- Apollo's pet is a raven because it's one of his symbols.
Although his sacred animals were the wolf, the raven and the dolphin, Apollo was also known as the god of cowherds and kept (bright red) sacred cows, the finest cattle in the world.
Hephaestus was the god of craftsmanship and fire, and the donkey, the guard dog, and the crane were all considered his sacred animals. He was often represented in art riding a donkey, a symbol of stoic patience and loyalty, while the temple of the god on Aetna had a pack of sacred dogs as guards.
Wolves and hawks were sacrificed to Apollo, and the birds sacred to him were the hawk, raven, and swan.
In the myth, Apollo falls madly in love with Daphne, a woman sworn to remain a virgin. Apollo hunts Daphne who refuses to accept his advances. Right at the moment he catches her, she turns into a laurel tree, a scene famously depicted in Bernini's Apollo and Daphne sculpture.
As Ovid tells it, the god Apollo insulted Cupid and suffered his wrath. Cupid's alchemical arrows caused Apollo to be obsessed with the nymph Daphne, and caused Daphne to find Apollo repulsive.
The most celebrated of his loves were the nymph Daphne, princess Koronis (Coronis), huntress Kyrene (Cyrene) and youth Hyakinthos (Hyacinthus). The stories of Apollo's lovers Daphne and Kyrene can be found on their own separate pages--see the Apollo pages sidebar.
POENE (Poine) A she-dragon sent by Apollo to ravage the kingdom of Argos as punishment for the death of his infant son Linos. It was slain by the hero Coraebus.
One of Apollo's most important daily tasks was to harness the four horses (Aethon, Pyrois, Phlegon, Eous) that were pulling his golden chariot, in order to pull the Sun across the sky every day.
Apollo was considered to be the most handsome of all the gods. He was always depicted as having long, golden hair – the same color as the sun. He was tall and had plenty of muscles. Even though he was depicted as being fairly calm, he had a temper, just like his father.
The Greeks sometimes equated Bastet with one of their goddesses, Artemis. Bastet was depicted by Egyptians with the head of a cat and the slender body of a woman. Sometimes, Basted was venerated as just a cat head.
The primary job of Cerberus in Greek mythology was as a watchdog for the underworld. He was also a faithful servant to Hades, who was the god of the underworld. Cerberus is most often depicted moving along the banks of the river Styx.
Bastet is probably the best-known feline goddess from Egypt. Initially depicted as a lioness, Bastet assumed the image of a cat or a feline-headed woman in the 2nd millennium BCE. Although she combined both nurturing and violent qualities, her shielding and motherly aspects typically were emphasized.
The constellation Corvus represents the raven (or crow), Apollo's sacred bird in Greek mythology. According to the myth, the raven originally had white feathers. In one story, Apollo told the bird to watch over Coronis, one of his lovers.
The raven is a symbol of Apollo's anger. Once all ravens were white birds or so goes the myth, but after delivering bad news to the god he scorched the wings of the raven so that all ravens going forward were black.
space. Never-before-heard audio tapes have revealed astronaut Neil Armstrong's biggest fear on the Apollo 11 mission wasn't dying or never seeing his family again — it was failure.
Thus, when Apollo was grown he wanted to avenge his mother's plight and pursued Python, making his way straight for Mount Parnassus where the serpent dwelled and chased it to the oracle of Gaia at Delphi; there he dared to penetrate the sacred precinct and kill it with his arrows beside the rock cleft where the ...
Cassandra was given the gift of prophecy, but was also cursed by the god Apollo so that her true prophecies would not be believed.
Artemis was the daughter of Zeus and Leto and the twin sister of Apollo.
Weaknesses: Like his father Zeus, Apollo gets in trouble over love. Birthplace: 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 was never married.
Python, in Greek mythology, a huge serpent that was killed by the god Apollo at Delphi either because it would not let him found his oracle, being accustomed itself to giving oracles, or because it had persecuted Apollo's mother, Leto, during her pregnancy.
Description. As with other archetypes, the Apollo archetype is not gender-specific. "Women often find that a particular [male] god exists in them as well, just as I found that when I spoke about goddesses men could identify a part of themselves with a specific goddess.
Ancient Greeks associated with Apollo a deep blue or violet precious gem called hyacinth. It was called so because its colour resembled that of the hyacinth flowers. This gem was held sacred to Apollo due to the mythological connection.
Upon his birth, Apollo fed on ambrosia and nectar, the primary foods of the gods, which sparked his immediate desire for both the lyre, a stringed musical instrument, and the bow (Hesiod, 1914).
He was unlucky in love
For all his weakness for nymphs and beautiful mortals, very few were willing to receive his advances. For example, the nymph Daphne ran away from him when he tried to pull her into his arms.