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Myths about the Roman God Apollo
Amongst the most remarkable
adventures of this god, was his
quarrel with Jupiter, on account of
the death of his son Aesculapius,
killed by that deity on the
complaint of Pluto, that he
decreased the number of the dead by
his cures. Apollo, to revenge this
injury, killed the Cyclops who
forged the thunder-bolts.
For this he was banished heaven,
and endured great sufferings on earth, being forced to hire
himself as a shepherd to Admetus, king of Thessaly. During
his pastoral servitude, he is said to have invented the
lyre to sooth his troubles. He was so skilled in the bow,
that his arrows were always fatal. Python and the Cyclops
experienced their force.
He became enamored of Daphne, daughter of the river Peneus
of Thessaly. The god pursued her, but she flying to preserve
her chastity, was changed into a laurel, whose leaves Apollo
immediately consecrated to bind his temples, and become the
reward of poetry.
His temple at Delphi became so frequented, that it was
called the oracle of the earth; all nations and princes
vieing in their munificence to it. The Romans erected to him
many temples.
The animals sacred to him were the wolf, from his acuteness
of sight, and because he spared his flocks when the god was
a shepherd; the crow and the raven, because these birds were
supposed to have, by instinct, the faculty of prediction;
the swan, from its divining its own death; the hawk, from
its boldness in flight; and the cock, because he announces
the rising of the sun.
As to the signification of this fabulous divinity, all are
agreed that, by Apollo, the sun is understood in general,
though several poetical fictions have relation only to the
sun, and not to Apollo. The great attributes of this deity
were divination, healing, music, and archery, all which
manifestly refer to the sun. Light dispelling darkness, is a
strong emblem of truth dissipating ignorance; the warmth of
the sun conduces greatly to health; and there can be no juster symbol of the planetary harmony, than Apollo's lyre,
the seven strings of which are said to represent the seven
planets. As his darts are reported to have destroyed the
monster Python, so his rays dry up the noxious moisture
which is pernicious to vegetation and fertility. Apollo was
very differently represented in different countries and
times, according to the character he assumed. In general he
is described as a beardless youth, with long flowing hair
floating as it were in the wind, comely and graceful,
crowned with laurel, his garments and sandals shining with
gold.
In one hand he holds a bow and arrows, in
the other a lyre; sometimes a shield and the graces. At
other times he is invested in a long robe, and carries a
lyre and a cup of nectar, the symbol of his divinity.
He has a threefold authority: in heaven, he is the Sun;
and by the lyre intimates, that he is the source of harmony:
upon earth he is called Liber Pater, and carries a shield to
show he is the protector of mankind, and their preserver in
health and safety. In the infernal regions he is styled
Apollo, and his arrows show his authority; whosoever is
stricken with them being immediately sent thither. As the
Sun, Apollo was represented in a chariot, drawn by the four
horses, Eous, Aethon, Phlegon, and Pyroeis.
Considered in his poetical character, he is called
indifferently either Vates or Lyristes; music and poetry, in
the earliest ages of the world, having made but one and the
same profession.
Myths about the Roman God Apollo
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