God of light, music, poetry, prophecy and healing – Apollo was the ideal of youthful beauty and harmony in the Greek world. Here are his myths, from his birth on Delos to the oracle of Delphi.
Who is Apollo?
Apollo is one of the most important and many-sided gods of ancient Greece: god of the sun and light, music and poetry, prophecy and truth, healing and plague, and archery. Son of Zeus and the Titaness Leto, and twin brother of Artemis, he was worshipped across the Greek world and adopted by the Romans under the same name.
In art Apollo is a beautiful, beardless young man, often nude or lightly draped, crowned with laurel. His attributes are the lyre, the silver bow and arrows, the laurel wreath, the swan and the raven. He leads the nine Muses, goddesses of the arts, on Mount Parnassus.
Birth on Delos
Hera, jealous of Leto, forbade any land to give her shelter for the birth of her children. Only the floating island of Delos dared to welcome her. There, under a palm tree, Leto gave birth first to Artemis and then to Apollo, and the island was fixed to the sea floor in gratitude. Delos became one of the holiest places in Greece.
The oracle of Delphi
While still a youth, Apollo slew the monstrous serpent Python, which guarded the sacred site of Delphi on the slopes of Mount Parnassus. There he founded his famous oracle, where the priestess, the Pythia, spoke his prophecies. Kings and cities came from all over the ancient world to consult it before wars, voyages and the founding of colonies. The inscriptions on his temple – "Know thyself" and "Nothing in excess" – remain among the best-known sayings of Greek wisdom.
Apollo and Daphne
Struck by one of Eros' arrows, Apollo fell in love with the nymph Daphne, who had sworn never to marry. As he pursued her, she prayed to her father, a river god, and was transformed into a laurel tree. Heartbroken, Apollo declared the laurel sacred, wore its leaves as a crown and made it the prize of victors and poets – the origin of the word "laureate". Bernini's marble Apollo and Daphne in Rome is one of the masterpieces of sculpture.
God of music and healing
Apollo's lyre was a gift from the young Hermes, and his music was said to bring harmony to gods and mortals alike. He was also the father of Asclepius, god of medicine, and his arrows could send plague as well as cure it – a reminder that the Greeks saw light and shadow in every power.
Apollo in art and in your home
From the Apollo Belvedere in the Vatican to neoclassical bronzes, Apollo represents the classical ideal of balance, beauty and reason. An Apollo statue is a fitting piece for a music room, a study or a library, and a meaningful gift for musicians, poets and doctors. Look for him with his lyre for music, with bow and arrows for strength, or with a swan for grace.
Related gods
Read the story of his father Zeus, and discover his twin sister Artemis and his half-brother Hermes. Browse all the Olympians in our Greek Mythology collection and our Musicians collection.
