Friday, February 16, 2007

Apollo

Apollo, an oracular god, is the god of medicine. He also serves as the leader of the Muses and the director of their choir. Apollo not only dealt with the healing side of medicine he also brought the death-dealing plague.

Apollo is the sun of Zeus and Leto. His twin brother is Artemis. Apollo is most commonly associated with the lyre and the bow. During the Torjan War he shot arrows in the Greek encampment. These arrows were infected with the plague. Apollo did this in reaction to Agamemnon insulting Chryses, a priest of Apollo.

Apollo had numerous lovers, both male and female. He loved both goddesses and human princesses. All Apollos male lovers were younger than him. The reason for this was Apollo was the god of Palaestra. Palaestra was the gathering place for athletic youth. All the competitions and games were played in the nude. Many of these young lover's died "accidentally." You can read more about Apollos numerous lovers by clicking on the following link.

Apollo is most known in today's American culture for the space shuttle Apollo. This shuttle was name after the god. Appollo had great affect on Roman and Greek art. There are stories of musical contest that Apollo was involved in. He had an impact on many parts of life. To read more go to this link.

15 comments:

Robin Burkhalter said...

Aren't any of the gods actually good? It seems that all of them are a mixture of both good and bad. What's more, it seems that almost every story revolves around unbridled, and corrupted sexuality. They're so human, why would anyone ever want to worship them as a greater power?

Erica said...

I think it is kinda weird that the space shuttle was named after apollo! I mean since he is the god of medicine and everything you would think they would of named it after zeus or some other god.

Sarah Sumrall said...

iI think that it is very interesting how they named the space shuttle after Apollo. I have never known from where the name of the space shuttle Apollo came from.

cheryl j said...

Why do all of these gods seem to be so sexually uninhibited or perverse? Why so much emphasis on this aspect of their exsistence? Is it because of their power or a need to prove themselves or could it be to make the reading more interesting for some? Just want to know what someone else thinks?

Tracy Field said...

I found it contridicting that Apollo was the god of Healing but yet used his power for death and spread a plague. I too wonder why all of these gods are associated with sexual behavior and the emphasis on their numerous lovers. I also found it kind of repulsive that he was god of youth and in that lie with ones younger than he and both male and female. In reading this I felt he really did not do anything significant.

briandill said...

I think this guy is all messed up. His power of healing contradicts his killing of people. This was very informative. Good job.

Kyle said...

Haha I agree with what Robin said. How could people worship someone such as Apollo or any of the other gods for that matter? They all take advantage of mortals and other gods and goddess and have numerous affairs. Apollo even had relations with younger boys! I don't understand how a certain people could look up to someone like that.

stacy said...

Wow. This was interesting. When I first started reading I thought he would be a good god since he is the god of medicine. Buy him having multiple lovers that are male and female lost it for me. I found it disgusting that the males were so young. And you said some of them died?? That is horrible. I also never realized that he was named after the space shuttle.

Daisy said...

When i think of apollo i think automatically of the space shuttle i had no clue that the name came from one of the greek gods, i guess i learned something new today

Krista Walley said...

I have always wondered if the space shuttle was named after the god. It was also weird to me that he was the god of medicine and he used his powers for death and to spread a plaque. I also thought it was weird that he was bisexual. I don't know why he would be considered a god and why people would want to worship him.

Jennifer Hyatt said...

At first glance you read "Apollo" the god of healing and you seem very intersted about this god's accomplishments. As you continue to read you see that he really didn't do anything that special and didn't use his powers to the best of his abilities. With the power to heal he could have been a way stronger, more powerful god.

jan said...
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jan said...
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jan said...

Now this shows that homosexuality has been around for many years. For those who do not read or believe in the Bible they can read about it in greek mythology. Homer wouldn't have had any idea what it was if it wasn't around him.

Nicole said...

This story is very interested..i see he was a good of healing but used his power to kill people.. i do not think that is right. i could not believe he was gay..The male he dated was younger.. i just do not think it is right.. but i enjoyed reading about Apollo.