Katherine Lambert

Oedipus and Greek Mythology

I was intrigued by the frequent mention of the Greek god, Apollo, so I did a little a work and cleared up some confusion.

Apollo, simply put, was one of the most powerful gods in Greek mythology. He was the god of arts, archery, and divination, but had dominion over the plague, light, healing, colonists, medicine, archery, poetry, prophecy, dance, reason, intellectualism and as the patron defender of herds and flocks (Wikipedia.com). He also sometimes named as leader of the Muses.

He was the son of Zeus and the Leto and the twin of the goddess Artemis. When Zeus' wife, Hera, found out Leto was pegnant, she forbid the birth on her land. Leto eventually found the island Delos, but Hera kidnapped the goddess of childbirth to prevent the birth. However, Ilithyia was released and Apollo and Artemis were born.

As a baby, Apollo killed Python, but was bannned from Olympus for nine years. When his exile was over, he founded his cult in Delphi (mentioned in Oedipus). Apollo had countless affairs with men and women, but only birthed one son, Asclepeius, with Coronis, the daughter of a King of the Lapiths.

"Apollo is usually shown as a manly, beardless youth of great beauty, his head crowned with laurel leaves, either the bow or his lyre in his hand. His tree was the laurel. Many creatures were sacred to him, chief among them the dolphin and the crow. One of the Seven Wonders of the ancient world, the Colossus of Rhodes, was actually a statue of Apollo. Many festivals were held in his honor, the most famous of which were the Pythian Games, celebrated at Delphi every three years."- allaboutturkey.com

Through my research, I believe Apollo was such a prominent figure because of his strength and apparent "versatility." He was god and leader to so many different areas, that it seems Oedipus and his Greek followers admired Apollo and his many feats.

For more info:

http://www.allaboutturkey.com/gods3.htm

http://www.loggia.com/myth/apollo.html

http://www.loggia.com/myth/apollo.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo

Posted by KatherineLambert at September 25, 2005 06:22 PM