Top 10 Things Apollo is the God of
You have likely heard of Apollo before as he is one of the most prominent mythological figures from Greek and Roman mythology and one of the 12 Olympians, but chances are you don't know everything that he is the god of. While some of the main Greek gods only have a few things under their name, such as Zeus, who is generally just the god of the sky and weather, others, such as Apollo or Hermes, are in charge of very many important things. So, here are the top 10 things that Apollo is the god of!According to myth, the moment Apollo was born, he asked for a lyre, a small type of harp. Upon inventing the paean, a song expressing triumph, he officially became the god of music. His incredible singing voice and amazing skills with musical instruments were unrivaled. In the few stories where he was challenged in a music contest, it didn't end well for his opponent.
Apollo serves as the patron of all aspiring singers and musicians, and often entertains the other Greek gods with his music. Due to being the god of music, Apollo is often depicted with his lyre and with swans, considered his sacred animal due to their musical way of communicating.
The deity in charge of the sun has always been a complicated subject for Greeks. While many stories depict Apollo riding the sun chariot throughout the sky every day and bringing light to the world, others also depict another deity, Helios, the son of the Titan Hyperion, doing the same thing.
However, most of the time, it is agreed that Apollo is the god of the sun. This makes sense as Apollo's golden, bright hair and chariot greatly resemble the sun. In the Greek myths, the explanation for the sun and how it worked was that Apollo would mount his chariot and ride it across the sky every day, so bright that it would light up the entire world.
Archery is the sport, practice or skill of using a bow to propel arrows. The word comes from the Latin arcus. The item that Apollo is most portrayed with in statues, even more so than his lyre, is his magnificent bow and arrow. Although Apollo and his twin sister Artemis are both gods of archery, Artemis generally covers the hunting side, while Apollo is more often prayed to for success in battle or in competitions.
Apollo has done many notable things with his arrows, such as slaying the enormous and powerful monster Python. However, he also uses his arrows for punishment, having killed many unworthy mortals and even sent arrows with plague to decimate entire cities. Other than perhaps his music, archery is Apollo's greatest skill.
One of Apollo's most important traits as a god was to oversee and control disease and, more importantly, healing. Ancient Greek doctors would always pray to Apollo and his favorite son, Asclepius, the god of medicine, before trying to help people with their problems. In battle, soldiers would always burn offerings to Apollo in the hopes that their wounded would heal.
Apollo's powers of healing came in handy to the other gods of Olympus many times. He was one of the most beloved gods by the Greeks mainly due to his healing powers.
Ancient Greece had some of the most creative people from ancient times, with many advancements in music and the best storytellers and poets of the time. Another thing they excelled in was art, which went to Apollo alongside music and poetry.
Art was such an important part of Greek culture, and since even today we have many sculptures from their times, we can only imagine how many other masterpieces were lost to time. This proves yet again how important Apollo was to the Greeks.
In Ancient Greece, many of the most important myths and tales directly involved prophecy, which was entirely controlled by Apollo. In their myths, Apollo would choose certain prophetic women to become "Oracles" or "Sibyls." Upon being asked specific questions, these women would channel Apollo's godly, prophetic power and give divine advice to whoever asked the question.
Kings, noblemen, and people throughout Greece seeking advice would journey very far to consult one of these Oracles or Sibyls. However, there are many stories of people who didn't like what they heard and died trying to prevent it, or those who went mad with confusion over what the Oracles said.
In Ancient Greek times, poetry was just as significant as music. As Apollo is the god of music, he also became the god of poetry. There's a reason that poet laureates are called what they are - laureate comes from laurels, one of Apollo's biggest symbols.
Apollo's poetry was said to be perfect, and all aspiring poets from Greece would pray to him or even write poems about him. You can find quite a few poems from Ancient Greek times about the sun god.
Apollo is such a perfect, beautiful being that he radiates a lot of light. From the moment he was brought into existence, he became the god of light. His powerful, bright aura was so intense that even the other Greek gods had trouble being in his presence.
This brightness likely led to him becoming the god of the sun, taking over from Helios. To the Greeks, it made perfect sense that the god of light would also be the god of the sun.
As Apollo is also the god of healing, it makes sense that he oversees disease as well. Although this is a terrible thing, the Greeks believed you needed to appease Apollo to avoid plagues being sent to your cities, resulting in a lot of praying to him.
Apollo was said to use special arrows carrying new diseases and plagues, sending them into unworthy cities and causing nearly the entire population to be wiped out. You definitely don't want to make this god angry!
Apollo is modeled after the perfect possible human, and out of all the gods, he always speaks truthfully and with integrity, making him the god of truth. Apollo also upholds all mortals and humans to be truthful, granting prosperity to truthful people. On the other hand, he punishes untruthful people without honor.
His truthfulness helped him also become the god of prophecies, where he tells mortals the truth about important moments in their future.