World Mythos

2nd century AD Roman statue of Apollo depicting the god's attributes - the lyre and the Python snake

When someone is said to resemble a Greek god , the god in question is Apollo, even though the speaker may not be aware of it. This alludes to his chiselled good looks, athletic body, and curly golden hair if not the amorous life-style that this would automatically entail. Apollo was born to Zeus and his lady love Leto after a very difficult pregnancy brought about by the horrific jealous anger of the missus Hera. Zeus’ legally wedded wife had every right to be angry, but she went all out after Leta and would not allow her to give birth on terra firma. So Leta wandered around till she came to the island of Delos which was not exactly terra firma since it was floating around. Having found her way around that one, she was now denied the assistance of Ilythia, the goddess of childbirth. But she managed to bribe her with a necklace and finally gave birth to Apollo and his twin sister Artemis.

The twins were very devoted to the mother and within four days of being born Apollo set about taking revenge on all who had given his mother a hard time, starting with the oracular dragon Python. He then took over from the dragon the business of prophesying at Delphi. Besides this he was also the god of the sun, music, poetry, dance, healing, and archery; the destroyer of pests such as rats and locusts, and the herder of sheep. He was known to appear in the form of a dolphin and had a soft corner for swans. He is normally depicted as holding or having around him a lyre, a crown of laurel leaves, bow and arrows, and a tripod which stood for his prophetic powers.

Apollo and Hyacinthus by Jacopo Caraglio; 16th c. Italian engraving

Like his father Zeus, he had a love for the ladies which made for a rather interesting biography. His great love for Daphne which she repulsed with equal fervour, found her turned into a laurel tree when he forcibly tried to embrace her. He plucked a few leaves off the tree, wore it on his head to pacify his broken heart, and proceeded on to other pursuits that didn’t have arboreal endings. Another conquest was Hecuba who bore him a son, Troilus. The fact that she was married to King Priam of Troy didn’t seem to matter much. In fact, Apollo pioneered new boundaries in permissibility and went on to seduce Cassandra her daughter with Priam. Cassandra bargained to be taught the powers of prophecy in return for her favours. Apollo proceeded to do so with all sincerity but then the lady changed her mind. The furious god cursed her with what we today know as Cassandra’s prophecy, where nobody believes a doomsday warning till it has come to pass.

All this probably caused the young god to lose faith in women and he is said to have turned his amorous attention to young men such as Hyacinthus and Cyparissus. He didn’t have much luck here either and these ended tragically as well. And so we have the hyacinth flower and the cypress tree to commemorate their sad fates to this day.