When you hear the words “Greek gods”, what is the first god or goddess that comes to mind? Some people may say Zeus or Hera, but as for me, my brain instantly brings Apollo to mind, Now when most people hear Apollo, they think of Apollo 11, but that is not fully correct, Apollo is the god of light, music, medicine, and archery. He is the son of Zeus and Leto and the twin brother of Artemis, Some people, such as myself, consider Apollo to have one of the most adventurous lives of all the Greek gods and goddesses. The Birth of Apollo: Zeus and Leto, a daughter of the Titans Coeus and Phoebe, gave birth to their two twins Artemis and Apollo, Leto was a very chivalrous and captivating goddess, but she was abhorred by Hera, the wife of Zeus, for having beguiled her husband (greek-godsiinfo).
So the Queen of the Gods sent a serpent after Leto to antagonize her and to prevent her from locating a place to deliver her children, Leto frantically went from place to place, but found no welcome anywhere, since everyone feared incurring the wrath of Herai She finally found refuge on Delos, which was surrounded by swans. This island was beaten by the waves and blown by the wind and did not even have an exact position in the sea, yet it was willing to allow the woman to come upon its land and give birth to her children (greek-godsiinfo). The delivery of Artemis was painless but the birth apollo lasted for nine whole days and nights, for Hera had abducted Ilityia, the goddess of childbirth, preventing Leto from having a less torturous labor.
With the absence of llithyia, the newborn Artemis precociously acted as a midwife and helped her mother deliver her twin brother, Apollo. The delivery took place under a palm tree Indeed, there is a palm tree on Delos today that the Greeks planted to commemorate the birth of the god, Therefore, that is how Delos later became the sacred place of Apollo (greeka.com). Artemis and Apollo cherished their mother, who had gone through such tribulation to bring them into the world Not long after their birth, the giant Tityus attempted to rape Leto in a sacred grove near Delphi. Leto called out the names of her children, who quickly rescued her by showering arrows upon the giant, killing him instantly. For Tityus’s offense, Zeus allocated the giant’s soul to perpetual torment in the Underworld.
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Another time that Artemis and Apollo defended their mother was when Niobe, the daughter of Tantalus, gloated that she was a better mother than Leto, Apollo and Artemis took offense. Taking their bows and arrows with them, they found Niobe’s children and Apollo killed the sons while Artemis dispatched the daughters Due to this, Niobe‘s grief was so great that her tears caused the rivers to overflow their banks (godandgoddess.com). Life of Apollo: Apollo, Greek god of the Sun, was the original overachiever. Zeus welcomed Apollo by giving him a silver bow and arrows and giving him a magnificent golden chariot that was pulled by swans, Apollo was destined to make his father proud of him.
At a very early age, Apollo’s skill and determination were evident When he was only four days old, he took his bow and arrows and went out in search of the serpent that had tormented his mother during her pregnancy. Finding the snake named Python; he wounded her with his first shot. The serpent then slithered back to her cave in the city of Delphi, but the infant Apollo followed her and this time he succeeded in killing her with his second shot. The citizens of Delphi were glad to be rid of her and were grateful to Apollo and later the city of Delphi was established as the center of Apollo’s worship. Later on, Apollo had found out that this was not a regular snake that he had killed, but it turned out to be the prominent Oracle of Delphi. The Python lived in the cave and could answer any question since she could see the future, When she would answer a question, her hiss would be interpreted by the Pythian priestess and the answer would then be relayed to the questioner.
The killing of the python was no small matter. Though very proud of his son’s courage, Zeus was not pleased that Apollo had killed the serpent. Where could he go now when he needed advice? Apollo then went back to take over the temple and persuaded the priestess to teach him the art of prophecy. Even though Zeus favored Apollo, he still felt as if he showed be punished just to teach him a lesson. Zeus then exiled him to live and work on Earth as a mortal for one year. It is said that Apollo can only speak the truth, telling the future with an accuracy that was as impeccable as his marksmanship with his arrows. Apollo also had a jealous streak. When Artemis fell in love with the hunter Orion, Apollo missed her company and affection.
Aware that Orion was in the ocean swimming, Apollo ran to find Artemis and gathering their bows and arrows, rushed down to the beach. Pointing to Orion’s head, Apollo said, “See that shiny thing bobbing in the waves? Bet you can‘t hit that!“ Being a fierce competitor and extraordinary archer, Artemis accepted the wager. With her infallible aim, she unknowingly killed Orion and never loved anyone ever again. For the most part Apollo was calm and dispassionate, but there seemed to be three things that could particularly make him angry. One was any offense or insult to his beloved mother. Another was any violation of the boundaries between the gods and mortal men. Apollo felt as if the Greek heroes should know their “place“ and stay out of the god’s affairs. The final thing was that Apollo did not take kindly to any challenges to his position as the greatest at everything he did.
He was the champion in many fields, such as, music, science, and prophecy. It is a good thing that Apollo usually won, for he was far from being a “good loser” and his opponents usually were punished for defeating him, Usually his punishments were moderate, and sometimes they even revealed a sense of humor. Apollo had dark gold hair and deep blue eyes. He had extraordinary talents in music, poetry, mathematics, and medicine. Apollo became the god of the sun and patron of the arts and sciences Apollo was the most admirable of all the gods and he could not tell a lie Although this may seem like perfection, Apollo was not perfect and when he would become jealous or angry, he could be just as cruel as the other gods (thinkquestorg).
Apollo is also usually depicted as a handsome, beardless youth wearing wreath of laurel leaves and holding his bow or a lyre, Following his dramatic debut with the python, Apollo went on to become not only an archer, but the greatest musician ever. Apollo played the lyre given to him by his half-brother Hermes. Along with this, Apollo also went on to be a poet, philosopher, law maker and creator of legal institutions, a physician, the god of the prophecy and a wonderful scholar that always spoke the truth. Apollo became a great poet and artist thanks to the help of his friends, nine Muses who represented the arts.
When Apollo was young, these nine Muses taught him their skills and he became the greatest poet and artist in the universe. Apollo was constantly improving on everything that the muses taught him. Apollo was one of the only gods to keep his original name by the Romans. The Romans tended to picture Apollo less important than the Greeks had though. Apollo was generally pictures as a young man that never really grew up.
As you can see, Apollo did have one of the most adventurous lives out of all the Greek gods and goddesses. None of the other Greek gods had to have their sister help their morn give birth to them, Along with that, none of them defended their mother by battling a giant serpent. From the moment that Zeus had an affair with Leto, is when Apollo started to have an adventurous life. He went from being born to becoming the god of light, music, medicine, and archery Apollo is so adventurous that even Homer mentioned him taking part in his book, The Iliad. Now that you have been informed of how adventurous Apollo’s life is, realize that Apollo DOES have the most adventurous life out of all the gods and goddesses.
