Apollo

Also known as: Apollo Decataphorus / Apollo Pythius / Apollo of the Borders / Apollo of the Ridgeway / Apollo the Guardian of the Streets / Apollo the Wolf-God / Archegetes / Averter of Locusts / Carnean Apollo / Corydus / Oncean Apollo / Phœbus / Pythian Apollo / Pythæan Apollo / Pæonian Apollo / Sitalcas / Thearian Apollo · Family: mythological · Role: god · First appears: Book 1 · Chapter 2

Early accounts place Apollo among the gods worshipped in temples and represented in statues, with works attributed to artists including Eubulides, Leochares, Calamis, and Phidias. His oracle at Delphi stopped a pestilence during the Peloponnesian War, and he was also said to drive locusts from the country. In Book 1, stories linked him with Creusa and Psamathe; he sent Punishment to Argos, and his oracle directed that Alcmene be buried at Megara.

In later accounts, Apollo and Artemis slew Pytho and went to be purified; traditions also connected him with the birth of Coronus, Zeuxippus, and Linus. He was associated with the contest against Marsyas, and with Hyacinthus, whose burial place received offerings before sacrifices to Apollo. At Gythium, he and Hercules jointly built the town after their contest for the tripod. Apollo’s worship spread among the Dorians through Carnus, while his oracle and temples remained central to accounts of offerings, festivals, and divine responses.

In the books that follow, Apollo is described as defeating Hermes in running and Ares in boxing, and joining Artemis in killing the children of Niobe. Stories tell of his pursuit of Marpessa and Bolina, and of his sons by Melia, including Tenerus, to whom he granted divination. He killed Caanthus after the latter set fire to his grove, and slew Otus, Ephialtes, and Linus. At Delphi, Phemonoe became his first priestess and reciter of hexameter oracles; Apollo received the oracle from Themis and later gave Poseidon a share at Calauria. The temple was plundered by Pyrrhus (son of Achilles) and, later, Nero, while votive offerings and dedications to Apollo continued across the accounts.