Apollo was one of the most complex and influential gods of the Greek pantheon, presiding over prophecy, music, poetry, medicine, archery, and the sun. He was the son of Zeus and the Titaness Leto, and the twin brother of Artemis. His main sanctuary was at Delphi, where the most famous oracle of the ancient Greek world delivered prophecies in his name. The Romans identified him with their own god of the sun, and the two deities gradually merged in later classical and Christian traditions.
Apollo is the most complex of the Olympians: god of prophecy, music, medicine, the sun, archery, and pastoral life, and the patron of the Pythian oracle at Delphi, the most important religious site of the Greek world. He is the most-quoted god in archaic Greek poetry (Homer, Hesiod, the Homeric Hymns), and the most controversial in modern scholarship, where the consensus is that Apollo arrived late in the Greek pantheon and replaced an older deity at Delphi, the chthonic serpent Python. This profile follows the standard academic treatment of the god.
The Birth of Apollo
Apollo was born, along with his twin sister Artemis, on the floating island of Delos. Their mother was Leto, a Titaness who had been loved by Zeus. Hera, Zeus’s jealous wife, forbade any land to give Leto a place to give birth. After wandering the world, Leto finally found refuge on the floating island of Delos, which had no fixed anchor and so could not be considered “earth.” There, she gave birth first to Artemis, who immediately helped her mother deliver Apollo.
Apollo was said to have been born on the seventh day of the month Thargelion (around May), and his birthday was celebrated at the annual Pythian Games. From the moment of his birth, Apollo was a god of light, and the ancients noted that his mother bore him after nine days of labor under a palm tree, with the olive tree and the laurel springing up around her.
The Symbols of Apollo
Apollo was associated with many distinctive symbols:
- The Lyre: The stringed instrument, said to have been invented by Hermes and given to Apollo in exchange for the cattle he had stolen. The lyre was Apollo’s instrument, the symbol of his role as the god of music and poetry.
- The Laurel: The laurel tree, sacred to Apollo, was the plant he pursued Daphne, who was transformed into a laurel to escape him. Laurel wreaths were the prize of victors at the Pythian Games, and they were also used in Roman triumphs.
- The Bow and Arrow: Apollo was the divine archer, the bringer of sudden plague and sudden death.
- The Raven: The raven, originally white, was turned black by Apollo when it brought bad news.
- The Python: The serpent Python, killed by Apollo at Delphi, was associated with his cult.
- The Tripod: The sacred tripod, the seat of the Pythia, was Apollo’s symbol at Delphi.
- The Sun: In later mythology, Apollo was identified with the sun god Helios, and he was the god of light and reason.
The Domains of Apollo
As a complex and multifaceted god, Apollo presided over many domains:
- Prophecy: Apollo was the god of prophecy, and his oracles were the most important in the ancient world. The most famous, the Oracle at Delphi, was consulted by leaders and ordinary people from across the Greek world.
- Music and Poetry: Apollo was the leader of the Muses (the Musagetes), and he presided over music, song, dance, and poetry.
- Medicine and Healing: Apollo was the god of medicine, and his son Asclepius became the patron of physicians.
- Archery: Apollo was the divine archer, and he could bring sudden death with his silver bow.
- The Sun and Light: In later mythology, Apollo was identified with the sun and with the light of reason.
- Pastoral Life: Apollo was the god of shepherds and cattle herders, particularly in his younger days.
- Discipline and Moderation: Apollo was the god of moderation, self-control, and the proper ordering of life, in contrast to the wild ecstasy of Dionysus.
The Major Myths of Apollo
The Slaying of Python
The earliest great myth of Apollo is his slaying of the serpent Python, a chthonic monster that lived at Delphi. According to the Homeric Hymn to Apollo, the young god came to Delphi, slew the serpent with his bow, and established his oracle on the site. Python’s rotting body gave the place its name, derived from the Greek word pythein, “to rot.” Apollo commemorated his victory with the Pythian Games, held every four years at Delphi.
The Daphne Myth
In one of the most famous of all Greek myths, Apollo fell in love with the nymph Daphne. According to Ovid, the cause was the spiteful arrow of the god Eros, who shot Apollo with a golden arrow that caused love and shot Daphne with a leaden arrow that caused aversion. Apollo pursued the fleeing nymph, and just as he was about to catch her, she prayed to her father, the river god Peneus, who transformed her into a laurel tree. Apollo, in his grief, declared the laurel his sacred tree, and from that day forward he wore a wreath of laurel leaves. The myth has been retold in countless versions, and the laurel became the symbol of poetic and athletic achievement.
The Musical Contests
Apollo was famous for his musical contests. He defeated the satyr Marsyas in a contest with the flute, and as punishment for Marsyas’s hubris in challenging a god, he had the satyr flayed alive. He also competed with Pan, the goat-god, in a musical contest judged by Midas, who foolishly preferred Pan’s pipes to Apollo’s lyre. Midas was punished with the donkey ears, and Apollo’s victory was confirmed.
The Children of Niobe
When Niobe, the queen of Thebes, boasted that she was superior to Leto because she had fourteen children while Leto had only two, Apollo and Artemis shot all of Niobe’s children with their arrows. Niobe wept until she was turned to stone, and the stone was said to weep eternally on Mount Sipylus.
The Trojan War
During the Trojan War, Apollo was the chief divine champion of the Trojans. He sent plague on the Greek camp at the beginning of the Iliad, and he guided the arrow that killed Achilles, the greatest of the Greek warriors. He also helped Hector, Paris, and the other Trojan heroes throughout the conflict.
The Cattle of Apollo
When Hermes was born, on the very first day of his life he stole Apollo’s cattle from the pastures of Pieria. To avoid leaving a trail, Hermes made the cattle walk backward, and he himself walked out of the cave where he was born in huge boots that disguised his footprints. When Apollo discovered the theft, he was furious, but he was eventually pacified when Hermes gave him the lyre, which he had invented by stringing a tortoise shell. The two became close companions, and Apollo later gave Hermes the caduceus in return.
The Worship of Apollo
The worship of Apollo was panhellenic, with major centers at:
- Delphi: The most famous of all Greek oracles, located on the slopes of Mount Parnassus in central Greece. The temple of Apollo housed the Pythia, the priestess who delivered the god’s prophecies.
- Delos: The island where Apollo was born, one of the most sacred sites of the Greek world. The temple of Apollo on Delos was a major pilgrimage destination.
- Didyma in Ionia: Another important oracle of Apollo, second only to Delphi.
- Claros in Ionia: An important oracle near Colophon.
- Patara in Lycia: A winter oracle of Apollo.
- Actium and other sites where temples of Apollo were built by generals in thanks for victory in battle.
The festivals of Apollo included the Pythian Games, held every four years at Delphi in honor of the god’s victory over Python, the Delia, held on the island of Delos in honor of his birth, and the Boedromia, celebrated in Athens.
Apollo in the Visual Arts
Apollo was one of the most frequently depicted figures in Greek art. He is typically shown as a young, beardless, athletic man, often with a lyre, a bow, or a laurel wreath. The most famous surviving statue of Apollo is the Apollo Belvedere, a Roman copy of a Greek original, now in the Vatican Museums. Other famous depictions include the Apollo of the west pediment of the temple of Zeus at Olympia, the Sauroktonos (Lizard-Slayer), the Barberini Apollo, and countless vase paintings.
The Legacy of Apollo
Apollo is one of the central gods of the Percy Jackson series and a recurring character in the God of War franchise. The Oresteia of Aeschylus and the Iphigenia plays of Euripides keep his role in the Trojan War in the modern stage repertoire. For the broader modern reception, see our guide to Greek mythology in modern culture.
A Note on Reading This Profile
A note on reading this profile. The scholarly consensus that Apollo ‘replaced’ the older chthonic serpent at Delphi (see Werner’s Studies in Greek Mythology and Greek Religion by Burkert) is not without critics. The alternative reading, of T. S. Eliot among others, is that the two figures (the older chthonic and the new Olympian) are not in succession but in coexistence, and the two cult-statues at Delphi are both worshipped. The page above gives the consensus reading without going into the controversy. The reader who wants the controversy should consult the Cambridge Companion to Greek Religion (2014), chapter 8.