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).
Apollo liked cows…but he liked music more.
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.
1962: Beef and liver in a tube
His meals were far less exciting than his mission as he had to eat pureed beef, liver and vegetables from a tube as he orbited Earth. He squeezed chocolate sauce from a different tube for dessert.
Apollo made the laurel his sacred tree. He appropriated the laurel wreath, since then called Daphne in Greek, for champions and those who strived for excellence in their chosen fields, e., in the ancient Olympic Games all the champions were crowned with a Daphne.
Aphrodite: Passion tango iced tea. Actually, hot. Apollo: Tall black coffee, no room.
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.
It is said that Daphne was the first love of Apollo but unfortunately the girl never responded his love. It was not usual or possible for a nymph or a mortal woman in the Greek mythology to resist to the love of a god, but Daphne did so and in fact, she lost her life trying to escape this love.
Music as a Driver of Brain Plasticity
Apollo's gift, music, is one of the richest human emotional, sensory-motor, and cognitive experiences. It involves listening, watching, feeling, moving and coordinating, remembering, and expecting musical elements.
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.
There are some color associations that are intuitive to the modern mind (e.g. black for Hades, blue for Poseidon, red for Ares, gold for Apollo, etc), but did the ancients associate particular gods with particular colors?
The nymph was turned into a laurel bush, leaving Apollo to worship its leaves. His attributes include the laurel wreath and lyre. He often appears in the company of the Muses. Animals sacred to Apollo include roe deer, swans, cicadas, hawks, ravens, crows, foxes, mice, and snakes.
Apollo, the god of music, prophecy, and poetry, was associated with several different animals. He was associated with hawks, ravens, and crows, though to be his messengers since he also transformed Daedalion into a hawk when he cast himself off Parnassus to commit suicide.
so, 7 is the sacred number of Apollo and Artemis.
Having fallen head over heels for the mortal man Hyacinthus, the god Apollo gives up his shrine at Delphi, his famous lyre, and his bow and arrow, to spend all his time with his new love. On one tragic day, while the couple is having a friendly competition of discus throwing, Apollo makes a throw that cuts the clouds.
The lyre—which is perhaps his most well-known symbol—signifies that Apollo is the god of music. In ancient myths, the god Hermes created the lyre and gave it to Apollo in exchange for the rod of health—or for the cows that the mischievous Hermes had stolen from Apollo.
Apollo. White: Apollo is strongly associated with the sun, with archery, with truth-telling, and with healing.
Asclepius is said to have been Apollo's favorite demigod child. Asclepius became even more skilled in medicine than his father Apollo, most likely because he devoted all of his time to it.
In Greek mythology, ravens are associated with Apollo, the God of prophecy. They are said to be a symbol of bad luck, and were the gods' messengers in the mortal world. According to the mythological narration, Apollo sent a white raven, or crow in some versions to spy on his lover, Coronis.
Most notably, Apollo's most beloved sacred plant was bay laurel (Laurus nobilis), which we use today as a common kitchen spice for soups and stews. Apollo's association with bay laurel began when he was struck by an arrow of Eros, the son of Aphrodite and the god of passion.
Apollo's Unhappy Love Affairs
Apollo was unlucky in a number of his love affairs; in fact, he seems never to have been happy in love. He fell in love with Cassandra, the daughter of Priam, king of Troy, and in order to win her consent, he offered her the gift of prophesy.
God of Music and Poetry, Healing, Agriculture Prophecy and Archery. Apollo assumed various other deified roles over time. A musically gifted youth, he was given a lyre from Hermes, and he learned to sing and play beautifully. This affinity with song naturally led him to develop a connection with poetry.
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.
It has been argued that The Kiss by Gustav Klimt is a painting symbolic of the kissing of Daphne by Apollo at the moment she is transformed into a laurel tree, though Klimt's own biographers make no mention of this story being an inspiration for the work.
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.