Apollo: God of Light & Music in Greek Mythology (7 Facts)

Apollo was one of the most celebrated gods in ancient Greece. Counted among the Olympian gods in both Greek and Roman mythology, Apollo was a bringer of life and light. He embodied the Hellenic ideal of kalokagathia, a unity of physical beauty and outstanding moral value, but he could also be petty and vengeful in stories from Greek myth. In art, he is often portrayed as the ideal kouros, a male athletic youth with a laurel wreath on his head. Son of Zeus and Leto, Apollo became the much-revered god of the sun and light on Mount Olympus. Such was his power; he was the only major god to remain the same throughout ancient Greek and Roman mythology. But he was a complex deity who assumed further roles as his life unfolded. The following six facts answer the question: what is Apollo the god of in the Greek world?

 
The son of Zeus and Leto, Apollo’s twin sister is Artemis, the Greek goddess of the hunt. While he is associated with the sun, she is considered a goddess of the moon. She was known as Diana by the Romans. His twin sister Artemis was also crowned the protector of pregnant women and the young.

 
Their birth was a challenging one because Hera, angry at her husband’s infidelity with Leto, forbade all the lands of the world to shelter Leto while she gave birth. Eventually, the island of Delos agreed to help Leto, and consequently, Apollo was closely associated with Delos as Delian Apollo. Because Artemis was born just before Apollo, she helped her mother safely bring her younger brother into the world. Although they had separate duties, in some myths, Artemis and Apollo worked together.

 
In the tragic myth of Niobe, a woman named Niobe insults the twins’ mother, Leto, by boasting about how many children she has. In an act of brutal revenge, Artemis and Apollo killed all of Niobe’s children before her eyes. Ruined by grief, Niobe begs for an end to her pain, and Zeus transforms her into a rock to turn her feelings to stone. But Niobe continues to cry, releasing an endless stream of water that represents a mother’s eternal mourning.

2. Apollo Was a God of the Sun and Light

 
Apollo’s most celebrated role in Greek mythology is as the god of sun and light. In this role, his duties often overlapped with those of Helios, the deified sun. In some myths, the Greeks even describe them as the same deity. Apollo personified the qualities of the sun with his glowing golden hair, and, like Helios, he was responsible for bringing the sun to the earth each day while riding on a golden chariot. Because of this, he was often described as “Phoebus,” meaning bright and pure.

 
Apollo was also arrogant about his musical talent. Once, the Greek god Pan had the audacity to challenge Apollo to a musical contest, playing pipes while Apollo played his lyre. While almost everyone there agreed that Apollo played without equal, King Midas was present and, as a follower of Pan, claimed to prefer his music. Apollo was so enraged that he replaced his ears with those of a donkey because he clearly had the hearing of an ass.

4. Apollo Was Associated with Fertility and Healing

 
Apollo’s solar qualities naturally connected him with growth and healing as Apollo Paion (healer). One of his major roles in popular religion was to keep away the evil energy and spirits that bring ill health, so he was sometimes called apotropaios (evil averting) or alexikakos (keeping off ill). In the Trojan War, Apollo is the healer among the gods, but also the bringing of disease and death, sending a plague against the Greeks. Knowing that Apollo can also prevent plague, the Greeks purify themselves in a ritual and make sacrifices to Apollo. He was also the father of Asclepius, who would become the god of healing and reportedly taught him many healing secrets.

 
From the Archaic period, Apollo was an important oracular god among the Greeks. He had several oracular sites, such as those at Didyma and Claros, but his most famous was at Delphi. After slaying the deadly Python, a monster created to overthrow Zeus, at the shrine of Delphi, he took possession of the oracle of Delphi and became the patron god of the city. One of the most prominent buildings within Delphi was the stone temple of Apollo, built by priests from Knossos in the 7th century BCE. Today, we can still visit Delphi and see the ruins of this once-sacred site.

 
Many stories in Greek mythology see the Greek god being consulted and his oracles being misinterpreted with disastrous results. While Apollo had many Greek festivals, his principal festival was the Pythian games, held at Delphi every four years. They were considered the second most important games behind the Olympics.

6. Apollo Remains Unwed But Had Many Lovers

 
In some ways, Apollo matched his sister, who was a virgin goddess, in that he remained unwed. But he had many lovers, both male and female, human and divine. He is said to have made love to all nine muses, being unable to choose between them. He may have been the father of Scylla by Hecate and had affairs with more than one of the daughters of Poseidon. But his most famous lovers were his male lovers, including the Spartan prince Hyacinth, Cyparissus, a descendant of Heracles who Apollo turned into a Cypress tree at his own request, and even Adonis, who was also a lover of Aphrodite and Persephone.

 
One of the most famous myths about Apollo’s love affairs is his pursuit of Daphne, a nymph who has sworn to remain a virgin. She turns herself into a laurel tree rather than lose her chastity to the god.

 
The Romans usually identified gods in their own pantheon with Greek gods, for example, connecting Jupiter with Zeus and Mars with Ares. While they were native Roman gods that were not identical to their Greek counterparts, they took on so much Greek mythology that they became almost equivalent. But Apollo had no Roman equivalent and was adopted directly from the Greeks. According to tradition, some of the Roman kings consulted Apollo’s oracle at Delphi. His first temple was dedicated in Rome in 430 BCE. Augustus later considered the god his patron and dedicated the spoils of the Battle of Actium to Apollo.

 
Originally published: April 28, 2022. Last update: February 18, 2025, by Jessica Suess.