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Apollo is virtually ubiquitous in Greek mythology. The myths outlined above represent only a small fraction of the countless stories in which Apollo played a part. Other noteworthy myths describe Apollo’s role in the Gigantomachy, the terrible war between the Olympians and the Giants.
Mythology Origins. Leto was the daughter of the Titans Coeus and Phoebe. Though her parentage is clear, her place of birth was a source of debate in antiquity: some sources said she was born on the island of Cos in the southeast Aegean, while others insisted that she came from the mysterious northern land of the Hyperboreans.
Subsequently, Apollo added his grandmother’s name to his own, becoming Apollo Phoebus. Pop Culture. Phoebe’s influence continues to resonate in popular culture thanks to the many people (both real and fictional) named after her. Commonly used in Greek and Latin, her name has remained popular in languages descended from them.
Borrowed directly from Greek mythology, Apollo was a Roman god that inspired music, poetry, and artistic creativity. A law-giver and healer, Apollo brought order to humankind and was the source of all medical knowledge. Furthermore, Apollo served as the chief patron of prophets, the source of the gift of prophecy.
The birth of Artemis and Apollo was full of the drama that so characterized Greek mythology. Artemis’ mother, Leto—herself the daughter of the Titans Coeus and Phoebe—was one of Zeus’ many lovers. When she became pregnant by Zeus, he was already married to his sister Hera, who was notoriously prone to jealousy.
But Hyacinthus was killed prematurely when Apollo accidentally struck him with a discus; in his grief, Apollo turned the blood that flowed from the boy’s body into the hyacinth flower. Though Hyacinthus is best known from the myth in which he was accidentally killed by Apollo, he probably existed as a local Laconian god or hero long before ...
Ogden, Daniel. “Delphyne and Python, Slain by Apollo.” In Drakon: Dragon Myth and Serpent Cult in the Greek and Roman Worlds, 40–48. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013. Smith, William. “Typhon.” In A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. London: Spottiswoode and Company, 1873. Perseus Digital Library.
Several Greek authors mention Daphne in connection with Apollo, too. These include Lucian (ca. 125–after 180 CE), who alludes to the myth of Daphne and Apollo satirically in works such as On Dancing and the Dialogues of the Gods, and Nonnus (fifth century BCE), the author of the long epic known as the Dionysiaca. But these sources never ...
Apollo, meanwhile, claimed the skin of the poor Marsyas as his trophy and may have turned it into a wineskin. But in one version of the story, Apollo regretted what he had done so much that he broke his lyre and never played again. The myth of Marsyas became a famous example of the pettiness and cruelty often displayed by the Greek gods.
One day, a priest of Apollo named Chryses came to the Greek camp. He wished to ransom his daughter, who had been taken captive by the Greeks and had become Agamemnon’s slave. When Agamemnon refused to let the girl go, Chryses begged Apollo to avenge him. Apollo, answering Chryses’ prayer, sent a plague to the Greek army.