The god Apollon (God Apollo) is the son of Zeus and Leto and the twin brother of Artemis in Greek mythology.

The God Apollo is the god of music, fine arts, light, sun, fire and poetry in Greek mythology. He is the protector of shepherds. He is also known as the god of health and his name is mentioned together with his son Asclepius. He is a great archer, known for his silver bow. The god Apollon is also associated with prophecies.

Apollon (Apollo) is thought to be a god of Anatolian origin.

Birth of the God Apollo and Goddess Artemis 

There are different stories about the birth of Apollon and Artemis. According to one of these stories, Leto first gave birth to Apollon and then gave birth to Artemis in Ortygie.

According to another, Leto first gave birth to Artemis and then gave birth to Apollo with Artemis’ midwifery skills.

God Apollon and Delphi

Apollon learns the art of prophecy from Pan and then goes to Delphi. According to some myths, he learned from Themis at Delphi.

When Apollon arrives at the temple, Python, the protector of the oracles, tries to stop him as he approaches the oracle priestess. Apollon kills Python and takes over the oracle and the Temple of Delphi. According to some versions, Hera gave Python the task of killing Apollon because of her anger towards Leto and her children. For this reason, Python attacks the god as soon as he sees him.

According to another version, Hera, jealous of Zeus’ relationship with Leto and the twins born, assigned Python to follow and torment Leto throughout her life. For this reason, God Apollon, who wants to put an end to this, goes to the Temple of Delphi and kills Python.

At the end of all versions, Python is killed by the god. God Apollon therefore organizes games at Delphi. The Pythian Games at Delphi were organized in memory of Python.

Apollo is the god of music and never loses his lyre. Nevertheless, there were mortals who competed with him in music. One of them was Marsyas, a Phrygian satyr.

The story of the god Apollo and Marsyas:

The goddess Athena invents a wind instrument called aulos, a double reeded flute, to play the song sung by the Gorgons mourning for Medusa. However, she throws it away because her face becomes ugly while playing it. Marsyas finds the aulos and starts playing it skillfully. Marsyas is so pleased with the sound of the flute and his own performance that he begins to think that his art is better than Apollon’s. Finally, he challenges Apollo and says that as a rule, the winner can do whatever he wants to the loser. According to another version, the Muses are chosen as judges for this contest and it is decided that the loser will be skinned alive.

Both are equally successful. God Apollo then holds his lyre upside down and challenges Marsyas to play it in the same way. Since this is not possible for Marsyas, Apollo is declared the winner. Apollo, the winner of the contest, hangs Marsyas from a tree and skins him alive.

The god Apollo and Midas: The Ears of Midas

Another man who clashed with Apollo over music was the Phrygian King Midas. Tmolos, the god of the mountains, was refereeing a music competition in which Apollo and Pan competed. When he chose Apollo and his lyre instead of Pan and his flutes, Midas questioned this decision. Apollo, enraged by Midas’ lack of music, turns Midas’ ears into long, twitching and hairy donkey ears.

Midas is very ashamed of this and tries to hide his ears by wearing a turban until his barber realizes this. After the barber learns this truth, he is too afraid to spread it. He keeps this secret as long as he can. When he can no longer bear it, he digs a hole and whispers the truth into it. The pit is full of reeds and the barber’s words echo silently among the reeds. In this way the barber’s words “Midas has donkey ears” spread.

Apollon’s Relations:

Apollon’s list is quite long. Here are some of the god’s unions;

Cyrene

From this relationship Aristaeus (and according to some sources Idmon) was born.

Coronis

Asclepius is born from this union. Asclepius will be the god of healing and medicine.

Hecabe (Hecuba)

Hecabe is the wife of King Priam. Troilus is born from her relationship with God. There is a prophecy about Troilus. According to this, Troy will not fall if Troilus lives to the age of 20, but Troilus is killed by Achilles in the Trojan War.

Calliope

Orpheus was born from this union, but different sources say that Orpheus and Linos were born from Apollon’ relationship with another musa, Urania.

Thalia

From her union with Thalia, another muse, the Corybants are born. These are the male servants of Cybele.

Apart from these, Apollo also had relationships with men.

According to an interesting story ; Zephyros -Zephyrus –  (West wind) was in love with Apollo. Thamyris was in love with Hyacinthus and Hyacinthus was in love with Apollo. They had a discus throwing contest between them. In revenge, Zephyros flew Apollo’s disk and caused it to hit Hyacinthus’ head. There are different versions of the story, but in the end Hyacinthus dies from the disk hitting his head. Apollo is very upset by this accident. The blood flowing from Hyacinthus’ head causes the hyacinth flower to bloom.

Another relationship of Apollo was with Cyparissus, the son of Telephos, who lived on the island of Ceos. Apollo was in love with Cyparissus. Cyparissus spent most of his time with a tamed male deer and lived a quiet life on the island.

One day, while practicing spear throwing, Cyparissus accidentally shot the sleeping deer and killed it. He is so upset by this that he wants to die. Although Apollo tries to console Cyparissus, he cannot relieve his grief. Cyparissus asks the God to let him cry forever. Taking pity on her, Apollo turns Cyparissus into a cypress tree.

Symbols of the God Apollo: Bow, lyre, laurel

• Sources:
• Yunan Mitolojisi/ Stephen P. Kershaw                 
• Mitoloji Sözlüğü /Azra Erhat
• Her Yönüyle Klasik Mitoloji / Dr. Nancy Conner
• Illiad /Homer