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**Apollo The God of the Sun

Family** In [|Greek] and [|Roman mythology], Apollo is the son of Zeus, and Titaness Leto. He also has a twin sister, [|Artemis] They also have a couple more brothers and sisters; Ares, Hephaestus, Aphrodite, Hermes, and Dionysus. Apollo is the god of prophecy, archery, music, healing.When Apollo was four days old he killed Python, the serpent sent by Hera to torment his mother while she was pregnant with the twins. This was when she was trying to find a place to give birth to them. Zeus was very angered when he heard about Apollo killing the python so he ounished Apollo by making him like on earth as a mortal for nine years. He had to work for king of Thessaly, Admetus, as a shepard. The king treated Apollo so well that he made the king immortal. After this Apollo was also considered god of shepard, so people would scarifice wolf to him scince it was the enemy of shepards.

** Important Tasks ** **and information** Apollo was associated with law, philosophy, and the arts. He sometimes gave the gift of prophecy to mortals whom he loved, such as the Trojan princess Cassandra. Such so-called cures led to a myth in which Apollo was thought to have had a son, Asclepius. He was a mortal medical healer who was so successful that he was believed to have the ability to bring the dead back to life. Hades didn't like this, so, as a result to keep peace in the godly family, Zeus killed him with a thunderbolt. After his death, Aesculapius became a god and he was also placed among the constellations, where he is pictured as a man holding a serpent in his handsOne of the most important tasks that Apollo had to do was drive the sun across the sky in his Golden Chariot. After he returned from his first exile, Apollo took part in a plot by the Olympians, led by Poseidon, to overthrow Zeus’ reign as their ruler. All the gods and goddesses agreed that something had to change, that Zeus was proving to be too arrogant and heavy-handed. The attempted coup failed, but Zeus did try to do better from then on and was quite lenient in punishing all of them. Poseidon and Apollo were both sentenced to one year of manual labor, to be served on earth helping build the walls around [|Troy] while disguised as ordinary mortals.

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Love** Daphne was Apollo's first love. Daphne is the daughter of Peneus. Cupid got angry at Apollo for telling him to stop playing with arrows becasue they werent toys, so Cupid shot Apollo with one of his arrows so he would fall in love with the first person he saw. The first person Apollo saw was Daphne who Cupid shot with an arrow dipped in potaion to make her think love is repulsive. Apollo chased her through the woods, and she got so scared that she called for her father to save her. Peneus saved her by turning her into a laurel tree so that she could avoid Apollo. Apollo was so upset and disappointed that he broke off a branch from the laurel tree and twisted it into a wreath to wear in memory of his love. Among his many lovers, several were males; the most famous, being Hyacinthus, whom he accidentally killed in a game of discus. Apollo and Hyacinthus were playing a game of discuss and the god of wind, Zephyrus, was so jelous of thier relationship, that he blew a big wind when Apollo threw his discuss, which hit Hyacinthus in the head and instantly killed him by smashing his skull. To express his sorrow, Apollo immortalized the dying youth by turning him in the beautiful flower, the hyacinth that greets us each spring. Even though Apollo had many lovers, he was never married. The most famous mortal love of Apollo was Hecuba, the wife of the King of Troy. She gave birth to his son Troilius, and threw him Troy would not be defeted if he reached the age twenty, but he got killed by Achilles. One of Apollo's other male lovers was Cyparissus, unwich whom Apollo gave a deer as a gift of love to. The deer and Cyparissas became very close until oneday Cyparissus accidently threw his javalin and hit the deer causing it to die. Feeling so upset about the Acceidnt Cyparissas asked Apollo to let him cry forever, so Apollo turn him into a tree and the dripping sap is his tears.


 * Additional Information **Apollo also had a jealous streak. When Artemis fell in love with the hunter Orion, Apollo missed her company and affection. Aware that Orion was swimming in the ocean, Apollo ran to find Artemis and gathering up their bows and arrows, rushed down to the beach with her. Pointing to Orion’s head, barely visible on the horizon, Apollo said, “See that shiny thing bobbing in the waves? Bet you can’t hit that!” Artemis, a fierce competitor and exceptional archer accepted the wager. She unknowingly killed the man she loved. Apollo could be very harsh when he was mad. A woman claimed she was better then Leto, Apollo's mother, becasue she had fourteen children and Leto only had two. This angered Apollo so much that he killed all of her son's and his siter, Artemis, killed her daughter and the woman cried so hard that she turned into stone. He also had a man skinned alive for challanging him to to a flute compatition.



work cited "Apollo" 27 April 2009. <[]> "Apollo, god of the sun" __Apollo.__ 27 April 2009.  "Apollo: Greek God of Light" __Apollo.__ 27 April 2009. <[]> "Encyclopedia of Myths" __Apollo.__ 27 April 2009. <[]> "House Mythology" 27 April 2009. "Myth Man" __Apollo.__ 26 April 2009. <[]> "Wikipedia" __Apollo.__ 27 April 2009. <[]> "Greek Masterpieces" __Greek Art.__ 27 April 2009. <[]>