Chapter 7 Myths of the Great God Apollo ©2012 Pearson Education Inc.

APOLLO THE FAR-DARTER, GOD OF PROPHECY Apollo guided men to higher knowledge. ©2012 Pearson Education Inc.

God of Prophecy From Lycia (Asia Minor) < his epithet "Lycian"? Has elements from the north with the Hyperboreans. Mother Leto is perhaps a mother-earth goddess from Lycia or Crete. – Originally having nothing to do with Apollo or his sister Artemis ©2012 Pearson Education Inc.

God of Prophecy Sometimes he's the sun god. – Hence his association with Artemis (the moon goddess) His arrows bring plague and disease. – He's the god of mice and plagues the first time we see him in Homer

Fig. 7.1 Apollo and Dionysus at Delphi. (© The State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia ©2012 Pearson Education Inc.

God of Prophecy His epithet shows his origin Lycia or Lycus Delian (Twin of Artemis) Other stories associate him with the north – swans carried him to the land of the Hyperboreans – and thereafter he spent the winters there. ©2012 Pearson Education Inc.

Fig. 7.2 Temple of Apollo at Bassae ©2012 Pearson Education Inc. University of Wisconsin–Madison Photo Archive

THE BIRTH OF APOLLO ON DELOS The island that's "not on the earth." ©2012 Pearson Education Inc.

Birth of Apollo on Delos Two Homeric Hymns to Apollo – One tells of his birth Leto and Zeus Leto is persecuted by Hera – No land that sees the sun may let her give birth Delos not covered by the command. ©2012 Pearson Education Inc.

Birth of Apollo on Delos Iris gets Eileithyia to help with the delivery – She clutches a palm tree during the delivery – Delos becomes his sacred island as per the agreement ©2012 Pearson Education Inc.

Fig. 7.3 The Palm Tree on Delos ©2012 Pearson Education Inc. Author’s photo

APOLLO AT DELPHI The great sanctuary of Apollo at Delphi was one of the major Pan- Hellenic sites. ©2012 Pearson Education Inc.

Apollo at Delphi Apollo welcomed in Olympus He searches for a place for his cult. Telephusa's trick. Python and the serpent combat. ©2012 Pearson Education Inc.

Fig. 7.4 The temple of Apollo at Delphi. ©2012 Pearson Education Inc. V. Papaioannou; University of Wisconsin–Madison Photo Archive

Apollo at Delphi Apollo and the Cretan ship – Delphi < delphis "dolphin." Expiated the miasma at the Vale of Tempê. – Others, including Orestes, came to him for expiation and cleansing ©2012 Pearson Education Inc.

Fig. 7.5 Orestes is purified at Delphi. ©2012 Pearson Education Inc. Erich Lessing / Art Resource, New York

OBSERVATIONS: THE DELPHIC ORACLE The mechanisms of the prophecies are not well known. ©2012 Pearson Education Inc.

The Delphic Oracle Pan-Hellenic, even world site 800 BC – AD 394 Center of the world, marked by the omphalos Apollo spoke through a prophetess, the Pythia, seated on a tripod in the temple Obscurity: e.g., Croesus's prophecy, and the “the wooden walls” prophecy. ©2012 Pearson Education Inc.

The Delphic Oracle Also had moral overtones: – Nothing in excess – Know thyself ©2012 Pearson Education Inc.

Fig. 7.6 The priestess sat on or near a caldron on a tripod. ©2012 Pearson Education Inc. Staatliche Museen, Berlin; Bildarchiv Preußischer Kulturbesitz/Art Resource, New York

APOLLO’S UNHAPPY LOVES Apollo may have been the epitome of male beauty, but he was unlucky in love: Cassandra, Sibyl, Daphnê ©2012 Pearson Education Inc.

Fig. 7.7 Apollo and Daphnê ©2012 Pearson Education Inc. British Museum, London; © Trustees of the British Museum / Art Resource, New York

Apollo's Unhappy Loves Hyacinthus Coronis – Their son is the healing god Asclepius ©2012 Pearson Education Inc.

Fig. 7.8 The healing god, Asclepius, a son of Apollo. ©2012 Pearson Education Inc. Epidaurus Museum

PERSPECTIVE 7.1 Bernini’s Apollo and Daphnê ©2012 Pearson Education Inc.

Perspective 7.1 Gianlorenzo Bernini (Italian, 1598–1680), Apollo and Daphnê. ©2012 Pearson Education Inc. Villa Borghese, Rome; © Alinari/Art Resource, New York

OBSERVATIONS: APOLLO, GOD OF SHAMANS Like a shaman, Apollo can read the signs of nature. ©2012 Pearson Education Inc.

Apollo and Shamans Apollo resembles in many ways the traditional shaman ("he who knows") – He bridges the human and divine world, brings divine wisdom and prophecies, and heals He possess men and women, though in different ways. ©2012 Pearson Education Inc.

Fig. 7.9 Apollo intervenes in the battle between the centaurs and the Lapiths. His aristocratic calm, captured on the temple to Zeus, was an idealized image of the Hellenic spirit. ©2012 Pearson Education Inc. Olympia Museum; Alinari/Art Resource, New York

Apollo and Shamans His oracle lost much of its prestige after recommending surrender to the Persians, but it remained important for personal matters. – "Who is the wisest of men?" – "There is none wiser than Socrates." Closed down in AD 390 by the Roman Emperor Theodosius. ©2012 Pearson Education Inc.

End ©2012 Pearson Education Inc.