Apollo Greek God Research Paper

Apollo is a very important and powerful god. He is the god of music, poetry, art, oracles, archery, plague, medicine, sun, light, and knowledge. His valuable abilities granted him a seat in Mount Olympus with 11 other powerful deities. He is the ideal of Kouros: beardless and an athletic youth. His gift of prophecies and oracles were given to him due to the fact that he is unable to speak a lie. (Weaver)

He is the son of the god Zeus and the titan Leto. Zeus cheated on his wife, Hera, with Leto. Out of anger, Hera banned Leto from giving birth on land. With the help pf Zeus, Leto was able to give birth on Delos, a man-made island. She delivered Artemis, Apollo’s twin sister, first who helped deliver Apollo. Hera was infuriated when she found out, so she sent Python, the famed Oracle of Delphi, to chase Leto

away. Hephaestus crafted him a silver bow, Apollo’s iconic weapon that has a 100% accuracy. At the age of four-days-old, Apollo shot an arrow in the middle of Python’s head and killed him instantly. He ventured off to Delphi and took over the Temple and began his gift of prophecy. (Weaver)
Apollo’s silver bow was a very important weapon in the infamous Trojan War.

It determined the victory of the Olympians. Achilles was the superior soldier of the Titans who was the only one that kept the Titans end up. Apollo witnessed him murder Troilus whose blood stained his altar. Apollo was fed up and asked Zeus for permission to kill Achilles which Zeus granted. Apollo lent Paris, a mortal, his great, silver bow. Paris shot, and Apollo directed the arrow to Achilles’ one vulnerable spot, his ankle, and killed him. Achilles’ death overturned the luck of the Titans and led the Olympians to victory. (Davidson)

Many Greek myths explain why or how things in the world originated. Apollo is the reason why crows are black. His attention was captured by the beauty of Coronis. They fell in love and got pregnant. But because of his duties, he had to leave. He did not want to leave her to fend for herself while she was pregnant, so he left a pure white raven to guard her. Coronis became lonely and fell in love with Ischys. The raven informed Apollo. Furious that the raven did not peck out Ischys’ eyes, Apollo scorched its feathers until they turned black.

(Hamilton)
Another one of Apollo’s misfortunate relationship led to the creation of the Hyacinth flower. Apollo’s relationship with Hyacinthus, a Spartan prince, was the first male homosexual relationship in Greek mythology. Apollo was passionately fonded of Hyacinthus who also captured the attention of the West Wind, Zephyrus. Apollo took Hyacinthus to play quoits. Apollo throw the discus a great distance. Hyacinthus tried to impress him by catching it. The jealous Zephyrus threw a gust of wind, causing the discus to wound Hyacinthus’ forehead. Apollo tries to save him, but his wound is fatal. Hades denies his request to bring him back, so he uses his blood to create a flower in his memory. He weeps their initials into the flower which is repeated when the flower’s petals dance against the wind. His weeps are still heard from the flowers today. (Bulfinch)
Although Apollo’s silver bow and silver arrows are his most famed symbol, he didn’t like the idea of war so much. His true passion was music. He was the leader of the muses and directed their choir. Hermes created his beloved lyre. One day, Marsyas challenged Apollo in a musical contest. King Midas was to judge them. Consequently, Midas voted for Marsyas’ flute over Apollo’s lyre. Apollo instantly became livid and told Midas, “You will have ears to match the mind you have in judging.” He turned King Midas’ ear to those of an ass. King Midas was very embarrassed and wore a hat at all times, except when he got his hair cut. He told his barber to never tell anyone. The secret drove the barber crazy, so he dug a hole and shouted it in there. He buried the secret deep, but as time passed, reeds grew from the hole. They exposed King Midas’ secret in the wind. (Parada)