Fast Facts on Apollo

Greek God of the Sun

By deTraci Regula, About.com Guide

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A coin depicting Apollo Greek God of the Sun.

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Apollo's Appearance: A young man with curly golden hair.

Symbol or Attribute of Apollo: The Sun itself, the lyre (a type of musical instrument), the bow, and the chariot he drives across the sky daily, borrowed from an earlier pre-Greek Sun god, Helios.

Apollo's Strengths: Creative, handsome, supportive of all the arts of civilization.

Apollo's Weaknesses: Like his father Zeus, Apollo is all too happy to enjoy the charms of nymphs, as well as the occasional youth, and his conquests number in the dozens.

Birthplace of Apollo: On the sunny Greek island of Delos, where he was born along with his twin sister, Artemis. Another tradition gives the islands of Lato, now called Paximadia, off the southern coast of Crete.

Spouse: Apollo had many encounters, but no marriages. Flings with Cassandra, to whom he gave the gift of prophecy; Daphne, who fled from his embrace and turned into a laurel tree; and Calliope, with whom he had a child, Orpheus.

Apollo's Children: The enchanting semi-divine singer Orpheus and Asklepios, also spelled Asclepius, Aesculapius and other variants, the god of healing, are the most famous of Apollo's offspring.

Some Major Temple Sites of Apollo: The mountain town of Delphi, where a few columns from an early temple of Apollo still stand. The island of Delos is also sacred to him, but there is no temple remaining there today.

Apollo in some places replaced an earlier solar god, Helios. High mountain tops were sacred to Helios, and today, churches dedicated to Saint Elias are often found on these same spots.

Basic Story: Apollo was the son of the supreme Greek god Zeus and Leto, a nymph. Zeus's wife Hera was outraged and convinced the earth to refuse to allow Leto to give birth anywhere on its surface. But the island of Delos allowed Leto to take refuge there and give birth to Apollo and his twin sister, Artemis, goddess of the hunt and wild things. The goddess Themis assisted in raising him by feeding him ambrosia, the sacred nectar of the gods.

Interesting Fact: Apollo Delphinus or Delphinius was the dolphin-form of the god and was revered at Delphi - despite its location high in the mountains. He was also believed to have destroyed an evil serpent at Delphi, and took over as the patron god of the famous oracle there.