Apollo is a Greek God - He is considered to be the God of Prophecy, music, healing,intellectual pursuits and the Sun - He is often depicted as (in my opinion) a rather handsome young man - now this is good - he is also called Apollo in the Roman Panthenon and is the Brother of both Artemis and Diana (both Goddesses of the Moon)
He mated with a few women and a few men - but he wasn't one to 'reject' the advances of as we see from the stories of Cassandra and Daphne - Cassandra was a Seer and when she rejected Him, He made it impossible for anyone to believe her prophecies.......... but poor Daphne had to turn into a Laurel tree to escape His advances!!!! (although legend has it that it was because Apollo had mocked Eros and so Eros shot two arrows - one into Apollo to infatuate Him with Daphne and one into Daphne making her unable to love anyone.....)
Some say Apollo is responsible for our modern Olympic Games as He was one of the 12 Olympians and one of His great deeds was the killing of the serpent Python (a great big beast terrorising the villages in the hills of Delphi) anyway, Apollo came down from Mt Olympus and with His silver bow he fired a gold arrow and slew the Python - in remembrance of this deed Apollo created the Pythian Games to be held every four years ...............
The most usual attributes of Apollo were the lyre and the bow; the tripod especially was dedicated to him as the god of prophecy.
Among plants, the bay, used making the crown of victory at the Pythian games, the Laurel Tree (obviously) and the palm-tree, under which he was born in Delos.
Among animals and birds, the wolf, the roe, the swan, the hawk, the raven, the crow, the snake, the mouse, the grasshopper and the griffin, a mixture of the eagle and the lion.
The swan and grasshopper symbolize music and song; the hawk, raven, crow and snake have reference to his functions as the god of prophecy.
love and blessings to all
bunni x x x
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