Apollo

An ancient Greek god of social order and law. Artwork shows Apollo as an ideal young man, just reaching maturity, often holding a bow or a lyre. He seems especially to have been the protector of young men as they became old enough to enter public life. More broadly, Apollo was a god of order and justice. As such, the Greeks routinely consulted him when they were thinking of establishing colonies. In addition, Apollo was associated with herding, music, and prophecy. It has been popular to suggest that Apollo was a god of the sun. That view was common among Hellenistic and Roman writers. (Hellenistic literature is Greek literature after Alexander the Great [d. 323 B.C.E.]) But Apollo's connections with the sun always played a very minor role in his worship. Apollo had two important sanctuaries. The fi rst was the sacred island of Delos in the Aegean Sea; the ancient Greeks said that Apollo and his sister ARTEMIS were born there. The second was the sanctuary at Delphi in central Greece, the site of a famous oracle, that is, a means of consulting the god. Apollo shared the sanctuary at Delphi with the god Dionysos. At Delphi, individuals or communities would put questions to the Sybil, a priestess of Apollo. According to legend, she would breathe vapors, enter a trance, and provide an answer. Then Apollo's priests would communicate the answer in the form of ambiguous poetry. A famous example is the oracle given to Croesus: "If you go to battle, you will destroy a great kingdom." Encouraged by these words, Croesus attacked Persia—and lost his kingdom. Scholarly research suggests that the procedures and responses at Delphi were actually more mundane. Questioners manipulated black and white beans, and the god supposedly used them to reveal yes and no answers. Europeans and North Americans commonly see Apollo as a god of enlightenment and reason. A good example is the German philosopher, Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900). This image of Apollo derives largely from Hellenistic and Roman mythwriters. Nevertheless, many see this Apollo as embodying distinctively Greek characteristics.