Lycos, the wolf-god or Apollo of the sun. Is he Helios? Who is Apollo? Where did he come from? He is referred to in music and medicine. But where did he begin?

Apollo’s father was Zeus, the king of the gods. Zeus, though married to Hera, had some problems with fidelity. He impregnated Leto, the daughter of a Titan. When the jealous Hera found out about Leto’s pregnancy she put a curse on Leto. That no land would let her rest long enough to have her children, she also sent her monster python after Leto. Leto couldn’t find a place to give birth. Until, while running from the python, she stumbled across the island of Delos. Delos was a floating island, so technically it wasn’t land. Also Hera’s python couldn’t get to the island. There Leto could give birth safely. Her first-born was a girl, Artemis. Then Apollo was born. At first Apollo and his twin, Artemis, lived among humans. But the gods saw how they shone among mortals, they were bright, energetic, and just plain godly. So Zeus invited them to live on Mt. Olympus, where all the main gods and goddesses lived. The twins accepted, and Zeus gave them each a gift. Their own bow and arrows, Apollo’s made out of gold, and Artemis’ out of silver. Apollo had many jobs as a god. He was the god of wisdom, prophecy, the sun, medicine, cattle, arts, music, and he controls the muses. It is thought that Apollo came to Greece from Asia, as Lycos. Meaning ‘Wolf-god’, it was thought that he was the protector of shepherds, shielding them from things like wolves. Then later turned into the sun god by the Greeks, with his other titles secondary.

In Greek mythology Apollo never got married, but he did have an assortment of lovers. The reason he never got married is because all of his relationships end badly.


Take Daphne for example, Apollo was joking around with Eros telling him that he was a better archer. It’s not a good idea to insult the god of love. Eros decided to pull one over on Apollo. He took one of his magic golden tipped arrows and shot Apollo in the heart. He immediately fell in love with the nymph, Daphne. Apollo decided he would go after Daphne and try to win her love. That didn’t work out to well, because Eros had thought that Daphne wouldn’t be stupid enough to reject Apollo. So he shot Daphne with a lead tipped arrow, making her instantly hate Apollo. So as Apollo was chasing Daphne across the forests, Daphne ran from him because she felt a deep unprovoked hatred for him. She called to her father, a river god, for help. As she reached his shore she was instantaneity turned into a laurel tree. Apollo was deeply hurt by Daphne’s decision. She would rather be a tree than be with him. Apollo took some leaves from her and left, that’s why hero’s of ancient Greece were awarded laurel leaf crowns, and why one of Apollo’s many signs was the laurel leaf. Not all of his relationships ended badly, just most of them. Like Cassandra, she was the princess of Troy. When Apollo fell for her he promised he would teach her the art of prophecy. She pretended to be in love with him until after he taught her prophecy, and then she dropped him like a hot potato. Apollo was heartbroken yet again, so he put a curse on Cassandra. No one would ever listen to her prophecies. They would hear them, but pay them no heed.

Apollo also had a lot of kids Aristaeus from the nymph Cyrene, Troilius from Hecuba, and Asclepius are just a few.

A while after Eros had messed with Apollo and Daphne, Eros needed favor. Eros wanted the human Psyche for his wife, but he didn’t know how to get her to the top of a mountain so one of the winds could bring her to him. So he asked Apollo to tell one of his most famous prophets, the sibyl at Delphi, to tell Psyche’s father to bring her to the mountaintop. One of the reasons Apollo’s prophet was one of the most famous is because it was physically impossible for her to lie. The prophet told her father that Psyche was meant for no mortal man, and that she was meant for a monster. I guess she thought that because Eros hurt Apollo, and that was how Apollo viewed him.

It’s strange how the Greeks depicted the gods, so much like us. Pain and love, hand in hand. Will future generations remember the ancient gods like Apollo, or will they be lost in the shifting sands of time?



“Apollo” 1997. 20 September 2009 <http://www.pantheon.org/articles/a/apollo.html