Phoebus+Apollo


 * Phoebus Apollo ** By Nate Inman and Emma Hennessy

More Commonly known as just "Phoebus" in Roman Mythology



** Summary of Character ** Phoebus Apollo, more commonly known as just “Apollo”, is the god of light, truth, archers, healing, music, the fine arts, and poetry. According to myths, his parents are the gods Zeus and Leto (Letona). Zeus abandoned Leto when she was pregnant with Apollo and his twin sister, Artemis, so she went from land to land looking for a place to have her children. No country would accept her, so she found the small island of Delos, which is where Apollo and Artemis were born. Apollo was given the lyre by Hermes and became an expert musician. The music he played was so beautiful that it made the gods forget everything else when they heard it. Since he was also the god of truth and light, he couldn’t lie, so many people, even kings, went to his oracle in Delphi seeking truth and wisdom on their problems. The oracle was considered to be the center of the Greek world.

** Analysis ** The myth of Apollo shows how advanced and civilized the Greeks were, because to have a god of music, poetry, and the fine arts, they first had to //have// music, poetry, and fine arts. It also shows that they can trust in things that they can’t see for themselves. If they were more dubious, then the gods and their legends wouldn’t exist. He shows what they thought of as appropriate behavior, too, because Apollo symbolized the peoples’ idea of a perfect man; he was an entertainer, good at running and archery, and handsome. The final thing that he shows about the Greek culture is that the art of storytelling was important to them. Since this was so common, many myths have multiple versions, since oral storytelling tends to twist and skew the original myths.

** Connections to Modern Day Values ** Apollo, being a complex god of many things, is not very difficult to compare to people of current day. For one, he would be considered a master musician because he is the god of music and played beautiful music on the lyre. Another comparison to Phoebus Apollo would be a movie star because of his dashing good looks, and his many talents. Finally, he could be compared to an Olympic archer; this is because he has, many times, used his bow skillfully in ancient mythology. Legend has it that he is actually the first winner of the Olympics in archery.

Citations:

"Apollo." Photograph. //Encyclopedia Mythica//. 1999. Web. 9 Nov 2011. <[].>

"Apollo." Photograph. //Camp// //Half-Blood// //Wiki//. Web. 9 Nov 2011. <[].>

"Apollo." Photograph. //Mythology Wiki//. Web. 9 Nov 2011. <[]>.

"Apollo." Photograph.//M// //lahanas//. Web. 9 Nov 2011. //.//

Hamilton, Edith. //Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes//. New York, NY: Grand Central Publishing, 1942. Print.