This essay is about the Greek God of Art, Apollo. This goes into detail about the life and times of Apollo and what he encountered along the way.

Essay by BIGMAN42University, Bachelor'sB+, April 2002

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Greek myth is comprised of many Gods and Goddesses and the stories of how they came to be and of their life stories. One God that caught my eye was Apollo, the son of Zeus and Leto, was associated with many aspects of life in the time of the Greek gods. He was the God of reason and intelligence, music (the lyre), prophecy, medicine and the sun.Apollo is in many respects the model of a Greek god. He represents order, harmony, and civilization in a way that most other Olympian deities cannot quite equal. One only has to compare him with Dionysus to understand how Apollo is depicted as a bright, rational counterpart to the chaotic and frenzied god of wine and women. Indeed, Apollo is most often associated with the cultivated arts of music and medicine, and his role as the leader of the Muses establishes him as a patron of intellectual pursuits.

Therefore, it comes as no surprise that in art, images of Apollo represented the height of male attractiveness - indeed, for years, statues of youngsters were commonly referred to as "Apollo", later to be replaced by the more accurate term "koros" (young man). However, as with most Greek gods, Apollo has characteristics that are diverse, so we should proceed to an exploration of this important god.

The myth of Apollo's birth includes another instance of the wrath of Hera. Again, the wife of the mighty Zeus discovered that her husband had impregnated yet another goddess, this time Leto. In her anger, Hera would not allow Leto to bear her children (she was pregnant with the twin gods Apollo and Artemis), and the land itself was afraid to provide a shelter for Leto because of the fear of Hera's retribution. Finally,