Apollo

Also known as: Delian God / Delphian God / God of Delphi / Phoebus / Phœbus / Pythius / Pæan / Sun / Titan / son of Latona / the Divinity / the God / the Sun / youthful God · Family: deities · Role: sun god · First appears: Fable 1

In Fable 1, Apollo is identified with Phœbus, the Sun, and named as Diana’s brother; in Fable 9, Themis is said to have given oracular responses at Delphi before him. In Fable 11, Apollo kills Python with his arrows, institutes the Pythian games to commemorate the victory, and takes the surname Pythius. In Fable 12, Cupid wounds him with desire for Daphne, who is struck with aversion to love; when she is transformed, Apollo declares, “at least thou shalt be my tree,” and promises her lasting honors. Later, in Fables 17–18, he confirms to Phaëton that he is his father and grants him command of the solar chariot for a day, despite the danger.

In Fable 24, after learning from a raven that Coronis has been unfaithful, Apollo kills her with an arrow, then rescues their unborn child from the funeral flames and carries him to Chiron. In Fable 26, Mercury steals Apollo’s oxen; in Fable 30, Apollo’s oracle directs Cadmus where to build a city, and Cadmus follows his instructions. In Fable 56, Apollo and Diana kill Niobe’s daughters to avenge the affront to their mother. In Fable 58, he defeats Marsyas in a flute contest and flays him alive.

In Fable 85, Apollo transforms Cyparissus into a cypress after the youth’s grief becomes perpetual. In Fable 87, a rebounding quoit fatally wounds Hyacinthus; Apollo laments, accepts responsibility—“I am the author of thy destruction”—and inscribes his mourning on the flower that springs from Hyacinthus’s blood. His honors continue in Sparta with an annual festival. In Fable 93, Apollo drives a serpent away from Orpheus and turns its open jaws to stone.

In Fable 95, Pan challenges Apollo to a musical contest judged by Tmolus, who declares Apollo’s music superior. When Midas calls the judgment unjust, Apollo changes his ears to those of an ass. In Fable 96, Apollo and Neptune build Troy’s walls for Laomedon. In Fable 104, he offers the Sibyl years of life in return for yielding to his desire; she chooses years corresponding to grains of sand but does not ask to retain her youth. In Fable 110, Apollo’s oracle directs Rome to seek his son, Æsculapius, for relief from pestilence.