Apollo bragged to Cupid that his bow was bigger than Cupid's. Angered by the insult, Cupid shot him with a golden love arrow causing Apollo to fall in love with the first person he saw.
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.
Daphne, in her effort to escape him, was changed into a laurel, his sacred tree; Coronis was shot by Apollo's twin, Artemis, when she proved unfaithful; and Cassandra rejected his advances and was punished by being made to utter true prophecies that no one believed.
The fatal mistake and the horrible crime
Apollo, the god of light and music, killed all seven of Niobe's sons with his powerful arrows in front of their mother's eyes.
In revenge, Apollo killed the Cyclopes who had created Zeus' weapons, which upset Zeus so much that he sent the god to earth as a mortal to serve the King of Pherae in Thessaly.
Apollo falls in love with Daphne, advancing on her so aggressively to the point where she is forced to plead to her father for help. The father, for some reason, turns her into a laurel bush. The fatal flaw, here, at least for Apollo, is that he was not able to control his love.
Apollo was quite taken with Cassandra, and he tried to win over her affection by gifting her the gift of prophecy. When she spurned his advances, Apollo's infatuation quickly turned sour, and he made sure that no one would ever believe her predictions were true.
Apollo faces Diomedes, and warns him against warring with gods.
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.
In Greek mythology, Hyacinthus was a Spartan prince of remarkable beauty and a lover of the sun god Apollo.
Impregnation by Zeus
Nonnus classifies Zeus's affair with Semele as one in a set of twelve, the other eleven women on whom he begot children being Io, Europa, Plouto, Danaë, Aigina, Antiope, Leda, Dia, Alcmene, Laodameia, the mother of Sarpedon, and Olympias.
Muses, the nine goddesses of arts, poetry, and song were all his lovers.
According to Aeschylus, Cassandra promised Apollo favors, but, after receiving the gift, went back on her word and refused Apollo. Since the enraged Apollo could not revoke a divine power, he added a curse that nobody would believe Cassandra's prophecies.
Apollo was returning from slaying a monster named Python when he saw Cupid. Apollo bragged to Cupid that his bow was bigger than Cupid's. Angered by the insult, Cupid shot him with a golden love arrow causing Apollo to fall in love with the first person he saw.
The Divine Twins Apollo & Artemis
Apollo and Artemis were often in opposition, and yet they sometimes came together in unison. Together they represent the impossibility of having one side of something without the other. Without the light, there would be no moon.
Apollo Slays The Python And Offends Cupid
The story of Apollo and Daphne in Ovid's Metamorphoses (I. 438-567) took place right after Apollo killed the Python, the great snake that terrorized mankind.
Apollo is the god who affords help and wards off evil; various epithets call him the "averter of evil". Medicine and healing are associated with Apollo, whether through the god himself or mediated through his son Asclepius.
In Greek mythology, Cassandra was a prophetess who could accurately foretell the future but was never believed. This talent had been a gift from the god Apollo but when she rejected his advances he cursed her so that her predictions were never believed.
Strengths: Creative, handsome, supportive of all the arts of civilization. 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.
Thanks to a curse, all the children of Apollo have a terrible fear of snakes.
ARISTAIOS (Aristaeus) The patron god of beekeeping, olive oil manufacture, and the Etesian Winds. He was a son of Apollon and the nymph Kyrene. ASKLEPIOS (Asclepius) The god of medicine. He was the son of Apollon and Koronis (or Arsinoe).
Besides dalliances with numerous nymphs, Apollo was also lover to Macedonian Prince Hyakinthos, who died catching a thrown discus, then turned by the god into the hyacinth flower. The Pseudo-Apollodorus also said Apollo had been with Thracian singer Thamyris in the first man-on-man relationship in history.