caused the island to be filled with gold. The island Delos used to be Asteria ,

730-575: Is a possible attestation of his name in Linear B ( Mycenaean Greek ) in the lacunose form ]pe-rjo-[ (Linear B: ] 𐀟𐁊 -[), found on the KN E 842 tablet (reconstructed [u]-pe-rjo-[ne] ) though it has been suggested that the name actually reads " Apollo " ( [a]-pe-rjo-[ne] ). Hyperion is one of the twelve or thirteen Titans , the children of Gaia and Uranus . In the Theogony , Uranus imprisoned all

803-399: Is also stated to be Leto's sister. Wanting to escape Zeus' advances, she flung herself into the sea and became a floating rock called Ortygia until the twins were born. When Leto stepped on the rock, four pillars with adamantine bases rose from the earth and held up the rock. When Apollo and Artemis were born, their bodies shone radiantly and a chant was sung by Eileithyia and Lachesis , one of

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876-428: Is an important pastoral deity, and he was the patron of herdsmen and shepherds. Protection of herds, flocks and crops from diseases, pests and predators were his primary rustic duties. On the other hand, Apollo also encouraged the founding of new towns and the establishment of civil constitutions, is associated with dominion over colonists , and was the giver of laws. His oracles were often consulted before setting laws in

949-678: Is attested in the Manapa-Tarhunta letter . The Hittite testimony reflects an early form * Apeljōn , which may also be surmised from the comparison of Cypriot Ἀπείλων with Doric Ἀπέλλων . The name of the Lydian god Qλdãns /kʷʎðãns/ may reflect an earlier /kʷalyán-/ before palatalization, syncope, and the pre-Lydian sound change *y > d. Note the labiovelar in place of the labial /p/ found in pre-Doric Ἀπέλjων and Hittite Apaliunas . A Luwian etymology suggested for Apaliunas makes Apollo "The One of Entrapment", perhaps in

1022-524: Is connected to the Mycenaean figure pa-ja-wo-ne (Linear B: 𐀞𐀊𐀺𐀚 ). Paean was the personification of holy songs sung by "seer-doctors" ( ἰατρομάντεις ), which were supposed to cure disease. Homer uses the noun Paeon to designate both a god and that god's characteristic song of apotropaic thanksgiving and triumph. Such songs were originally addressed to Apollo and afterwards to other gods: to Dionysus , to Apollo Helios , to Apollo's son Asclepius

1095-564: Is considered the most Hellenic (Greek) of the Olympian gods . The cult centers of Apollo in Greece, Delphi and Delos , date from the 8th century BCE. The Delos sanctuary was primarily dedicated to Artemis , Apollo's twin sister. At Delphi, Apollo was venerated as the slayer of the monstrous serpent Python . For the Greeks, Apollo was the most Greek of all the gods, and through the centuries he acquired different functions. In Archaic Greece he

1168-472: Is credited to Apollo and his sister Artemis. Apollo is usually described as carrying a silver or golden bow and a quiver of silver or golden arrows. As the god of mousike , Apollo presides over all music, songs, dance, and poetry. He is the inventor of string-music and the frequent companion of the Muses, functioning as their chorus leader in celebrations. The lyre is a common attribute of Apollo . Protection of

1241-407: Is often referred to as "Hyperion's bright son." According to the rationalizing historian Diodorus Siculus , Hyperion was the name of the first person to understand the movement of the sun and moon, and their effect on the seasons, and explains that, because of this, he was said to be their "father": Of Hyperion we are told that he was the first to understand, by diligent attention and observation,

1314-703: Is the month of these rites, and Apellon is the "megistos kouros" (the great Kouros). However it can explain only the Doric type of the name, which is connected with the Ancient Macedonian word "pella" ( Pella ), stone . Stones played an important part in the cult of the god, especially in the oracular shrine of Delphi ( Omphalos ). George Huxley considered the identification of Apollo with the Minoan deity Paiawon, worshipped in Crete, to have originated at Delphi. In

1387-646: Is the origin of Sibyl , and where some of the oldest oracular shrines originated. Omens, symbols, purifications, and exorcisms appear in old Assyro - Babylonian texts. These rituals were spread into the empire of the Hittites , and from there into Greece. Homer pictures Apollo on the side of the Trojans , fighting against the Achaeans , during the Trojan War . He is pictured as a terrible god, less trusted by

1460-619: The Iliad and elsewhere in the Odyssey , Helios is also called "Helios Hyperion" with "Hyperion" here being used either as a patronymic or as an other epithet. In the Homeric epics, and in the Homeric Hymn to Apollo , besides being called "Helios", Hyperion is sometimes also called simply "Hyperion". In later sources the two sun-gods are distinctly father and son. In literature, the sun

1533-487: The Homeric Hymn , Apollo appears as a dolphin carrying Cretan priests to Delphi, to which site they evidently transfer their religious practices. Apollo Delphinios or Delphidios was a sea-god worshipped especially in Crete and in the islands. Apollo's sister Artemis , who was the Greek goddess of hunting, is identified with Britomartis (Diktynna), the Minoan "Mistress of the animals". In her earliest depictions she

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1606-569: The Horae , the Graces , the Muses , Eileithyia , Iris , Dione , and Ganymede . Besides the twelve Olympians, there were many other various cultic groupings of twelve gods throughout ancient Greece. The earliest evidence of Greek religious practice involving twelve gods ( Greek : δωδεκάθεον , dōdekátheon , from δώδεκα dōdeka , "twelve", and θεοί theoi , "gods") comes no earlier than

1679-585: The Roman custom for a paean to be sung by an army on the march and before entering into battle, when a fleet left the harbour, and also after a victory had been won. In the Iliad , Apollo is the healer under the gods, but he is also the bringer of disease and death with his arrows, similar to the function of the Vedic god of disease Rudra . He sends a plague ( λοιμός ) to the Achaeans . Knowing that Apollo can prevent

1752-837: The 3rd century, Apollo fell silent. Julian the Apostate (359–361) tried to revive the Delphic oracle, but failed." Apollo had a famous oracle in Delphi, and other notable ones in Claros and Didyma . His oracular shrine in Abae in Phocis , where he bore the toponymic epithet Abaeus ( Ἀπόλλων Ἀβαῖος , Apollon Abaios ), was important enough to be consulted by Croesus . His oracular shrines include: Oracles were also given by sons of Apollo. Many temples were dedicated to Apollo in Greece and

1825-559: The Alpheus, to the "twelve ruling gods": [Heracles] enclosed the Altis all around and marked it off in the open, and he made the encircling area a resting-place for feasting, honoring the stream of the Alpheus along with the twelve ruling gods. Another of Pindar's Olympian odes mentions "six double altars". Herodorus of Heraclea (c. 400 BC) also has Heracles founding a shrine at Olympia, with six pairs of gods, each pair sharing

1898-533: The Doric word apella ( ἀπέλλα ), which originally meant "wall," "fence for animals" and later "assembly within the limits of the square." Apella ( Ἀπέλλα ) is the name of the popular assembly in Sparta, corresponding to the ecclesia ( ἐκκλησία ). R. S. P. Beekes rejected the connection of the theonym with the noun apellai and suggested a Pre-Greek proto-form * Apalun . Several instances of popular etymology are attested by ancient authors. Thus,

1971-489: The Greek colonies. They show the spread of the cult of Apollo and the evolution of Greek architecture, which was mostly based on the rightness of form and on mathematical relations. Some of the earliest temples, especially in Crete , do not belong to any Greek order. It seems that the first peripteral temples were rectangular wooden structures. The different wooden elements were considered divine , and their forms were preserved in

2044-480: The Greek world as an oracular deity in the archaic period , and the frequency of theophoric names such as Apollodorus or Apollonios and cities named Apollonia testify to his popularity. Oracular sanctuaries to Apollo were established in other sites. In the 2nd and 3rd century CE, those at Didyma and Claros pronounced the so-called "theological oracles", in which Apollo confirms that all deities are aspects or servants of an all-encompassing, highest deity . "In

2117-568: The Greeks most often associated Apollo's name with the Greek verb ἀπόλλυμι ( apollymi ), "to destroy". Plato in Cratylus connects the name with ἀπόλυσις ( apolysis ), "redemption", with ἀπόλουσις ( apolousis ), "purification", and with ἁπλοῦν ( [h]aploun ), "simple", in particular in reference to the Thessalian form of the name, Ἄπλουν , and finally with Ἀειβάλλων ( aeiballon ), "ever-shooting". Hesychius connects

2190-613: The Greeks than other gods. The god seems to be related to Appaliunas , a tutelary god of Wilusa ( Troy ) in Asia Minor, but the word is not complete. The stones found in front of the gates of Homeric Troy were the symbols of Apollo. A western Anatolian origin may also be bolstered by references to the parallel worship of Artimus ( Artemis ) and Qλdãns , whose name may be cognate with the Hittite and Doric forms, in surviving Lydian texts . However, recent scholars have cast doubt on

2263-559: The Olympic deities, Apollo had two cult sites that had widespread influence: Delos and Delphi . In cult practice, Delian Apollo and Pythian Apollo (the Apollo of Delphi) were so distinct that they might both have shrines in the same locality. Lycia was sacred to the god, for this Apollo was also called Lycian. Apollo's cult was already fully established when written sources commenced, about 650 BCE. Apollo became extremely important to

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2336-466: The beginning of the common era , but the Doric form, Apellon ( Ἀπέλλων ), is more archaic, as it is derived from an earlier * Ἀπέλjων . It probably is a cognate to the Doric month Apellaios ( Ἀπελλαῖος ), and the offerings apellaia ( ἀπελλαῖα ) at the initiation of the young men during the family-festival apellai ( ἀπέλλαι ). According to some scholars, the words are derived from

2409-479: The beginning of the cosmos. Hyperion and Helios were both sun-gods . Early sources sometimes present the two as distinct personages, with Hyperion being the father of Helios, but sometimes they were apparently identified, with "Hyperion" being simply a title of, or another name for, Helios himself. Hyperion is Helios' father in Homer 's Odyssey , Hesiod 's Theogony , and the Homeric Hymn to Demeter . But in

2482-616: The children that Gaia bore him, before he was overthrown. According to Apollodorus , Uranus only imprisoned the Hecatoncheires and the Cyclopes but not the Titans, until Gaia persuaded her six Titan sons to overthrow their father Uranus and "they, all but Ocean, attacked him" as Cronus castrated him. Afterwards, in the words of Hesiod , Hyperion subjected his sister Theia to his love, and fathered three children with her, who became

2555-463: The god Hermes divide a sacrifice of two cows he has stolen from Apollo, into twelve parts, on the banks of the river Alpheus (presumably at Olympia): Next glad-hearted Hermes dragged the rich meats he had prepared and put them on a smooth, flat stone, and divided them into twelve portions distributed by lot, making each portion wholly honorable. Pindar, in an ode written to be sung at Olympia c. 480 BC, has Heracles sacrificing, alongside

2628-571: The god. However, while Apollo has a great number of appellations in Greek myth, only a few occur in Latin literature . Apollo's birthplace was Mount Cynthus on the island of Delos . Delphi and Actium were his primary places of worship. Apollo was worshipped throughout the Roman Empire . In the traditionally Celtic lands, he was most often seen as a healing and sun god. He was often equated with Celtic gods of similar character. Apollo

2701-495: The hands of Leto's offspring. However, on Zeus' orders, Boreas carried away Leto and entrusted her to Poseidon . To protect her, Poseidon took her to the island Ortygia and covered it with waves so that the sun would not shine on it. Leto gave birth clinging to an olive tree and henceforth the island was called Delos. Other variations of Apollo's birth include: Aelian states that it took Leto twelve days and twelve nights to travel from Hyperborea to Delos. Leto changed herself into

2774-455: The healer. About the 4th century BCE, the paean became merely a formula of adulation; its object was either to implore protection against disease and misfortune or to offer thanks after such protection had been rendered. It was in this way that Apollo had become recognized as the god of music. Apollo's role as the slayer of the Python led to his association with battle and victory; hence it became

2847-600: The hunt. He is considered to be the most beautiful god and is represented as the ideal of the kouros (ephebe, or a beardless, athletic youth). Apollo is known in Greek-influenced Etruscan mythology as Apulu . As the patron deity of Delphi ( Apollo Pythios ), Apollo is an oracular god—the prophetic deity of the Delphic Oracle and also the deity of ritual purification. His oracles were often consulted for guidance in various matters. He

2920-419: The identification of Qλdãns with Apollo. The Greeks gave to him the name ἀγυιεύς agyieus as the protector god of public places and houses who wards off evil and his symbol was a tapered stone or column. However, while usually Greek festivals were celebrated at the full moon , all the feasts of Apollo were celebrated on the seventh day of the month, and the emphasis given to that day ( sibutu ) indicates

2993-677: The island was filled with ambrosial fragrance when Apollo was born, and the Earth laughed with joy. In some versions, Artemis was born first and subsequently assisted with the birth of Apollo. Twelve Olympians In ancient Greek religion and mythology , the twelve Olympians are the major deities of the Greek pantheon , commonly considered to be Zeus , Poseidon , Hera , Demeter , Aphrodite , Athena , Artemis , Apollo , Ares , Hephaestus , Hermes , and either Hestia or Dionysus . They were called Olympians because, according to tradition, they resided on Mount Olympus . Besides

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3066-409: The island, she sat down against a palm tree and asked Apollo to be born. During the childbirth, swans circled the island seven times, a sign that later on Apollo would play the seven-stringed lyre. When Apollo finally "leapt forth" from his mother's womb, the nymphs of the island sang a hymn to Eileithyia that was heard to the heavens. The moment Apollo was born, the entire island, including the trees and

3139-402: The king of the gods, and Leto , his previous wife or one of his mistresses. Apollo often appears in the myths, plays and hymns either directly or indirectly through his oracles. As Zeus' favorite son, he had direct access to the mind of Zeus and was willing to reveal this knowledge to humans. A divinity beyond human comprehension, he appears both as a beneficial and a wrathful god. Pregnant with

3212-558: The lands and prevented them from helping Leto. When Leto arrived at Thebes, fetal Apollo prophesied from his mother's womb that in the future he would punish a slanderous woman in Thebes ( Niobe ), so he did not want to be born there. Leto then went to Thessaly and sought the help of the river nymphs who were the daughters of the river Peneus. Though he was initially fearful and reluctant, Peneus later decided to let Leto give birth in his waters. He did not change his mind even when Ares produced

3285-451: The lands were fearful and Delos feared that Apollo would cast her aside once he is born. Hearing this, Leto swore on the river Styx that if she is allowed to give birth on the island, her son would honour Delos the most amongst all the other lands. Assured by this, Delos agreed to assist Leto. All goddesses except Hera also came to aid Leto. However, Hera had tricked Eileithyia , the goddess of childbirth, to stay on Olympus, due to which Leto

3358-491: The late sixth century BC. According to Thucydides , an altar of the twelve gods was established in the agora of Athens by the archon Pisistratus (son of Hippias and the grandson of the tyrant Pisistratus ), around 522 BC. The altar became the central point from which distances from Athens were measured and a place of supplication and refuge. Olympia apparently also had an early tradition of twelve gods. The Homeric Hymn to Hermes ( c.  500 BC ) has

3431-438: The lights of heaven: Helios (Sun), Selene (Moon), and Eos (Dawn). As is the case for most of the Titans, there are no myths or functions for Hyperion. He seems to exist only to provide a father for the three celestial deities. As a Titan, one of the oldest generation of gods, Hyperion was a fitting father for these three sky-gods who, as elements of the natural world, must have been conceived of as having come into being near

3504-494: The marble or stone elements of the temples of Doric order . The Greeks used standard types because they believed that the world of objects was a series of typical forms which could be represented in several instances. The temples should be canonic , and the architects were trying to achieve this esthetic perfection. From the earliest times there were certain rules strictly observed in rectangular peripteral and prostyle buildings. The first buildings were built narrowly in order to hold

3577-557: The movement of both the sun and the moon and the other stars, and the seasons as well, in that they are caused by these bodies, and to make these facts known to others; and that for this reason he was called the father of these bodies, since he had begotten, so to speak, the speculation about them and their nature. Diodorus also recorded an unorthodox version of the myth, in which Hyperion married his sister Basileia and had two children by her, Helios and Selene; their brothers, envious of their happy issue and fearful that Hyperion would divert

3650-537: The name Apollo with the Doric ἀπέλλα ( apella ), which means "assembly", so that Apollo would be the god of political life, and he also gives the explanation σηκός ( sekos ), "fold", in which case Apollo would be the god of flocks and herds. In the ancient Macedonian language πέλλα ( pella ) means "stone," and some toponyms may be derived from this word: Πέλλα ( Pella , the capital of ancient Macedonia ) and Πελλήνη ( Pellēnē / Pellene ). The Hittite form Apaliunas ( x-ap-pa-li-u-na-aš )

3723-437: The offsprings of Zeus, Leto wandered through many lands wanting to give birth to Apollo. However all the lands rejected her out of fear. Upon reaching Delos, Leto requested the island to shelter her, and that in return her son would bring fame and prosperity to the island. Delos then revealed to Leto that Apollo was rumoured to be the god who will "greatly lord it among gods and men all over the fruitful earth". For this reason, all

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3796-566: The original twelve being "cast out". In the Iliad , the goddess Themis , who is listed among the twelve Titans , dwells on Olympus alongside the other gods, making her a Titan and an Olympian at the same time. According to Hesiod, the children of Styx — Zelus (Envy), Nike (Victory), Kratos (Strength), and Bia (Force)—"have no house apart from Zeus, nor any dwelling nor path except that wherein God leads them, but they dwell always with Zeus". Some others who might be considered Olympians include

3869-545: The place of Vesta (Greek Hestia), who played a crucial role in Roman religion as a state goddess maintained by the Vestals . There is no single canonical list of the twelve Olympian gods. The thirteen Greek gods and goddesses, along with their Roman counterparts, most commonly considered to be one of the twelve Olympians are listed below. Some lists of the Twelve Olympians omit her in favor of Dionysus, but

3942-439: The plague"). In later writers, the word, "paion", usually spelled "Paean", becomes a mere epithet of Apollo in his capacity as a god of healing . Apollo in his aspect of "healer" has a connection to the primitive god Paean ( Παιών-Παιήων ), who did not have a cult of his own. Paean serves as the healer of the gods in the Iliad , and seems to have originated in a pre-Greek religion. It is suggested, though unconfirmed, that he

4015-635: The position of the triglyphs, which could not be solved without changing the original forms. The order was almost abandoned for the Ionic order , but the Ionic capital also posed an insoluble problem at the corner of a temple. Both orders were abandoned for the Corinthian order gradually during the Hellenistic age and under Rome. The most important temples are: In the myths, Apollo is the son of Zeus ,

4088-580: The previous generation of ruling immortal beings, the Titans , children of the primordial deities Gaia and Uranus . They were a family of gods, the most important consisting of the first generation of Olympians, offspring of the Titans Cronus and Rhea : Zeus, Poseidon , Hera , Demeter and Hestia , along with the principal offspring of Zeus: Aphrodite , Athena , Artemis , Apollo , Ares , Hephaestus , Hermes and Dionysus . Although Hades

4161-562: The related older name Paean —is generally not found in the Linear B ( Mycenean Greek ) texts, although there is a possible attestation in the lacunose form ]pe-rjo-[ (Linear B: ] 𐀟𐁊 -[) on the KN E 842 tablet, though it has also been suggested that the name might actually read " Hyperion " ([u]-pe-rjo-[ne]). The etymology of the name is uncertain. The spelling Ἀπόλλων ( pronounced [a.pól.lɔːn] in Classical Attic ) had almost superseded all other forms by

4234-499: The river god Alpheus, with the status of the Graces (here apparently counted as one god) being unclear. Plato connected "twelve gods" with the twelve months and implies that he considered Pluto (Or Hades) one of the twelve in proposing that the final month be devoted to him and the spirits of the dead. The Roman poet Ennius gives the Roman equivalents (the Dii Consentes ) as six male-female complements, preserving

4307-402: The roof, and when the dimensions changed some mathematical relations became necessary in order to keep the original forms. This probably influenced the theory of numbers of Pythagoras , who believed that behind the appearance of things there was the permanent principle of mathematics. The Doric order dominated during the 6th and the 5th century BC but there was a mathematical problem regarding

4380-428: The sense of "Hunter". Apollo's chief epithet was Phoebus ( / ˈ f iː b ə s / FEE -bəs ; Φοῖβος , Phoibos Greek pronunciation: [pʰó͜i.bos] ), literally "bright". It was very commonly used by both the Greeks and Romans for Apollo's role as the god of light. Like other Greek deities, he had a number of others applied to him, reflecting the variety of roles, duties, and aspects ascribed to

4453-512: The six pairs of gods at Olympia as: Zeus and Poseidon, Hera and Athena, Hermes and Apollo, the Graces and Dionysus, Artemis and Alpheus , and Cronus and Rhea . Thus, while this list includes the eight Olympians: Zeus, Poseidon, Hera, Athena, Hermes, Apollo, Artemis, and Dionysus, it also contains three clear non-Olympians: the Titan parents of the first generation of Olympians, Cronus and Rhea, and

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4526-449: The speculation that she gave her throne to him in order to keep the peace seems to be a modern invention. Hyperion (Titan) Hyperion was, along with his son Helios, a personification of the sun, with the two sometimes identified. John Keats 's abandoned epic poem Hyperion is among the literary works that feature the figure. "Hyperion" means "he that walks on high" or simply "the god above", often joined with "Helios". There

4599-447: The three Moirai . Scorning the advances of Zeus, Asteria transformed herself into a bird and jumped into a sea. From her, an island rose which was called Ortygia. When Hera discovered that Leto was pregnant with Zeus' child, she decreed that Leto can give birth only in a place where sun does not shine. During this time, the monster Python also started hounding Leto with an intent of killing her, because he had foreseen his death coming at

4672-422: The twelve Olympians, there were many other cultic groupings of twelve gods. The Olympians were a race of deities , primarily consisting of a third and fourth generation of immortal beings, worshipped as the principal gods of the Greek pantheon and so named because of their residency atop Mount Olympus . They gained their supremacy in a ten-year-long war of gods , in which Zeus led his siblings to victory over

4745-403: The waters, became gold. Asteria bathed the newborn, swaddled him and fed him with her breast milk. The island had become rooted and was later called Delos. Hera was no longer angry, as Zeus had managed to calm her down; and she held no grudge against Asteria, since Asteria had rejected Zeus in the past. Pindar is the earliest source who explicitly calls Apollo and Artemis as twins. Here, Asteria

4818-424: The young is one of the best attested facets of his panhellenic cult persona. As a kourotrophos , Apollo is concerned with the health and education of children, and he presided over their passage into adulthood. Long hair, which was the prerogative of boys, was cut at the coming of age ( ephebeia ) and dedicated to Apollo. The god himself is depicted with long, uncut hair to symbolise his eternal youth. Apollo

4891-590: Was a major deity in the Greek pantheon and was the brother of Zeus and the other first generation of Olympians, his realm was far away from Olympus in the underworld , and thus he was not usually considered to be one of the Olympians. Olympic gods can be contrasted to chthonic gods including Hades and his wife Persephone , by mode of sacrifice, the latter receiving sacrifices in a bothros ( βόθρος , "pit") or megaron ( μέγαρον , "sunken chamber") rather than at an altar. The canonical number of Olympian gods

4964-447: Was accompanied by the "Master of the animals", a bow-wielding god of hunting whose name has been lost; aspects of this figure may have been absorbed into the more popular Apollo. A non-Greek origin of Apollo has long been assumed in scholarship. The name of Apollo's mother Leto has Lydian origin, and she was worshipped on the coasts of Asia Minor . The inspiration oracular cult was probably introduced into Greece from Anatolia , which

5037-412: Was in general seen as the god who affords help and wards off evil, and is referred to as Alexicacus , the "averter of evil". Medicine and healing are associated with Apollo, whether through the god himself or mediated through his son Asclepius . Apollo delivered people from epidemics, yet he is also a god who could bring ill health and deadly plague with his arrows. The invention of archery itself

5110-465: Was the prophet , the oracular god who in older times was connected with "healing". In Classical Greece he was the god of light and of music, but in popular religion he had a strong function to keep away evil. Walter Burkert discerned three components in the prehistory of Apollo worship, which he termed "a Dorian-northwest Greek component, a Cretan-Minoan component, and a Syro-Hittite component." In classical times, his major function in popular religion

5183-451: Was to keep away evil, and he was therefore called "apotropaios" ( ἀποτρόπαιος , "averting evil") and "alexikakos" ( ἀλεξίκακος "keeping off ill"; from v. ἀλέξω + n. κακόν ). Apollo also had many epithets relating to his function as a healer. Some commonly-used examples are "paion" ( παιών literally "healer" or "helper") "epikourios" ( ἐπικούριος , "succouring"), "oulios" ( οὔλιος , "healer, baleful") and "loimios" ( λοίμιος , "of

5256-404: Was twelve, but besides the (thirteen) principal Olympians listed above, there were many other residents of Olympus, who thus might be considered to be Olympians. Heracles became a resident of Olympus after his apotheosis and married another Olympian resident Hebe . According to Diodorus Siculus , some said that Heracles was offered a place among the twelve, but refused as it would mean one of

5329-412: Was unable to give birth. The goddesses then convinced Iris to go bring Eileithyia by offering her a necklace of amber 9 yards (8.2 m) long. Iris did accordingly and persuaded Eileithyia to step onto the island. Thus, clutching a palm tree, Leto finally gave birth after labouring for nine days and nine nights, with Apollo "leaping forth" from his mother's womb. The goddesses washed the newborn, covered him in

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