Hello and welcome back! Did you enjoy the weather? Well, today we are going to learn about Apollo, the Greek god of music, healing, and sunlight. He is also the brother of Artemis, the goddess of hunting. I hope you will enjoy today’s chapter!

Apollo’s father is Zeus and Leto, Leto is one of the women Zeus has had an affair with. He was raised on a floating island with his sister Artemis. Apollo was born holding a golden sword, and since Leto was unable to feed him, Themis(goddess of divine law) fed him nectar and ambrosia. After he was fed, he changed and his form turned into adult and declared to be the master of the lyre and archery and explain Zeus to humans.

As it was said in our chapter about Poseidon, he and Apollo got Zeus angry and had to build Troy walls as punishment, but did you know he played another big part in the Trojan War? Apollo took the Trojan side during the war because he had a lot of temples in Troy. He truly came in when King Agamemnon took Chryseis, a daughter of a priest from Apollo’s temple. When Apollo found out one of his subjects he got mad, so he shot an arrow with the plague infected with it, he then demanded that Chryseis be returned.  At first Agamemnon refused which angered  Achilles, but after Agamemnon saw how many of his men died,he complied.

The next big thing about Apollo is his lyre. In some versions of how the lyre was created, either Hermes or Apollo created it. A popular story in Greek mythology is about Pan comparing his and Apollo’s music. Pan plays a specific type of flute, a panpipe. Once they had their contest most people agreed Apollo won except one person, Midas, a devoted follower of Pan. Apollo got annoyed at Midas and turned his ears into donkey ears.

Apollo has had many lovers of both genders. One of his lovers is Cyrene, a Thessalian princess. In honor of their love, Apollo built the city Cyrene and her the ruler, after a while he turned her into a nymph and had two sons. 

This story about Apollo and Hyacinth is kind of known, and is a big story in his love life. Hyacinth is an athletic and gorgeous Spartan prince. One day Apollo was teaching him how to play a traditional game of quoits. Unbeknownst to him and Apollo, Zephyrus, the god of West wind, Boreas, the god of North wind, and a mortal. While he was playing quoits when his discus flew off course, when Hyacinth went to retrieve it, a jealous Zephyr pus struck him in the head. Out of grief, Apollo made a Hyacinth flower with Hyacinth’s blood. A festival was then created for Hyacinth in memorial of his death.

I hope you liked learning about Apollo and his godly adventures. Have a great rest of the week and see ya next time!