Golden-haired Apollo with his Lyre,
© Ephorate of Antiquities of Phocis, Ministry of Culture and Sports

 

Apollo was the god who symbolized light and regeneration, the protector of the arts and the highest manifestations of the spirit.

As in most other ancient religions, there are many mythological versions regarding the birth and deeds of the god. Apollo was born on the 7th day of the month Vyssios, the first month of spring. When he was still an infant, he had to kill with his bow the Python, the dragon or snake which symbolized the powers of the underworld. According to another version, he killed the dragon at Tempi or in Crete when he was older and then he exiled himself to the land of the Hyperboreans, in order to be cleansed from the murder. In Attica Apollo's return from the Hyperboreans and the regeneration which followed it were celebrated on the 6th and 7th days of the month Thargelion; on the first day there were lamentations whereas on the second joyous paeans were sung. The relation of Apollo with the underworld and his dominant position in the eternal game of death and rebirth is symbolized by the conviction that within the tripod of Delphi had been buried the remains of the Python or, according to the Orphic philosophers, the body of Dionysus who had been dismembered by the Titans.

The most important element of the cult of Apollo, ensuing exactly from his relation with the underworld and from his dominance over it, is the art of pronouncing oracles. According to the “theology” which developed in the Delphic cult, Apollo was incarnated through Pythia and gave the oracles himself. In extension of this power he had, Apollo became the regulator of the political and social life. The fact that the first codification of legislation was taking place on the walls of Apollo's temples is not irrelevant to that.
Another well-known attribute of Apollo was music. Both in mythology and in art Apollo plays either the guitar or the lyre. His depiction in this form is relatively early, as proved by a Boeotian statuette from Thespies. Another myth, related to music, particularly popular among artists of later periods, was that of the contest against the satyr Marsyas, who dared challenge the god by saying that the flute was superior to the lyre. Apollo was enraged as he almost lost at the contest and he punished Marsyas very harshly: he tied him to a tree and skinned him alive. In the myth of Marsyas, however, is evident one element which is essential to the cult of the god as well as to the philosophical thought which followed, namely the differentiation between the apollinian element, symbolizing light, clarity of spirit and high ideals, and of the dionysiac element, symbolizing the world of passions and ecstasy. This distinction will be adopted by later European thought, culminating in the philosophy of Nietzche.

Text-translation: Dr. Aphrodite Kamara, Ηistorian