Apollo

Heartbroken  By bruno2914 and shiv shane   Free robux for all just give 1 mil robux unlimited bargains Imagine being a Greek god: Unlimited power, worshiped by the Greeks, brave, attractive, not to mention being immortal. Apollo had it made, right? As the god of music and poetry, prophecy and oracles, healing, plague and disease, and archery, one might think he had a perfect life, but, readers, I beg to differ. Once people begin to look deeper into Apollo's stories, they see that there is a reason Apollo wasn’t married. Apollo was brave and loving, and, despite his godly status, heartbroken (Bolton). Every great legend starts with a beginning. Apollo’s began with quite a boom, which of course, started with his conception. The King of Gods, Zeus, though married to Hera, had a lustful affair with one of the minor Titans, Leto, conceiving both Apollo and his sister, Artemis (Atsma, Leto). In her jealousy, Hera pursued Leto relentlessly and cursed her with the inability to give birth on land, allowing her no time to rest and give birth. The goddess also sent a dreadful serpent, Python, daughter of Gaia and guardian of the oracle at Delphi, after the poor mother. After much distress, Leto eventually found refuge on a floating island, Delos, which provided a clever loophole to the goddess’s curse (Encyclopedia Mythica). With the aid of all of the gods, except Hera of course, the great Titan finally gave birth to twins: Apollo and Artemis. Soon after hearing of the trouble that the serpent had caused his mother, four day old Apollo begged Hephaestus, god of technology and blacksmith, for a bow and arrows. Apollo used these tools to hunt down and slay Python in a sacred cave at Delphi. Later, the Pythian Games, in which people competed in athletics, music, and poetry, were held here every four years in honor of the celebrated event (McLeish).

By killing the Python, Apollo didn’t only begin the sacred Pythian Games; he also became the first god to acquire the gift of prophecy (McLeish). Delphi was the most sacred and famous shrine in the entire Greek nation and because Apollo killed its guardian, the gift was given to him. Some myths say that his tutor was Themis, a Titan who was the oracle at the time. Others disagree and say that Pan was his teacher. After he had learned the ways of prophecy, Apollo himself became the Oracle of Delphi, an important job in which he answered select questions about the past, present, and future. The divine intervention only occurred nine days out of the year, and even then, only a select few had their questions answered. All the same, pilgrims traveled from all over Greece in hopes that they could get an answer from the great god. Because the few questions Apollo foresaw were almost never replied with a straight forward answer, the process was extremely frustrating. One story gives an example of this perfectly. When Croseus, King of Lydia, asked if he should invade enemy territory, he was told that a great nation was to be destroyed. It was only later that he realized that the great nation was his own. Although the tradition was disheartening, it never lost its popularity and continued on until years later when the Romans defeated the Greeks and the shrine was destroyed (Bolton).

There are many other legends about Apollo, but one of his most famous, perhaps even more so than his battle with Python, is his musical contest with a satyr named Marsyas. The legend goes that the satyr had acquired a flute that was made and dropped by Athena herself and that he began bragging that his flute could play better music than Apollo’s lyre. Filled with fury, the god challenged the heretic to a music contest, which, of course, he accepted. Several muses were chosen to judge the competition, and it was decided that the winner could do whatever he wished with the loser. During the first round, the muses decided that the two had played equally well and declared it to be a tie. Apollo, being a competitive god, challenged Marsyas to a second round, in which they were to play the instruments upside down. In the heat of the competition, the poor satyr never stopped to realize that, while the lyre could be played upside down, it was impossible to do so with the flute, whether it be god-made or not. Not too long after, Marsyas lost the challenge. As punishment for his arrogance, Apollo hung the satyr from a pine tree and skinned him alive. The legend says that his blood and tears formed an entire river, Marsyas (Bolton).

Although wrathful, Apollo was also extremely caring for his family, especially Artemis and Leto. When Apollo was only four days old he took on a great dragon, the Python, to avenge his mother’s harassment during pregnancy. Other legends also describe the care for his family. Once, a mortal woman by the name of Niobides bragged to Leto that she had fourteen children, seven times what Leto bore. To punish the woman for her foolishness, Apollo and his sister Artemis teamed up and killed all of her children, Apollo taking the boys and Artemis taking the girls (Atsma, Leto). Despite this, other legends, contradict these and say that at one point, Apollo, among other gods, tried to rebel and overthrow Zeus, Apollo’s father. As punishment for his crimes against both his father and his king, Apollo, along with @Poseidon, was sent to be a slave to a mortal king for an entire year, working as a bricklayer. The human king was cruel to the gods and was therefore, punished, after their terms had been served (Bolton). Being a god with such talent and good looks, Apollo, interestingly, never married, though he did have several affairs with muses, mortals, and nymphs. Apollo was attracted to both men and women, and although he did have plenty of lovers and had many children as a result, the stories in which Apollo actually loved someone always ended in heartbreak. Despite Apollo's godly status, many of the ones he loved weren't interested and tricked him. One example would be Cassandra, who was said to be the most beautiful of all of King Priam's children. Regardless of Apollo's desperate advances, the mortal would not yield to him. In turn, Apollo offered to bargain with Cassandra, and agreed to teach her the art of prophecy if she would promise to accept him. Cassandra agreed and soon learned the art, but refused to hold up her end of the deal. Full of anger, Apollo cursed the woman to never be believed when she made a prophecy. Several times during the Trojan War, she tried to convince others that her prophecies were true, but to no avail. This was not the only time that Apollo's lovers resorted to trickery. When Apollo was infatuated with Sinope, a wood nymph whom was also adored by Zeus, she decided to fool both of them separately. She pretended to have surrendered to each of the gods and asked to be granted one wish in return for her love. Both gods fell for the trap and foolishly agreed. Once the gods asked what her wish would be, she simply asked to be a virgin for eternity. One would think that Apollo especially loved nymphs, because soon after the incidence with Sinope, he fell for a mountain nymph named Daphne, perhaps one of his most famous lovers. It turns out that, after bragging to Eros, god of love, that his arrows were better crafted, the vengeful god decided to shoot Apollo with one of his gold-tipped arrows, which caused him to fall for the beautiful Daphne. He then shot the nymph with one of his lead tipped arrows, which cause her to be resistant to all romantic advances. Daphne eventually got so sick of being pursued by Apollo that she called upon her father, a river god, and was turned into a laurel tree, which was later made into Apollo's sacred plant (Bolton). Like his father, Zeus, Apollo not only fell for women, but also for men. One account says that, Hyacinthus, a young Spartan prince, was loved by both Apollo, and Zephyros, god of the west wind. After much self-debate, he chose Apollo, sending Zephyros into a rage of jealousy. While Apollo and the prince were playing discus together, Zephyros decided to get his revenge. He blew the discus off course which in turn caused it to strike Hyacinthus in the head, leaving him lifeless. Saddened by the loss of his lover, Apollo transformed his dead body into a flower and named it Hyacinth in honor of his friend's passing (Atsma, Hyacinthus). In conclusion, despite Apollo's godly upbringing, amazing gifts, and caring and courageous personality, his many attempts at love always seemed to end in heartbreak. I think that people can learn a lot from the stories about Apollo: that even though it may seem like a person has it great, they might be absolutely miserable. If people learned about these legends, they might understand that people shouldn't judge others without knowing who they are as a person and what they've been through.


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