Welcome back to Mount Olympus... I mean, Tiny Epics!
In this video we'll explore the bright Olympian god Apollo and a few of his fascinating myths.
We'll unveil some of his more hidden sides too,
like his role as the god of prophecy at his mysterious oracle at Delphi.
There's plenty of adventure too,
like the crazy story of his birth involving a giant serpent-dragon named Python.
And what Greek myth would be complete without a little romance... and tragedy?
Like the heartbreaking story of Apollo and Hyacinth.
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"Apollo is a beautiful figure in Greek poetry," writes Edith Hamilton...
"The master musician who delights Olympus as he plays on his golden lyre.
The lord too of the silver bow! The archer god--far shooting.
The healer, as well, who first taught men the healing art.
He's the god of light in whom there's no darkness at all.
And so he is the god of truth.
Apollo's most famous nickname is Phoebus.
It means "bright one" and indicates his connection to the sun.
but apollo is not the sun god that role belongs to an older divinity the titan named helios
in contrast to helios as the literal embodiment of the sun apollo's role is much more
nuanced he reflects the light from the sun yes but he also inspires and his worshippers
an inward kind of spiritual radiance
apollo loves to be in the company of strong and independent women like the delightful muses or his
twin sister artemis with whom he shares a love of archery an art form which they invented together
but don't assume apollo can't fight just because he's a refined and rather sensitive god
he's incredibly powerful too when he needs to be and can cause plague or instant death with his
arrows this is the small mystical island of delos famous the world over as the birthplace of apollo
and his sister the story of their birth begins with zeus getting it on with a titan s named lito
and quickly escalates into a bizarre soap opera-like episode here's how one version goes
after making love with zeus lito became pregnant with his divine offspring apollo and artemis
but zeus was already married to his sister hira when hira found out that her brother
husband cheated on her with lido she unleashed her fury on the beautiful goddess and cursed
her to be rejected by all the lands of the earth hera whose wrath was far from satiated
decided to also send the creature python child of gaia to hunt her down when she thought that
all hope was lost and she would be consumed by the beast lido suddenly heard the voice of her
unborn child inside her head apollo's voice guided her to the magical floating island called delos
since the island itself wandered and therefore was technically
not considered land lido was welcomed there and gave birth to her divine twins under a palm tree
all the goddesses except hira of course were present to witness the spectacular event
look at that a happy ending unless of course you side with hira in this situation
shortly after his birth the precocious apollo avenged his mother leto by hunting down python
and slaying the creature with his silver arrows i picture him somehow doing this as a fat little
baby since it's uncertain how long the greek gods remained babies but i guess time is irrelevant to
the gods and 18 years can pass in the mere blink of an eye the killing of python took place at the
site of what would become apollo's oracle at delphi located under towering mount parnassus
ancient greeks believed that delphi was both the spiritual and literal center of the world
it should be mentioned that the creature python was sometimes described
not as a monster but as an earth spirit who possessed its own powers of prophecy
python served as the guardian of the site at delphi long before apollo claimed it for himself
the high priestess at delphi was called pithia by the way stemming from the sacred serpent python
this is a recurring feature in greek mythology the new order conquers the
old but pays tribute to the earlier power it supplants the serpent was a highly potent
symbol throughout the ancient greek world and connects to apollo in his role as a healer
as apollo son asclepius god of medicine is seen with a serpent entwined around his staff
edith hamilton described the mysterious ritual that occurred at apollo shrine at delphi she wrote
no other shrine rivaled it the answers to the questions asked by the anxious seekers of truth
were delivered by a priestess who went into a trance before she spoke the trance was supposed
to be caused by a vapor rising from a deep cleft in the rock over which her seat was placed
a three-legged stool called the tripod she goes on to write apollo at delphi was a purely
beneficent power a direct link between gods and men guiding men to know the divine will
apollo's love affairs are a late development in mythology and they tend to show him as a
less otherworldly figure and as a much more human one apollo is known to have had female
as well as male lovers but he doesn't seem to be very lucky when it comes to love certainly
not in the story i'm about to tell you there was once a spartan prince named hyacinth who was so
beautiful that apollo and zephyrus god of the west wind both fell in love with him at first sight
hyacinth chose the radiant apollo but unfortunately the two had a very short-lived
romance one day apollo and hyacinth played a game involving a metal discus apollo threw first with
such strength that the discus ripped through the clouds in the sky hyacinth ran to catch it and
impress apollo but as the discus hit the ground it bounced back hitting the unlucky prince in the
head and fatally wounding him apollo tried to use his healing powers on his dying lover but
nothing worked the injury was too severe too much blood had been lost he cried out towards olympus
but it was too late nothing could be done to save him when hyacinth died in his arms apollo wept
golden tears and blamed himself for the tragedy that had unfolded
he loved hyacinth so much that he wished to become human himself so that he could die and
join his lover in the underworld as that was of course impossible for a god apollo
promised that he would always remember hyacinth in his songs and in the sweet music of his liar
it's said that apollo also created a flower in his honor from the blood
that fell from the prince's beautiful curly hair he named it the hyacinth in his honor
and it was considered by the greeks to be the most beautiful of all flowers
i really hate to say goodbye to you on this tragic note but i think i've already given you
all quite a lot to process but don't worry we can console each other in the comments section
let me know what you thought of the video and please hop into the conversation with any thoughts
you may have about apollo or any of his myths if you'd like to learn about his twin sister artemis
just tap the link that appears on your screen or click on the link i've provided in the description
as always thank you so much for watching