Giacobbe Giusti, Diane de Versailles, musée du Louvre
« Diane de Versailles » — statue d’Artémis chassant, accompagnée d’une biche. Copie romaine d’époque impériale (Ier—IIe siècle de notre ère) d’un original grec en bronze attribué au sculpteur athénien Léocharès (IVe siècle av. J.-C.)
Diana was known as the virgin goddess of childbirth and women. She was one of the three maiden goddesses, along with Minerva and Vesta, who swore never to marry. Oakgroves and deer were especially sacred to her. Diana made up a triad with two other Roman deities; Egeriathe water nymph, her servant and assistant midwife; and Virbius, the woodland god.[3]
Diana is revered in modern Neopaganreligions including Roman Neopaganism, Stregheria, and Wicca. From the medieval to the modern period, as folklore attached to her developed and was eventually adapted into neopagan religions, the mythology surrounding Diana grew to include a consort (Lucifer) and daughter (Aradia), figures sometimes recognized by modern traditions.[4] In the ancient, medieval, and modern periods, Diana has been considered a triple deity, merged with a goddess of the moon (Luna/Selene) and the underworld (usually Hecate).[5][6]
The Flagellation of Christ(probably 1455–1460) is a painting by Piero della Francescain the Galleria Nazionale delle Marche in Urbino, Italy. Called by one writer an « enigmatic little painting, »[1] the composition is complex and unusual, and its iconography has been the subject of widely differing theories. Kenneth Clark placed The Flagellation in his personal list of the best ten paintings, calling it « the greatest small painting in the world ».
Description
The theme of the picture is the Flagellation of Christ by the Romans during his Passion. The biblical event takes place in an open gallery in the middle distance, while three figures in the foreground on the right-hand side apparently pay no attention to the event unfolding behind them. The panel is much admired for its use of linear perspective and the air of stillness that pervades the work, and it has been given the epithet « the Greatest Small Painting in the World » by the art historian Kenneth Clark.[2]
The painting is signed under the seated emperor OPVS PETRI DE BVRGO S[AN]C[T]I SEPVLCRI – « the work of Piero of Borgo Santo Sepolcro » (his native town).
The Flagellation is particularly admired for the realistic rendering of the hall in which the flagellation scene is situated in relation to the size of the figures and for the geometrical order of the composition. The portrait of the bearded man at the front is considered unusually intense for Piero’s time.
Interpretations
Much of the scholarly debate surrounding the work concerns the identities or significance of the three men at the front. Depending on the interpretation of the subject of the painting, they may represent contemporary figures or people related to the passion of Christ, or they may even have multiple identities. The latter is also suggested with respect to the sitting man on the left, who is in one sense certainly Pontius Pilate, a traditional element in the subject. The notion of two time frames in the composition is derived from the fact that the flagellation scene is illuminated from the right while the supposedly « modern » outdoor scene is illuminated from the left. Originally the painting had a frame on which the Latin phrase « Convenerunt in Unum » (« They came together »), taken from Psalm 2, ii in the Old Testament, was inscribed. This text is cited in Book of Acts 4:26 and related to Pilate, Herod and the Jews.
Conventional
According to a conventional interpretation still upheld in Urbino, the three men would be Oddantonio da Montefeltro, Duke of Urbinobetween his advisors, Manfredo dei Pio and Tommaso di Guido dell’Agnello, who were murdered together on July 22, 1444. Both advisers were held responsible for Oddantonio’s death due to their unpopular government, which led to the fatal conspiracy. Oddantonio’s death would be compared, in its innocence, to that of Christ. The painting would then have been commissioned by Federico da Montefeltro, who succeeded his half brother Oddantonio as Lord of Urbino. According to another interpretation, the two men to the left and right of the youth would represent Serafini and Ricciarelli, both citizens of Urbino, who allegedly murdered Oddantonio together with his two bad advisors. Against these interpretations speaks the written contract signed by Federico and the citizens of Urbino, ´that he would not bear in remembrance the offenses inflicted on Oddantonio, that no one would be punished for it and that Federico would protect all who may be compromised in these crimes´. Moreover, Oddantonio’s corpse was buried in an unnamed grave. A painting dedicated to the memory of Duke Oddantonio and to his rehabilitation would thus have been a case of betrayal to the citizens of Urbino.[3]
Dynastic
Another traditional view considers the picture a dynastic celebration commissioned by Duke Federico da Montefeltro, Oddantonio’s successor and half-brother. The three men would simply be his predecessors. This interpretation is backed by an 18th-century inventory in the Urbino Cathedral, where the painting once was housed, and in which the work is described as « The Flagellation of Our Lord Jesus Christ, with the Figures and the Portraits of Duke Guidubaldo and Oddo Antonio ». However, since Duke Guidobaldo was a son of Federico born in 1472, this information has to be erroneous. Instead, the rightmost figure may represent Oddantonio’s and Federico’s father Guidantonio.
According to this other old-fashioned view, the figure in the middle would represent an angel, flanked by the Latin (Catholic) and the Greek (Orthodox) Churches, whose divisioncreated strife in the whole of Christendom.
The seated man on the far left watching the flagellation would be the Byzantine emperor John VIII Palaiologos, as identified by his clothing, particularly the unusual red hat with upturned brims which is present in a medal by Pisanello. In the variant of this interpretation, proposed by Carlo Ginzburg,[4] the painting would be in fact an invitation by Cardinal Bessarion and the humanist Giovanni Bacci to Federico da Montefeltro to take part in the crusade. The young man would be Bonconte II da Montefeltro, who died of plague in 1458. In this way, the sufferings of Christ are paired both to those of the Byzantines and of Bonconte.
Silvia Ronchey and other art historians[5] agree on the panel being a political message by Cardinal Bessarion, in which the flagellated Christ would represent the suffering of Constantinople, then besieged by the Ottomans, as well as the whole of Christianity. The figure on the left watching would be sultan Murad II, with John VIII on his left. The three men on the right are identified as, from left: Cardinal Bessarion, Thomas Palaiologos (John VIII’s brother, portrayed barefoot as, being not an emperor, he could not wear the purple shoes with which John is instead shown) and Niccolò III d’Este, host of the council of Mantuaafter its move to his lordship of Ferrara.
Piero della Francesca painted the Flagellation some 20 years after the fall of Constantinople. But, at the time, allegories of that event and of the presence of Byzantine figures in Italian politics were not uncommon, as shown by Benozzo Gozzoli‘s contemporary Magi Chapel in the Palazzo Medici-Riccardi in Florence.
Kenneth Clark
In 1951, the art historian Kenneth Clark identified the bearded figure as a Greek scholar, and the painting as an allegory of the suffering of the Church after the fall of the Byzantine Empire in 1453, and of the proposed crusade supported by Pope Pius II and discussed at the Council of Mantua. Again, the man in the far left would be the Byzantine Emperor.
Marilyn Aronberg Lavin
Another explanation of the painting is offered by Marilyn Aronberg Lavin in Piero della Francesca: The Flagellation.[6]
The interior scene represents Pontius Pilate showing Herod with his back turned, because the scene closely resembles numerous other depictions of the flagellation that Piero would have known.
Lavin identifies the figure on the right as Ludovico III Gonzaga, Marquis of Mantua, and the figure on the left as his close friend, the astrologer Ottavio Ubaldini della Carda, who lived in the Ducal Palace. Ottavio is dressed in the traditional garb of an astrologer, even down to his forked beard. At the time the painting is thought to have been made, both Ottavio and Ludovico had recently lost beloved sons, represented by the youthful figure between them. Note that the youth’s head is framed by a laurel tree, representing glory. Lavin suggests that the painting is intended to compare the suffering of Christ with the grief of the two fathers. She suggests that the painting was commissioned by Ottavio for his private chapel, the Cappella del Perdono, which is in the Ducal Palace at Urbino and which has an altar whose facade is the exact size of the painting. If the painting was on the altar, the perspective in the painting would have appeared correct only to someone kneeling before it.
David A. King
An interpretation developed by David King, director (1985–2007) of the Institute for the History of Science in Frankfurt, Germany, establishes a connection between the painting and the Latin inscription on an astrolabe presented in Rome in 1462 by Regiomontanus to his patron Cardinal Bessarion.[7] The discovery that the epigram was an acrostic was made by Berthold Holzschuh, a member of King’s medieval instrument seminar, in 2005. The hidden meanings in the vertical axes include references to Bessarion, Regiomontanus, and the 1462 gift that was intended to replace a 1062 Byzantine astrolabe in Bessarion’s possession (now in Brescia). In the same year Holzschuh discovered that the main axes of the epigram corresponded to the main vertical axes of the painting, which pass through the eyes of the Christ figure and those of the bearded man. It was clear that the letters BA IOANNIS on the left of the epigram and the letters SEDES on the right might refer to Basileus (Emperor) Ioannis VIII on his throne. This inspired King to search for monograms of names across the epigram (for example, INRI for Christ and RGO for Regiomontanus), and he found some 70 possibly relevant names corresponding to the 8+1 figures. King thus established dual or multiple identities for each of the eight persons and one classical figure who would eventually feature in the painting. Both Regiomontanus and Bessarion were known to Piero (their common interest was Archimedes), and both Regiomontanus’ and Piero’s copies of Archimedes’ works have been preserved. King hypothesises that donor and donee of the 1462 astrolabe might have conceived the make-up of the painting together with Piero. The young man in cardinal red can now be identified as the eager young German astronomer Regiomontanus, the new protégé of the Cardinal Bessarion. However, his image embodies, amongst others, three brilliant young men close to Bessarion who had recently died: Buonconte da Montefeltro, Bernardino Ubaldini dalla Carda and Vangelista Gonzaga. Each of the images of persons in the painting, as well as of the classical figure atop the column behind Christ, is polysemous. The painting itself is polysemous. One of the several purposes of the painting was to signify hope for the future in the arrival of the young astronomer into Bessarion’s circle as well as to pay homage to the three dead young men. Another was to express Bessarion’s sorrow that his native Trebizond had fallen to the Turks in 1461, for which he held the Byzantine ruler responsible.
John Pope-Hennessy
Sir John Pope-Hennessy, the art historian, argued in his book The Piero della Francesca Trail that the actual subject of the painting is « The Dream of St. Jerome. » According to Pope-Hennessy,
As a young man St Jerome dreamt that he was flayed on divine order for reading pagan texts, and he himself later recounted this dream, in a celebrated letter to Eustochium, in terms that exactly correspond with the left-hand side of the Urbino panel.
Pope-Hennessy also cites and reproduces an earlier picture by Sienese painter Matteo di Giovanni that deals with the subject recorded in Jerome’s letter, helping to validate his identification of Piero’s theme.[8]
Influence
The painting’s restraint and formal purity strongly appealed when Piero was first « discovered, » especially to admirers of cubist and abstract art. It has been held in especially high regard by art historians, with Frederick Hartt describing it as Piero’s « most nearly perfect achievement and the ultimate realisation of the ideals of the second Renaissance period ».
^Aronberg Lavin, Marilyn (1972). Piero della Francesca: the Flagellation. University of Chicago Press. ISBN0-226-46958-1.
^King, David A. (2007). Astrolabes and Angels, Epigrams and Enigmas – From Regiomontanus’ Acrostic for Cardinal Bessarion to Piero della Francesca’s Flagellation of Christ – An essay by DAK inspired by two remarkable discoveries by Berthold Holzschuh. Stuttgart. ISBN978-3-515-09061-2.. Additional material is on King’s website http://www.davidaking.org/.
Sa complexité géométrique et symbolique en fait l’une des œuvres les plus commentées de l’histoire de l’art. Elle a été créée sous le mouvement de la Première Renaissance.
Histoire
À l’origine, ce tableau est une commande faite par le cardinal Bessario. Celui-ci désirait envoyer l’œuvre au duc d’Urbino (Frédéric III de Montefeltro), dans le but de le convaincre de la nécessité d’une croisade contre les Turcs. Le tableau est mentionné pour la première fois en 1744 dans l’inventaire des biens de la vieille sacristie d’Urbino. Il est décrit comme « la Flagellation de Notre Seigneur contre une colonne, et, à part, les illustrissimes ducs Otto Antonio, Federico et Guidobaldo, peints par Pietro del Borgho. » L’historien de l’art Johann David Passavant est le premier, en 1839, à signaler une inscription latinefigurant sur le cadre du tableau3 : convenerunt in unum (en français : « ils se mirent d’accord et s’allièrent ». Il s’agit d’une citation tirée de la Bible, qui apparaît d’abord dans les Psaumes (Psaumes, II, 2), puis dans les Actes (Actes, IV, 26). Crowe et Cavalcaselle signalent, dès 1864, que l’inscription a disparu4. Une restauration du tableau, menée à la fin du xixe siècle afin de renforcer le dos du tableau, a causé trois grandes craquelures sur la peinture. En 1951-1952, le tableau est restauré par l’Istituto Centrale del Restauro de Rome : les trois craquelures sont repeintes. Une nouvelle restauration a eu lieu en 1968, toujours à l’Istituto Centrale del Restauro de Rome.
Il respecte les proportions du rectangle harmonique6 par rabattement horizontal de la diagonale du carré construit sur sa hauteur (soit 58 × racine de 2)7(schéma 1).
Une géométrie stricte
Schéma 2 : La ligne d’horizon et le point de fuite centré horizontalement.
Schéma 3 : Les fuyantes construites à partir du point de fuite monofocal centré.
Le point de vue monofocal centré est une construction de la perception purement albertiene8 par la présence d’éléments architecturaux (colonne, chapiteaux), du dallage9, d’un plafond à caissons.
Plusieurs constatations démontrent l’aspect très géométrique de la construction :
La position du point de fuite est centrale, construite par l’intersection de la diagonale descendante de gauche du carré, avec la médiane verticale du format entier (schéma 2)7.
Les fuyantes architecturales convergent vers ce point (schéma 3).
Les diagonales du carré se croisent sur la tête du Christ (schéma 1).
Les deux scènes, très distinctes dans leur propos, sont chacune inscrite dans les rectangles délimités par la médiane centrale portant le point de fuite.
La ligne des mentons des protagonistes du groupe de droite et leur ligne de tête, peuvent être également construites par des intersections similaires.
Il en est de même pour la ligne de plafond à gauche, la hauteur de la représentation du Christ.
La proportion est parfaitement respectée et s’appuie sur la taille traditionnelle du Christ, c’est-à-dire 1,78 m.
La Storia
Le tableau est séparé en deux par une colonne : à gauche, au fond d’une loggia, une scène représentant la flagellation du Christ et à droite, au premier plan, un groupe de trois personnages. Les deux scènes sont éclairées chacune depuis une direction différente : depuis la gauche pour le groupe de droite, et depuis la droite pour le groupe du fond situé à gauche. Les ombres sont discrètes.
Daniel Arasse définit l’espace [irréel] de ces représentations comme « la somme des lieux [des scènes anachroniques] »10.
La signature
Sur le socle en pierre du siège de Ponce Pilate, un cartellino porte un texte en latin attestant l’attribution à Piero della Francesca :
OPVS PETRI DEBVRGO SCI SEPVLCRI(soit « Œuvre de Piero de Borgo San Sepolcro »).
Texte du cartellino.
Analyse
Les peintres siennois (Duccio11, Pietro Lorenzetti12) introduisent un nouveau type de représentation de la Flagellation du Christ. Ils situent la scène de la Flagellation sous une loggia couverte tandis qu’un groupe de personnages se tient en retrait, soit en plein air, soit dans une autre pièce13,14. La Flagellation du Christde Piero della Francesca dépasse ce modèle. Le groupe de trois personnages n’est plus seulement en retrait, mais complètement à l’écart. La hiérarchie entre les deux scènes est inversée. Ce qui devrait être la scène principale, la Flagellation du Christ, est désormais à l’arrière plan, et le groupe des trois personnages qui conversent, au premier plan.
L’influence d’Alberti est manifeste dans la loggia peinte par Piero della Francesca. On l’a rapprochée, en particulier, de la loggia Rucellai qui se dresse devant le Palais Ruccelaià Florence.
La colonne à laquelle est attaché le Christ est couronnée d’une statue antique, symbolisant, selon l’interprétation de Marilyn Aronberg Lavin, le triomphe de la foi sur le paganisme.
Ce tableau pourrait être un appel à la réconciliation entre catholiques et orthodoxes et, implicitement, un appel à la croisade.
La scène de la flagellation
Il est admis que le personnage assis de profil est Ponce Pilate. En se fondant sur les versets des Actes des Apotres, d’où est tirée l’inscription qui figurait autrefois sur le cadre du tableau, convenerunt in unum, Running et Creighton Gilbert ont proposé d’identifier le personnage de dos coiffé d’un turban comme étant Hérode. En effet le texte (Actes, IV, 26 et 27) associe clairement Hérode et Ponce Pilate : « Les rois de la terre se sont soulevés, et les gouvernants se liguèrent contre le Seigneur, et contre son oint. Car en vérité, contre le saint Enfant Jésus, que tu as oint, Hérode et Ponce Pilate, se sont ligués dans cette ville avec les nations et le peuple d‘Israël. » Ponce Pilate arbore les symboles des empereurs byzantins (chapeau pointu et chaussures pourpres). Il regarde sans intervenir Jésus souffrir et par cette inaction cautionne le travail des bourreaux.
Le tableau peut se référer au refus grec du pacte d’unité avec Rome qui fut signé en 1439 à Florence. Ce fait donnait aux Turcs la possibilité d’envahir la ville de Constantinople. Dans cette scène, on aperçoit un homme vêtu à la turque. Il est ici le bourreau du christianisme tout entier.
Les trois personnages de droite
La question de l’identification des trois personnages de droite est au cœur du problème de l‘interprétation du tableau. Selon l’inventaire de 1744, les trois personnages sont, de gauche à droite, Ottoantonio da Montefeltro, son frère Federico da Montefeltro, et le fils de ce dernier, Guidobaldo da Montefeltro. Le personnage central ne saurait toutefois être Federico da Montefeltro : il n‘y a aucune ressemblance entre son visage et celui de Federico, tel que Piero della Francesca le montre dans le portrait de profil conservé à la Galerie des Offices. Une autre interprétation fut donc proposée : il s’agissait bien du jeune comte Oddantonio da Montefeltro, mais entouré des deux conseillers assassinés avec lui le 22 juillet 1444, Manfredo del Pio et Tommaso dell’Agnella. Federico aurait commandé le tableau à Piero della Francesca pour commémorer la mort de son frère, une interprétation encore reprise par Roberto Longhi en 1930 : « Les mots tirés d’un psaume compris comme faisant allusion à la mort du Christ permettraient d’identifier le jeune homme blond en rouge comme Oddantonio da Montefeltro, encadré de ses deux méchants ministres Manfredo del Pio et Tommaso dell’Agnella, dont la politique provoqua le soulèvement populaire et la conjuration des Serafini, à l’issue de laquelle le jeune prince mourut (1444). ». D’autres interprétations ont depuis été proposées :
Interprétation de Kenneth Clark : Kenneth Clark trouva une ressemblance entre les traits du visage du personnage de gauche et ceux de la dernière famille ayant régné sur l’empire byzantin, les Paleologue. Il lia donc le tableau au concile de Mantoue de 1459, où le pape Pie II avait prêché la croisade contre les Turcs et la reconquête de Constantinople15.
Interprétation de Marilyn Aronberg Lavin : le personnage barbu serait Ottaviano Ubaldini, un conseiller du comte d’Urbino, à la fois théologien et astrologue, celui qui est à droite, vêtu d’un brocart, serait le marquis de Mantoue, Ludovico Gonzaga.
Interprétation de Carlo Ginzburg : Ginzburg voit dans le tableau une commande du cardinal Basilius Bessarion, présent à Rome en 1459 pour préparer le concile de Mantoue. Le personnage du centre serait Buonconte da Montefeltro, le fils naturel de Federico da Montrefeltro et l’homme de droite l’humaniste Giovanni Bacci16.
Interprétation de Silvia Ronchey : l’opposition entre Rome et Constantinople17.
Interprétation de David King : la peinture est inspirée par un texte en latin daté 1462 engravé sur un astrolabe présenté à Rome par l’astronome allemand Regiomontanus à son mécène le cardinal Bessarion – les trois personnages sont Bessarion, Regiomontanus et Giovanni Bacci18.
Notes et références
↑ a et b(de) Bernd Roeck, Mörder, Maler und Mäzene : Piero della Francescas « Geisselung » : eine kunsthistorische Kriminalgeschichte, Munich, C.H. Beck, , 255 p.(ISBN978-3-406-55035-5), p. 10.
↑Film Palettes avec la précision : peuplier à veines horizontales et proportion de la porte d’harmonie (1,414), bien que souvent est invoqué, à tort, le nombre d’or (1,618).
↑(de) Johann David Passavant, Raffael von Urbino und sein Vater Giovanni Santi, 1839.
↑(en) Crowe et Cavalcaselle, A New History of Painting in Italy from the Second to the Sixteenth Century, Londres, 1864.
↑Le tableau a presque toujours été interprété comme une Flagellation du Christ. Seul John Pope-Hennessy en propose une lecture différente. Il y voit non une Flagellation du Christ, mais un Songe de saint Jérôme où celui-ci, comparaissant devant le tribunal de Dieu, est flagellé pour avoir lu des textes d’auteurs païens (John Pope-Hennessy, Whose Flagellation ?, Apollo, 1986 ).
↑Un dallage précis qui permet de déduire toutes les dimensions de l’espace perspectif (Voir reconstitution en VRML du Piero project).
↑L’Annonciation italienne, une histoire de ersoective, Hazan.
↑Duccio, Flagellation de la collection Frick (New York)
↑Pietro Lorenzetti, Flagellation de l’église San Francesco d’Assise.
↑(en) Marilyn Aronberg Lavin, « Piero della Francesca’s Flagellation : The Triumph of Christian Glory », in The Art Bulletin, vol. 50, no 4, décembre 1968
↑(en) C. Gilbert, « Piero della Francesca’s Flagellation : The Figures in the Foreground », in The Art Bulletin, vol. 53, no 1, mars 1971.
↑(en) Kenneth Clark, Piero della Francesca, Londres, Phaidon Press, 1951
↑(en) Carlo Ginzburg,The Enigma of Piero: Piero Della Francesca, Verso Books, 2002.
↑Silvia Ronchey, L’enigma di Piero. L’ultimo bizantino e le crociata fantasma nella rivelazione di un grande quadro, Milan, 2006
Lionello Venturi, Piero della Francesca, collection Le Goût de notre temps, Skira (1954), p. 46-47
Video collection PalettesPiero della Francesca – Le Rêve de la diagonale d’Alain Jaubert (1993)
Jean-Pierre Le Goff, « La perspective, la renaissance de l’art (autour de La Flagellation du Christ de Piero della Francesca) », dans la rubrique Art et Science in : Pour La Science, no 323, septembre 2004, p. 96-97.
(en) Marilyn Aronberg Lavin, Piero Della Francesca : The Flagellation by Della Francesca Piero, 1990
(en) David A. King, Astrolabes and Angels, Epigrams and Enigmas – From Regiomontanus’ Acrostic for Cardinal Bessarion to Piero della Francesca’s Flagellation of Christ, 2007
Jean-Pierre Crettez, Les supports de la géométrie interne des peintres : De Cambue à Georges de La Tour, ISTE éditions, coll. « Arts et Savoirs », , 536 p.(ISBN978-1-78405-223-2, présentation en ligne [archive]), p. 319- 384 – Chapitre 7 : Trois œuvres de Piero della Francesca.
Apollon (en grec ancienἈπόλλων / Apóllôn, en latinApollo) est le dieu grec des arts, du chant, de la musique, de la beauté masculine, de la poésie et conducteur des neuf muses. Il est également le dieu des purifications et de la guérison, mais peut apporter la peste par son arc ; enfin, c’est l’un des principaux dieux capables de divination, consulté, entre autres, à Delphes, où il rendait ses oracles par la Pythie de Delphes. Il a aussi été honoré par les Romains, qui l’ont adopté très rapidement sans changer son nom. Dès le ve siècle av. J.-C., ils l’adoptèrent pour ses pouvoirs guérisseurs et lui élevèrent des temples.
Il est fréquemment représenté avec son arc et ses flèches, ou encore avec une cithare, voire une lyre : on le qualifie alors de « citharède »1. Il est également appelé « musagète » (« celui qui conduit les muses »). Le surnom de « Loxias », « l’Oblique », lui est attribué à cause de l’ambiguïté de ses oracles.
Apollon devient au Moyen Âge puis à l’époque moderne un dieu solaire, patron de la musique et des arts. Au xixe siècle, et en particulier dans La Naissance de la tragédie de Friedrich Nietzsche2, il symbolise la raison, la clarté et l’ordre, considérés comme caractéristiques de l’« esprit grec », par opposition à la démesure et à l’enthousiasme dionysiaques. Ainsi, on a pu écrire de lui qu’il est « le plus grec de tous les dieux3 » et qu’« aucun autre dieu n’a joué un rôle comparable dans le développement du mode de vie grec4 ». Il reste l’un des dieux auquel l’on a élevé le plus de temples et consacré le plus de cultes5.
La thèse d’une origine « asiatique » (c’est-à-dire anatolienne) d’Apollon et d’Artémis a été développée par des grands noms de l’hellénisme tels que Wilamowitz en 19036 ou M. P. Nilsson en 19257 avant d’être remise en cause plus récemment. Ces savants s’appuyaient sur différents éléments : le nom de Létopourrait venir du lycien, un dialecte indo-européen parlé autrefois en Anatolie, et signifierait, sous la forme Lada, « femme » (étymologie aujourd’hui contestée). L’une des épiclèses d’Apollon, Apollon Lycien, conforte cette hypothèse. Cette épiclèse est cependant plus souvent interprétée à partir du nom du « loup » (Gernet, Jeanmaire…). L’arme d’Apollon et de sa jumelle Artémis, l’arc, n’est pas grecque mais barbare (au sens grec : tous les peuples qui ne parlent pas le grec) ; il porte de plus, comme sa sœur, non pas des sandales, à l’instar des autres dieux, mais des bottines, type de chaussure considérée comme asiatique par les Anciens. En outre, il est, dans l’Iliade d’Homère, du côté des Troyens, peuple asiatique, et le rejet que subit Léto, que nulle terre grecque n’accepte, conforterait l’idée d’un dieu étranger. Cette hypothèse anatolienne n’est plus retenue par la recherche moderne8.
Un long passé grec
Inversement comme l’on fait remarquer de nombreux chercheurs[Qui ?], Apollon est paradoxalement peut-être le dieu le plus grec de tous et a une longue histoire en Grèce avant l’époque classique.
Il est aussi possible que ses origines remontent au peuple dorien du Péloponnèse, lequel honorait un dieu nommé Ἀπέλλων / Apéllôn, protecteur des troupeaux et des communautés humaines ; il semblerait que le terme vienne d’un mot dorien ἀπέλλα / apélla, signifiant « bergerie » ou « assemblée ». L’Apellon dorien serait une figure syncrétique de plusieurs divinités locales pré-grecques, de même que l’Apollon grec est la fusion de plusieurs modèles.
Lorsque son culte s’introduit en Grèce, il est déjà honoré par d’autres peuples pré-hellènes, ce que l’Hymne homérique qui lui est destiné indique en signalant que les Crétois étaient ses premiers prêtres. Son premier lieu de culte est bien sûr Délos, capitale religieuse des Ioniens ; c’est sous Périclès, au ve siècle av. J.-C., que l’île passe aux mains des Athéniens, qui confortent son caractère de sanctuaire inviolable en y faisant interdire toute naissance et toute mort. Le culte d’Apollon s’était entre-temps répandu partout dans le monde antique, de l’Asie Mineure (le sanctuaire de Didymes, près de Milet, en porte la trace flagrante : c’est l’un des plus grands temples jamais bâtis dans la zone méditerranéenne) à la Syrie, sans parler des innombrables temples qui lui sont dédiés en Grèce même. Selon Phanias, Gygès, roi de Lydie, fut le premier lui à lui consacrer des offrandes en or. Avant son règne, Apollon Pythien n’avait ni or, ni argent9.
Hypothèse d’origine gréco-celtique
Giacobbe Giusti, Apollon
Apollon de Lillebonne, bronze doré gallo-romain du iie siècle, musée du Louvre
Au rebours de la thèse traditionnelle, Bernard Sergent, spécialiste de mythologie comparée, s’attache à montrer dans Le livre des dieux. Celtes et Grecs, II (Payot, 2004) l’identité d’Apollon et du dieu celtique Lug. Pour lui, le dieu n’est pas asiatique mais gréco-celtique, et par-delà, indo-européen. Il remonte au moins à la séparation des ancêtres des Celtes et des Grecs, au IVe millénaire av. J.-C., et il est arrivé « tout d’un bloc » en Grèce : ce n’est pas une divinité composite. Il possède des homologues en domaine germanique (Wotan) ou indien (Varuna).
Apollon serait la « version divine du roi humain ». Les poèmes homériques lui donnent systématiquement l’épithète anax, qui remonte à la désignation mycénienne du roi, wanax. Or le roi indo-européen est rattaché aux trois fonctions définies par Georges Dumézil, d’où la complexité d’Apollon : il remplit toutes les fonctions que puisse avoir un dieu. La définition de Lug donnée par C.-J. Guyonvarc’h et F. Le Roux peut aussi bien s’appliquer à lui : il est « tous les dieux résumés en un seul théonyme ».
Giacobbe Giusti, Apollon
Calètes (Pays de Caux) Hémistatère « au sanglier aurige ». Date : iie et ier siècles av. J.-C.Description avers : Tête d’Apollon à droite, la chevelure ornementée en esses enchevêtrées ; la base du cou ornée et deux motifs de pomme de pin (?) devant le visage.
B. Sergent compare une à une toutes les caractéristiques connues de Lug et d’Apollon et relève de nombreux points et de nombreux attributs communs. C’est surtout à Delphes que le caractère complexe du dieu se révèle, dans son rôle d’inspirateur de la Pythie et des hommes, qu’il révèle à soi.
Le rapprochement proposé par Bernard Sergent entre Lug et Apollon n’a pas été repris par d’autres spécialistes. Pierre Sauzeau lui reproche de négliger la proximité Apollon-Rudra « reconnue explicitement » et les liens avec Artémis10. Les spécialistes actuels des études celtiques voient davantage en Lug un héritier du couple indo-européen des Dioscures, les Jumeaux divins, une des plus anciennes figures du panthéon indo-européen11.
Apollon, dieu de la nature sauvage et « loup du vent »
Dans Apollo the Wolf-god12, Daniel E. Gershenson voit en Apollon un dieu d’origine indo-européenne, dont les attributs principaux seraient rassemblés dans l’expression Apollon dieu-loup. Cet auteur s’inscrit dans la lignée des travaux de Louis Gernet (Dolon le loup) et d’Henri Jeanmaire (Couroï et Courètes).
Par là, il faut entendre non pas le culte de l’animal en lui-même, mais de son symbolisme de loup mythique, lequel n’est autre que le ventconsidéré tant par ses vertus bénéfiques que destructrices. Les vents, comme Zéphyr le vent-loup, peuvent être favorables aux semences, mais sont aussi tenus pour issus des cavernes et cette origine souterraine les mets en relation avec les Enfers. Le vent est ainsi le passage entre le chaos et le cosmos.
Ceci explique le rôle de la divinité comme tuteur des éphèbes, de jeunes guerriers qui accomplissent leur initiation d’adultes, sa fonction de protecteur du grain semé et enfin sa qualité de dieu de la prophétie qui révèle les mystères et initie les musiciens et les poètes. Le Lycée(Λύκειον / Lukeion), rendu célèbre par Aristote, est placé dans un gymnase jouxtant le temple d’Apollon Lykeios. Apollon Lykeios, le dieu-loup, serait le maître des passages, dieu qui transforme les forces chaotiques des confréries de loups-garous de l’adolescence vers l’âge adulte, qui dévoile par la prophétie ou la Pythie le monde caché vers le découvert.
Gershenson présente de nombreux témoignages dans le monde européen qui pourraient montrer que ce dieu-loup et dieu-vent remonte à une période antérieure à la séparation des peuples européens qui ont pénétré en Europe centrale et méridionale. Ses déductions sont en accord avec celles d’autres spécialistes, qui ont notamment souligné le lien d’Apollon avec les loups et son rôle joué dans les initiations. Apollon est particulièrement associé à Borée, le Vent du Nord.
Jean Haudry rejoint également les conclusions de Gershenson. Comme le dieu védique Rudra, Apollon est un dieu du vent et de la nature sauvage à l’origine: C’est en s’opposant à Dionysos qu’il a développé des caractères « civilisés ». Face à un Dionysos « feu sauvage », il est devenu, contrairement à sa nature première, dieu du foyer delphique. Au feu hivernal de Dionysos, il s’est opposé comme dieu estival et comme dieu solaire. Il s’est ainsi affirmé comme dieu de la sagesse face à la folie dionysiaque. Et si Dionysos, dieu subversif a pu être considéré comme indésirable dans la société aristocratique, Apollon est devenu le dieu civique et national par excellence13.
Un dieu solaire ?
L’identification d’Apollon avec le soleil n’apparaît dans aucune source avant le ve siècle av. J.-C. — à l’époque archaïque, ce sont Hélios ou Hypérion qui représentent le feu solaire14 ; la première mention attestée remonte à Euripide, dans un fragment de la tragédie perdue Phaéton15,14. L’assimilation s’explique par l’épithète φοῖϐος / Phoibos, littéralement « le brillant », qui est associée à Apollon chez Homère16. Elle rencontre un grand succès parmi les poètes, milieu où le nom d’« Apollon » est souvent employé, par métonymie, pour désigner le soleil, de même que « Déméter » pour le pain ou « Héphaïstos » pour le feu. On en trouve peu d’écho dans le culte d’Apollon.
Apollon Soleil tout comme Artémis Lune se sont éloignés de leur caractère primitif de dieux sauvages en rejoignant la sphère cosmique de la religion 17.
Synthèse de plusieurs mythologies
Dans l’Iliade, Apollon est décrit comme un dieu lunaire : son arc est d’argent, couleur liée à la nuit et à la lune. Ensuite, de multiples évolutions l’amèneront à devenir un dieu solaire (son épithète Phœbus, la lumière), son arc et ses flèches renvoient d’ailleurs aux rayons solaires. Toujours dans les poèmes homériques, il y est perçu comme un dieu-vengeur, menaçant, porteur de peste. Dans le chant I de l’Iliade, ses surnoms sont les suivants : toxophore, Seigneur archer, argyrotoxos, à l’arc d’argent, etc. Cette attitude vengeresse est accompagnée de traits de caractère belliqueux : Homère l’y décrit comme un dieu orgueilleux, emporté par ses sentiments et par la violence. Rappelons que les poèmes homériques (Iliade) écrits dans le ixe siècle avant Jésus-Christ narrent une histoire antérieure de près de quatre siècles (Troie a été détruite dans les années 1280 ACN). Le dieu Apollon n’a pas encore subi les influences qui l’amèneront à devenir le dieu complexe qu’il est dans la Grèce classique.
Sa naissance est contée en détail dans l’Hymne homérique à Apollon19 : sur le point d’enfanter, Léto parcourt la mer Égée, cherchant un asile pour son fils et pour fuir Héra qui la chasse par jalousie. Pleines de terreur, «car nulle d’entre elles n’eut assez de courage, si fertile qu’elle fût, pour accueillir Phoibos»20, îles et presqu’îles refusent l’une après l’autre d’accueillir Apollon. Léto gagne finalement l’île de Délos, qui refuse d’abord, de peur que le dieu ne la méprise ensuite à cause de l’âpreté de son sol. Léto jure par le Styxque son fils y bâtira son temple et l’île accepte aussitôt.
Toutes les déesses, dont Dioné, Rhéa, Thémis et Amphitrite, viennent assister Léto pendant sa délivrance. Par jalousie, Héra ne prévient pas Ilithyie, déesse des accouchements, qui reste sur l’Olympe. Après neuf jours et neuf nuits, les déesses ordonnent à Iris, messagère des dieux, de prévenir Ilithyie et de lui remettre un collier d’or pour la faire venir. Dès que celle-ci arrive à Délos, Léto étreint un palmier qui deviendra sacré et donne naissance à Apollon, en un jour qui est le septième du mois. Aussitôt, les cygnes sacrés font sept fois le tour du rivage en chantant21. Puis Thémis offre à Apollon le nectar et l’ambroisie. Dans l’Hymne homérique, Artémis ne naît pas en même temps que son frère, mais à Ortygie22 — nom qui désigne peut-être l’emplacement du temple d’Artémis à Éphèse23. Dès sa naissance, Apollon manifeste sa puissance d’immortel ; il réclame ses attributs, la lyre et l’arc, et affirme ses pouvoirs.
Giacobbe Giusti, Apollon
Tétradrachme de la région Illyro Péonienne représentant Apollon
Version de Pindare
Chez Pindare, Artémis et Apollon naissent, jumeaux, à Délos24. Délos est une île errante avant l’arrivée de Léto, métamorphose de sa sœur Astéria ; après la délivrance d’Apollon, quatre colonnes surgissent du fond de la mer et viennent l’ancrer solidement25. Chez Hygin, le serpent Python prédit sa propre mort des mains d’Apollon et poursuit Léto enceinte pour l’empêcher d’accoucher26. Parallèlement, Héra décrète qu’aucune terre sous le soleil ne pourra accueillir Léto. Zeus demande donc à Borée, le vent du Nord, d’amener Léto à Poséidon, qui installe la parturiente sur l’île d’Ortygie, qu’il recouvre sous les eaux. Python finit par abandonner ses recherches et Léto peut accoucher. Aussitôt, Poséidon fait sortir des eaux Ortygie qui prend le nom de Délos, « la visible ». On trouve chez Apollodore l’idée qu’Artémis naît la première et sert de sage-femme à Léto pour la naissance de son frère27.
Chez les Hyperboréens
Peu après la naissance d’Apollon, Zeus lui remet un char tiré par des cygnes et lui ordonne de se rendre à Delphes28. Le dieu n’obéit pas immédiatement, mais s’envole à bord de son char pour le pays des Hyperboréens qui, selon certaines versions, est la patrie de Léto29. Là vit un peuple sacré qui ne connaît ni la vieillesse, ni la maladie ; le soleil y brille en permanence30. Apollon y reste pendant un an avant de partir pour Delphes. Il y revient tous les dix-neuf ans, période au bout de laquelle les astres ont accompli une révolution complète (un cycle métonique)29. De l’équinoxe de printemps au lever des Pléiades, il y danse chaque nuit en s’accompagnant de la lyre29. Selon d’autres légendes, il y passe chaque année les mois d’hiver31, ne revenant dans son lieu de culte — Delphes ou Délos — qu’avec le printemps32.
L’arrivée à Delphes
Giacobbe Giusti, Apollon
Apollon sauroctone, représentant peut-être le meurtre du serpent Python, musée du Louvre
Les premiers exploits du dieu sont décrits dans l’Hymne homérique à Apollon pythien. À la recherche d’un lieu où fonder son oracle, Apollon s’arrête d’abord à la source Telphouse, près de l’Hélicon. Ne souhaitant pas partager le lieu avec quiconque, elle lui suggère d’aller plutôt à Crisa, près de Delphes. Là, Apollon établit son temple, après avoir tué le serpent femelle, la Δράκαινα / drákayna, enfant de Gaïa, qui garde les lieux. La dépouille du serpent reçoit le nom de Πυθώ / Puthố, « la pourrissante » (de πύθειν / púthein, « pourrir »), Apollon prend le titre de Pythien et sa prêtresse celui de Pythie. En colère contre Telphouse, Apollon rebrousse chemin et ensevelit la source sous une pluie de pierres. Il bâtit un sanctuaire à sa place et prend le nom de Telphousien. Le dieu cherche ensuite un moyen de faire venir des prêtres à son temple pythien. Il aperçoit alors un navire de Crétois voguant vers Pylos. Prenant la forme d’un dauphin (δελφίς / delphís), il les mène jusqu’à Crisa. Il se transforme ensuite en jeune homme et conduit les Crétois jusqu’au sanctuaire dont ils deviendront les desservants. Crisa prend alors le nom de Delphes (Δελφοί / Delphoí).
L’arrivée à Delphes fait l’objet de variantes. Chez Pindare, le dieu prend contrôle du lieu par la force (on ne précise pas comment), ce qui pousse Gaïa à vouloir le jeter au Tartare33. D’autres auteurs mentionnent également les répercussions du meurtre de Python : chez Plutarque, Apollon doit se purifier dans les eaux du Tempé34. Chez Euripide, Léto amène Apollon à Delphes où il tue le serpent Python. En colère, Gaïa envoie aux hommes des rêves prophétiques. Apollon se plaint de cette concurrence déloyale à Zeus, qui met fin aux rêves35. Chez Hygin, Apollon tue Python pour venger sa mère, que le serpent a poursuivie pendant sa grossesse26.
Dans d’autres traditions, la prise de Delphes est pacifique. Ainsi, chez Eschyle, Gaïa donne l’endroit à sa fille Thémis, laquelle le donne à son tour à sa sœur Phébé, qui le remet ensuite à Apollon36. Chez Aristonoos, Apollon est conduit à Delphes par Athéna et persuade Gaïa de lui donner le sanctuaire37.
La guerre de Troie
Dans la guerre de Troie, Apollon se range aux côtés des Troyens, qui lui consacrent un temple sur leur acropole38. Comme le font Poséidonet Athéna pour les Achéens, il intervient aux côtés des troupes qu’il défend pour les encourager39. Il prend les traits de mortels pour conseiller Hector ou Énée40. Il soustrait Énée aux coups de Diomède41, intervient en personne pour repousser le guerrier grec quand il se fait trop pressant42 puis sauve Énée en le remplaçant par un fantôme sur le champ de bataille43. De même, il dérobe Hector à la rage d’Achille44. Inversement, il se sert d’Agénor pour éloigner Achille et empêcher la prise de Troie45. Il intervient directement en frappant et désarmant Patrocle, laissant le héros sans défense face aux Troyens qui le tueront46. Selon les versions, il aide Pâris à abattre Achille47, ou prend la forme du prince troyen48 pour le tuer.
Défenseur des Troyens, il a pour principal adversaire sa demi-sœur Athéna49. Non content de l’affronter sur le champ de bataille par mortels interposés, il veut empêcher Diomède, le protégé d’Athéna, de remporter l’épreuve de course en chars lors des jeux funéraires de Patrocle ; la déesse intervient à son tour pour faire gagner son champion50. Néanmoins, Apollon sait se retenir face à son oncle Poséidon et lui propose de laisser les mortels régler eux-mêmes leurs querelles51.
On ignore pourquoi Apollon prend aussi activement parti pour les Troyens, ou inversement contre les Grecs. Son seul lien avec Troie remonte à sa servitude auprès de Laomédon, mais cette histoire devrait plutôt l’inciter à soutenir les Grecs, comme le fait Poséidon52.
Un dieu vengeur
Apollon est un dieu vindicatif, prompt à punir ceux qui le défient en commettant par ailleurs deux fratricides (Tityos et Amphion). Il tue le serpent Python et, aidé de sa sœur, il élimine son demi-frère Tityos, qui a tenté de s’en prendre à Léto53. Toujours avec Artémis, il massacre de ses flèches ses neveux et nièces, les fils et filles de Niobé, qui a osé se moquer de sa mère54. Il tue aussi son demi-frère Amphion qui tente de piller son temple pour venger les Niobides. Il fait périr les Aloades quand ceux-ci entreprennent d’escalader l’Olympe et de défier les dieux55. Il écorche vivant le satyreMarsyas, amateur de flûte, qui lui a lancé un défi musical56. Le roi Midas, qui avait préféré le son de la flûte à celui de la lyre, est doté d’une paire d’oreilles d’âne57.
La confrontation ne tourne pas toujours à l’avantage du dieu. Quand Héraclès s’empare du trépied de Delphes pour faire pression sur la Pythie, Apollon accourt à la rescousse de la prêtresse. Le héros se serait enfui avec le trépied si le dieu n’avait pas appelé à l’aide son père Zeus, qui intervient en envoyant un trait de foudre58.
Dans son Hymne à Apollon, Callimaque lui prête un rôle de bâtisseur, de fondateur et législateur. Il conseillait les représentants de diverses cités grecques quant à la fondation de cités nouvelles : « Ô Phébus ! sous tes auspices s’élèvent les villes ; car tu te plais à les voir se former, et toi-même en poses les fondements59. »
Platon60 reconnaît également ce rôle à Apollon et conseille à tout fondateur d’un état de se référer aux lois établies par le dieu : il s’agit des lois « qui regardent la fondation des temples, les sacrifices, et en général le culte des dieux, des démons et des héros, et aussi les tombeaux des morts et les honneurs qu’il faut leur rendre afin qu’ils nous soient propices… ».
Réputé pour sa grande beauté, Apollon est paradoxalement assez malheureux dans ses amours61,62. Celles-ci ont pour objet des nymphes, des mortels/mortelles, mais très rarement des divinités majeures63.
Il s’éprend de la nymphe Cyrène en la voyant combattre un lion qui menace les troupeaux de son père64. Il fait part de ses sentiments au centaureChiron, qui les approuve. Encouragé, Apollon se déclare à la jeune fille, qu’il emmène en Libye. Là, elle reçoit du dieu la souveraineté sur la région, la Cyrénaïque, et donne naissance à Aristée, qui enseignera aux hommes l’apiculture.
Les autres amours du dieu sont moins heureuses. Il enlève Marpessa, fille d’Événos, alors qu’elle est fiancée à l’ArgonauteIdas65. Ce dernier réclame sa promise les armes à la main, et Zeus doit séparer les deux adversaires66. Le roi des dieux demande à Marpessa de choisir entre ses deux soupirants ; la jeune fille opte pour Idas, de peur d’être abandonnée par Apollon l’âge venant66.
Il poursuit de ses ardeurs la nymphe Daphné ; pendant sa fuite, la jeune fille invoque son père, un dieu fleuve, qui lui substitue un laurier67 ou la transforme en cette plante68. Ses amours avec Coronis, fille de Phlégias, roi des Lapithes, ne finissent pas mieux : enceinte du dieu, elle le trompe avec le mortel Ischys69. Apollon, maître de la divination, perçoit la vérité, qui lui est également rapportée par un corbeau69. Il envoie alors sa sœur Artémispourfendre l’infidèle de ses flèches, mais pris de pitié pour l’enfant à naître, il arrache ce dernier du ventre de sa mère qui se consume sur le bûcher69. Il porte le jeune Asclépios chez le centaureChiron, qui l’élève et lui enseigne l’art de la médecine69. Apollon s’éprend également de la princesse troyenneCassandre, fille du roi Priam : elle promet de se donner à lui en échange du don de prophétie, mais, après avoir obtenu satisfaction, elle revient sur ses dires. Furieux, Apollon la condamne à ne jamais être prise au sérieux70.
De nombreuses autres aventures sont attribués à Apollon. Souvent, les récits se concentrent sur la progéniture divine plutôt que sur la mère, dont le nom change suivant la version : il ne s’agit pas de véritables histoires d’amour, mais d’un moyen de rattacher un personnage à Apollon. Ainsi des musiciens Linos et Orphée, du devin Philamnos, d’Ion, éponyme des Ioniens ou de Delphos, fondateur de Delphes.
Apollon est aussi le dieu qui compte le plus d’aventures avec des jeunes garçons71. Il s’éprend de Hyacinthe, fils d’un roi de Sparte. Alors qu’ils s’entraînent au lancer du disque, le hasard — ou Zéphyrjaloux — fait que le disque frappe Hyacinthe à la tempe. Désespéré, Apollon fait jaillir du sang du jeune homme une fleur, le hyakinthos, qui n’est sans doute pas la jacinthe actuelle72. L’histoire de Cyparisse, fils de Télèphe, se termine également de manière tragique. Aimé d’Apollon, il a pour compagnon un cerf apprivoisé. Il le tue un jour par mégarde ; désespéré, il demande au dieu la mort, et la grâce de pouvoir pleurer éternellement. Ainsi est-il changé en cyprès, symbole de la tristesse73. Apollon s’éprend également d’Hyménaios, fils de Magnès ; absorbé par sa passion, le dieu ne voit pas le jeune Hermès lui dérober ses troupeaux74. On ignore la fin de l’histoire75.
Figurent également parmi ses amants Hélénos, frère de Cassandre76 ; Carnos, fils de Zeus et d’Europe, qui reçoit du dieu le don de divination77 ; Leucatas qui, pour échapper au dieu, se jette du haut d’une falaise et donne son nom à l’île de Leucade78 ; Branchos, aimé d’Apollon alors qu’il garde ses troupeaux, puis fondateur de l’oracle du dieu à Didymes79.
Fonctions et culte
Giacobbe Giusti, Apollon
Statue cultuelle archaïque d’Apollon, musée archéologique du Pirée.
Apollon est un dieu jeune pour les Grecs. Seul entre tous les Olympiens, son nom n’apparaît pas sur les tablettes mycéniennes en linéaire B80. Le premier culte de Délos concerne Artémis et non son frère81. Il est possible que les Karneia, les Hyacinthies et les Daphnephoria célèbrent, à l’origine, d’autres divinités qu’Apollon. Cependant, son culte est solidement ancré dans l’ensemble du monde grec dès le viiie siècle av. J.-C., au moment où apparaissent les premières sources littéraires grecques.
Chez Homère
Apollon joue un rôle majeur dans l’Iliade : selon Homère, c’est lui qui est à l’origine de la dispute d’Agamemnon et Achille et donc de l’ensemble des événements narrés par le poème82. Animé du souffle prophétique, Xanthos, le cheval d’Achille, le nomme « le premier des dieux83 ». De fait, aucun n’est mentionné plus souvent que lui dans le poème, à l’exception de Zeus84. Chacune de ses apparitions est terrifiante. Quand il veut venger son prêtre Chrysès, bafoué par Agamemnon :
« Des cimes de l’Olympe il descendit, plein de courroux,
Portant son arc et son carquois étanche sur l’épaule.
Les traits sonnèrent sur l’épaule du dieu courroucé,
Quand il partit, et c’était comme si la nuit marchait85. »
Le son de son arc est terrible et sa voix gronde comme le tonnerre quand il arrête le guerrier Diomède dans son élan86. C’est aussi un dieu jaloux de ses prérogatives : face à Diomède, il rappelle qu’« il n’est rien de commun / entre les Immortels et ceux qui marchent sur la terre87. » Il reproche à Achille de ne pas l’avoir reconnu sous les traits du Troyen Agénor :
« Pourquoi me poursuis-tu, Achille, avec tes pieds rapides,
Mortel courant après un dieu ? N’aurais-tu pas encore
Reconnu qui je suis, que tu t’obstines dans ta rage88 ? »
Pendant les jeux funéraires de Patrocle, il ôte la victoire à l’archer Teucros, qui a omis de lui promettre une hécatombe89.
Homère présente avant tout Apollon comme un dieu archer. Là où sa sœur emploie l’arc pour la chasse, son domaine est plutôt la guerre : il donne leur arme aux deux meilleurs archers de la guerre de Troie, le Troyen Pandaros et le Grec Teucros90. Ses flèches sont porteuses de mort : elles sèment la peste dans le camp grec, tuant hommes et bêtes. Le seul remède réside alors dans la prière, la purification et le sacrifice : lui seul peut écarter la maladie qu’il apporte91.
L’hymne à Apollon pythien commence par l’apparition d’Apollon dans l’Olympe, la phorminx (lyre) à la main : « aussitôt les Immortels ne songent plus qu’à la cithare et aux chants92. » Les Muses chantent en chœur les dieux et les hommes ; les dieux de l’Olympe, Arès compris, se donnent la main pour danser et Apollon lui-même, tout en jouant, se joint à eux. La scène résume l’un des domaines majeurs d’Apollon : la μουσική / mousikē, c’est-à-dire la combinaison du chant, de la musique instrumentale et de la danse93.
En tant que tel, Apollon est le patron des musiciens : « c’est par les Muses et l’archer Apollon qu’il est des chanteurs et des citharistes », dit Hésiode94. Il inspire même la nature : à son passage « chantent les rossignols, les hirondelles et les cigales28 ». Sa musique apaise les animaux sauvages95 et meut les pierres96. Pour les Grecs, musique et danse ne sont pas seulement des divertissements : elles permettent aux hommes de supporter la misère de leur condition97.
Jacqueline Duchemin, spécialiste de poésie grecque et de mythologie comparée, a émis l’hypothèse selon laquelle les prérogatives d’Apollon dans le domaine de la musique et de la poésie se rattacheraient à sa nature de divinité pastorale, l’une des fonctions originelles du dieu étant la protection des troupeaux98. Selon l’auteur de La Houlette et la lyre, ce seraient les bergers et les pâtres qui auraient inventé l’art musical au cours de leurs longues veillées solitaires. Elle affirme ainsi : « Le poète et le berger sont bien une même personne. Et ses dieux sont à son image99. » Et aussi : « Les divinités des pâtres et des bêtes furent, au sein d’une nature pastorale, dans les temps les plus anciens, celles de la musique, de la danse et de l’inspiration poétique100. »
Dieu des oracles
Le temple d’Apollon à Delphes
Après avoir réclamé l’arc et la lyre, Apollon, dans l’hymne homérique qui lui est consacré, nomme son troisième domaine d’intervention : « je révélerai aussi dans mes oracles les desseins infaillibles de Zeus101. » Si Zeus et quelques héros, comme Trophonios, possèdent leurs oracles, Apollon est la principale divinité oraculaire des Grecs102. Il le déclare lui-même quand son frère Hermès essaie d’obtenir aussi le don de divination : « j’ai engagé ma parole, et juré par un serment redoutable que nul autre que moi, parmi les Dieux toujours vivants, ne connaîtrait la volonté de Zeus aux desseins profonds103. »
À partir de l’époque classique, tous les sites oraculaires de grande envergure appartiennent à Apollon, à l’exception de l’oracle de Zeus à Dodone et, plus tard, de celui de Zeus Ammon à Siwa104. Interrogé sur la disparition des oracles liés aux sources sacrées ou aux vapeurs émanant de la terre, Apollon répond au iie – iiie siècle ap. J.-C. :
« […] la terre elle-même s’entr’ouvrit et reprit les uns dans ses entrailles souterraines, tandis qu’une éternité infinie anéantit les autres. Mais seul Hélios [Apollon] qui brille pour les mortels possède encore dans les gorges divines de Didymes les eaux de Mykalè, et celle qui court en bordure de Pythô sous la montagne du Parnasse, et la rocailleuse Claros, bouche rocailleuse de la voix prophétique de Phoibos105. »
Le principal oracle d’Apollon est celui de Delphes, qui est probablement fondé entre 900 et 700 av. J.-C106. Dès l’époque archaïque, Apollon delphien est omniprésent dans la vie des cités : il approuve leurs lois, comme la Grande Rhêtra de Sparte ou la constitution de Clisthène à Athènes, et donne sa bénédiction aux expéditions coloniales. Il apparaît dans les mythes héroïques comme celui d’Œdipe ou de Thésée. Les Jeux pythiques, en l’honneur d’Apollon, sont le concours public le plus important après les Jeux olympiques. À l’époque hellénistique, il conseille le Sénat romain. Après une période de déclin au ier siècle av. J.-C., le sanctuaire est détruit au ive siècle par les chrétiens.
Représentations artistiques
Dans l’art antique
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Apollon est toujours représenté dans la fraîcheur d’une éternelle jeunesse. C’est une caractéristique typique d’un dieu vent qui ne vieillit jamais107.
Il est représenté les cheveux longs, conformément à l’une de ses épithètes homériques108. La coiffure est typique des jeunes gens ou kouroi, terme dérivé de la racine ker-, « tondre, couper » (sous-entendu : les cheveux)109. Le passe-temps typique du jeune homme étant l’athlétisme, pratiqué nu, l’offrande typique à Apollon prend la forme, à l’époque archaïque, d’un jeune homme debout, nu, les cheveux longs, type statuaire que les historiens de l’art appellent le kouros.
En 2013, on trouve une représentation à Gaza : l’Apollon de Gaza.
À l’époque moderne
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Dans le château de Versailles, le salon d’Apollon, ou salle du trône, était réservé à la réception des ambassadeurs. Le dieu des arts semblait également patronner les spectacles de danse et de musique qui s’y déroulaient.
Les jardins de Versailles offrent de nombreuses représentations du dieu solaire :
Le bassin d’Apollon est situé dans la grande perspective, à proximité du Grand Canal. Une statue monumentale d’Apollon a été réalisée par Tuby. Apollon sort de l’eau conduisant un char tiré par des chevaux.
Il est un personnage de la série de livres de Rick Riordan.
Références
↑La cithare des Grecs et des Romains est une forme de lyre, et non une cithare moderne ; les deux mots sont employés indifféremment par les poètes pour parler de l’instrument d’Apollon.
↑Première mention dans l’L’Éthiopide, citée par Gantz, p. 625. L’Énéide est la première à indiquer explicitement que Pâris tire la flèche meurtrière, qui est guidée par Apollon (VI, 56-58) ; repris ensuite par Ovide, Métamorphoses [détail des éditions] [lire en ligne [archive]], XII, 598-606. Cf. Gantz, p. 625.
↑Porphyre de Tyr F322 Smith = Eusèbe de Césarée, Préparation évangélique, V, 16. Traduction citée par Aude Busine, Paroles D’apollon: pratiques et traditions oraculaires dans l’Antiquité tardive (iie – vie siècles), Brill, 2005, p. 419.
J. Chevalier et de A. Gheerbant (s. dir.), Dictionnaire des symboles, Mythes, rêves, coutumes, gestes, formes, figures, couleurs, nombres, Robert Laffont, Aylesbury, 1990.
Georges Dumézil, Apollon sonore et autres essais. 25 esquisses de mythologie, Gallimard, Paris, 1982 et 1987.
Walter Otto (trad. Claude-Nicolas Grimbert et Armel Morgant), Les Dieux de la Grèce (Die Götter Griechenlands), Payot, coll. « Bibliothèque historique », 1993 (édition originale 1929) (ISBN2-228-88150-3), p. 79-98.
Bernard Sergent, Homosexualité et initiation chez les peuples indo-européens, Payot coll. « Histoire », Paris, 1996 (1res éditions 1984 et 1986) (ISBN2-228-89052-9), notamment p. 99-65.
Marcel Detienne, Apollon le couteau à la main, Gallimard, coll. « Bibliothèque des sciences humaines », Paris, 1998 (ISBN2070733718)
Jean Gagé, Apollon romain : Essai sur le culte d’Apollon et le développement du ritus Graecus à Rome des origines à Auguste, de Boccard, coll. « Bibliothèque des Écoles Françaises d’Athènes et de Rome » (no 182),
Jacqueline Duchemin, La Houlette et la lyre. Recherche sur les origines pastorales de la poésie : Hermès et Apollon, Paris, Les Belles Lettres, 1960.
Henri Grégoire, avec la collaboration de R. Goossens et de M. Mathieu, Asklépios, Apollon Smintheus et Rudra. Études sur le dieu à la taupe et le dieu au rat dans la Grèce et dans l’Inde, Bruxelles, 1950.
(en)Walter Burkert (trad. John Raffan), Greek Religion[« Griechische Religion des archaischen und klassichen Epoche »], Oxford, Blackwell, 1985 (éd. orig. 1977) (ISBN978-0-631-15624-6), p. 143-149.
(en) Daniel E. Gershenson, « Apollo the Wolf-god », dans Journal of Indo-European Studies, Monograph no 8, 1991.
(en) Timothy Gantz, Early Greek Myth, Johns Hopkins University Press, [détail de l’édition], p. 87-96.
As the patron of Delphi (Pythian Apollo), Apollo was an oracular god—the prophetic deity of the Delphic Oracle. Medicine and healing are associated with Apollo, whether through the god himself or mediated through his son Asclepius, yet Apollo was also seen as a god who could bring ill-health and deadly plague. Amongst the god’s custodial charges, Apollo became associated with dominion over colonists, and as the patron defender of herds and flocks. As the leader of the Muses (Apollon Musegetes) and director of their choir, Apollo functioned as the patron god of music and poetry. Hermes created the lyre for him, and the instrument became a common attribute of Apollo. Hymns sung to Apollo were called paeans.
In Hellenistic times, especially during the 3rd century BCE, as Apollo Helios he became identified among Greeks with Helios, Titangod of the sun, and his sister Artemis similarly equated with Selene, Titan goddess of the moon.[2] In Latin texts, on the other hand, Joseph Fontenrosedeclared himself unable to find any conflation of Apollo with Sol among the Augustan poets of the 1st century, not even in the conjurations of Aeneas and Latinus in Aeneid XII (161–215).[3]Apollo and Helios/Sol remained separate beings in literary and mythological texts until the 3rd century CE.
The name Apollo—unlike the related older namePaean—is generally not found in the Linear B(Mycenean Greek) texts, although there is a possible attestation in the lacunose form ]pe-rjo-[(Linear B: ]𐀟𐁊-[) on the KN E 842 tablet.[4][5][6]
The etymology of the name is uncertain. The spelling Ἀπόλλων (pronounced [a.pól.lɔːn] in Classical Attic) had almost superseded all other forms by the beginning of the common era, but the Doric form, Apellon (Ἀπέλλων), is more archaic, as it is derived from an earlier *Ἀπέλjων. It probably is a cognate to the Doric month Apellaios (Ἀπελλαῖος),[7] and the offerings apellaia(ἀπελλαῖα) at the initiation of the young men during the family-festival apellai (ἀπέλλαι).[8][9]According to some scholars, the words are derived from the Doric word apella (ἀπέλλα), which originally meant « wall, » « fence for animals » and later « assembly within the limits of the square. »[10][11]Apella (Ἀπέλλα) is the name of the popular assembly in Sparta,[10] corresponding to the ecclesia (ἐκκλησία). R. S. P. Beekes rejected the connection of the theonym with the noun apellai and suggested a Pre-Greek proto-form *Apalyun.[12]
Several instances of popular etymology are attested from ancient authors. Thus, the Greeks most often associated Apollo’s name with the Greek verb ἀπόλλυμι (apollymi), « to destroy ».[13]Plato in Cratylus connects the name with ἀπόλυσις (apolysis), « redemption », with ἀπόλουσις (apolousis), « purification », and with ἁπλοῦν ([h]aploun), « simple »,[14] in particular in reference to the Thessalian form of the name, Ἄπλουν, and finally with Ἀειβάλλων (aeiballon), « ever-shooting ». Hesychius connects the name Apollo with the Doric ἀπέλλα (apella), which means « assembly », so that Apollo would be the god of political life, and he also gives the explanation σηκός (sekos), « fold », in which case Apollo would be the god of flocks and herds.[15] In the ancient Macedonian languageπέλλα (pella) means « stone, »[16] and some toponyms may be derived from this word: Πέλλα (Pella,[17] the capital of ancient Macedonia) and Πελλήνη(Pellēnē/Pallene).[18]
A number of non-Greek etymologies have been suggested for the name,[19] The Hittite form Apaliunas (dx-ap-pa-li-u-na-aš) is attested in the Manapa-Tarhunta letter,[20] perhaps related to Hurrian (and certainly the Etruscan) Aplu, a god of plague, in turn likely from AkkadianAplu Enlilmeaning simply « the son of Enlil« , a title that was given to the god Nergal, who was linked to Shamash, Babylonian god of the sun.[21] The role of Apollo as god of plague is evident in the invocation of Apollo Smintheus (« mouse Apollo ») by Chryses, the Trojan priest of Apollo, with the purpose of sending a plague against the Greeks (the reasoning behind a god of the plague becoming a god of healing is apotropaic, meaning that the god responsible for bringing the plague must be appeased in order to remove the plague).
The Hittite testimony reflects an early form *Apeljōn, which may also be surmised from comparison of Cypriot Ἀπείλων with Doric Ἀπέλλων.[22]
A Luwian etymology suggested for Apaliunasmakes Apollo « The One of Entrapment », perhaps in the sense of « Hunter ».[23]
Greco-Roman epithets
Apollo’s chief epithet was Phoebus (/ˈfiːbəs/FEE-bəs; Φοῖβος, PhoibosGreek pronunciation: [pʰó͜i.bos]), literally « bright ».[24] It was very commonly used by both the Greeks and Romans for Apollo’s role as the god of light. Like other Greek deities, he had a number of others applied to him, reflecting the variety of roles, duties, and aspects ascribed to the god. However, while Apollo has a great number of appellations in Greek myth, only a few occur in Latin literature.
Lyceus (/laɪˈsiːəs/ly-SEE-əs; Λύκειος, Lykeios, from Proto-Greek *λύκη) « light ». The meaning of the epithet « Lyceus » later became associated with Apollo’s mother Leto, who was the patron goddess of Lycia (Λυκία) and who was identified with the wolf (λύκος).[27]
Acesius (/əˈsiːʒəs/ə-SEE-zhəs; Ἀκέσιος, Akesios), from ἄκεσις, « healing ». Acesius was the epithet of Apollo worshipped in Elis, where he had a temple in the agora.[33]
Medicus (Roman) (/ˈmɛdɪkəs/MED-i-kəs), « physician » in Latin. A temple was dedicated to Apollo Medicus at Rome, probably next to the temple of Bellona.
Nymphegetes (/nɪmˈfɛdʒɪtiːz/nim-FEJ-i-teez; Νυμφηγέτης, Numphēgetēs), from Νύμφη, « Nymph », and ἡγέτης, « leader », for his role as a protector of shepherds and pastoral life
Prophecy and truth
Coelispex (Roman) (/ˈsɛlɪspɛks/SEL-i-speks), from Latin coelum, « sky », and specere « to look at »
Iatromantis (/aɪˌætrəˈmæntɪs/eye-AT-rə-MAN-tis; Ἰατρομάντις, Iātromantis,) from ἰατρός, « physician », and μάντις, « prophet », referring to his role as a god both of healing and of prophecy
Ismenius (/ɪzˈmiːniəs/iz-MEE-nee-əs; Ἰσμηνιός, Ismēnios), literally « of Ismenus », after Ismenus, the son of Amphion and Niobe, whom he struck with an arrow
Celtic epithets and cult titles
Apollo was worshipped throughout the Roman Empire. In the traditionally Celtic lands he was most often seen as a healing and sun god. He was often equated with Celtic gods of similar character.[38]
Apollo Atepomarus (« the great horseman » or « possessing a great horse »). Apollo was worshipped at Mauvières (Indre). Horses were, in the Celtic world, closely linked to the sun.[39]
Apollo Belenus (‘bright’ or ‘brilliant’). This epithet was given to Apollo in parts of Gaul, Northern Italy and Noricum (part of modern Austria). Apollo Belenus was a healing and sun god.[40]
Apollo Cunomaglus (‘hound lord’). A title given to Apollo at a shrine at Nettleton Shrub, Wiltshire. May have been a god of healing. Cunomaglus himself may originally have been an independent healing god.[41]
Apollo Maponus. A god known from inscriptions in Britain. This may be a local fusion of Apollo and Maponus.
Apollo Moritasgus (‘masses of sea water’). An epithet for Apollo at Alesia, where he was worshipped as god of healing and, possibly, of physicians.[45]
The cult centers of Apollo in Greece, Delphi and Delos, date from the 8th century BCE. The Delos sanctuary was primarily dedicated to Artemis, Apollo’s twin sister. At Delphi, Apollo was venerated as the slayer of Pytho. For the Greeks, Apollo was all the Gods in one and through the centuries he acquired different functions which could originate from different gods. In archaic Greece he was the prophet, the oracular god who in older times was connected with « healing ». In classical Greece he was the god of light and of music, but in popular religion he had a strong function to keep away evil.[47]Walter Burkert[48]discerned three components in the prehistory of Apollo worship, which he termed « a Dorian-northwest Greek component, a Cretan-Minoan component, and a Syro-Hittite component. »
From his eastern origin Apollo brought the art of inspection of « symbols and omina » (σημεία και τέρατα : semeia kai terata), and of the observation of the omens of the days. The inspiration oracular-cult was probably introduced from Anatolia. The ritualism belonged to Apollo from the beginning. The Greeks created the legalism, the supervision of the orders of the gods, and the demand for moderation and harmony. Apollo became the god of shining youth, the protector of music, spiritual-life, moderation and perceptible order. The improvement of the old Anatolian god, and his elevation to an intellectual sphere, may be considered an achievement of the Greek people.[49]
Healer and god-protector from evil
The function of Apollo as a « healer » is connected with Paean (Παιών-Παιήων), the physician of the Gods in the Iliad, who seems to come from a more primitive religion.[50] Paeοn is probably connected with the Myceneanpa-ja-wo-ne (Linear B: 𐀞𐀊𐀍𐀚),[51][52][53] but this is not certain. He did not have a separate cult, but he was the personification of the holy magic-song sung by the magicians that was supposed to cure disease. Later the Greeks knew the original meaning of the relevant song « paean » (παιάν). The magicians were also called « seer-doctors » (ἰατρομάντεις), and they used an ecstatic prophetic art which was used exactly by the god Apollo at the oracles.[54]
In the Iliad, Apollo is the healer under the gods, but he is also the bringer of disease and death with his arrows, similar to the function of the Vedicgod of disease Rudra.[55] He sends a plague (λοιμός) to the Achaeans. The god who sends a disease can also prevent it; therefore, when it stops, they make a purifying ceremony and offer him a hecatomb to ward off evil. When the oath of his priest appeases, they pray and with a song they call their own god, the Paean.[56]
Some common epithets of Apollo as a healer are « paion » (παιών, literally « healer » or « helper »)[57]« epikourios » (ἐπικουρώ, « help »), « oulios » (οὐλή, « healed wound », also a « scar » )[58] and « loimios » (λοιμός, « plague »). In classical times, his strong function in popular religion was to keep away evil, and was therefore called « apotropaios » (ἀποτρέπω, « divert », « deter », « avert ») and « alexikakos » (from v.ἀλέξω + n.κακόν, « defend from evil »).[59] In later writers, the word, usually spelled « Paean », becomes a mere epithet of Apollo in his capacity as a god of healing.[60]
Homer illustrated Paeon the god, and the song both of apotropaic thanksgiving or triumph.[citation needed] Such songs were originally addressed to Apollo, and afterwards to other gods: to Dionysus, to Apollo Helios, to Apollo’s son Asclepius the healer. About the 4th century BCE, the paean became merely a formula of adulation; its object was either to implore protection against disease and misfortune, or to offer thanks after such protection had been rendered. It was in this way that Apollo had become recognised as the god of music. Apollo’s role as the slayer of the Python led to his association with battle and victory; hence it became the Roman custom for a paean to be sung by an army on the march and before entering into battle, when a fleet left the harbour, and also after a victory had been won.
Dorian origin
Giacobbe Giusti, APOLLO
Apollo Victorious over the Pythonby the Florentine Pietro Francavilla(dated 1591) depicting Apollo’s first triumph, when he slew with his bow and arrows the serpent Python, which lies dead at his feet[61] (The Walters Art Museum).
The connection with the Dorians and their initiation festival apellai is reinforced by the month Apellaios in northwest Greek calendars.[62] The family-festival was dedicated to Apollo (Doric: Ἀπέλλων).[63]Apellaios is the month of these rites, and Apellon is the « megistos kouros » (the great Kouros).[64] However it can explain only the Doric type of the name, which is connected with the Ancient Macedonian word « pella » (Pella), stone. Stones played an important part in the cult of the god, especially in the oracular shrine of Delphi (Omphalos).[65][66] The « Homeric hymn » represents Apollo as a Northern intruder. His arrival must have occurred during the « Dark Ages » that followed the destruction of the Mycenaean civilization, and his conflict with Gaia (Mother Earth) was represented by the legend of his slaying her daughter the serpent Python.[67]
The earth deity had power over the ghostly world, and it is believed that she was the deity behind the oracle.[68] The older tales mentioned two dragons who were perhaps intentionally conflated. A female dragon named Delphyne (δελφύς, « womb »),[69] and a male serpent Typhon (τύφειν, « to smoke »), the adversary of Zeus in the Titanomachy, who the narrators confused with Python.[70][71] Python was the good daemon(ἀγαθὸς δαίμων) of the temple as it appears in Minoan religion,[72] but she was represented as a dragon, as often happens in Northern European folklore as well as in the East.[73]
Apollo and his sister Artemis can bring death with their arrows. The conception that diseases and death come from invisible shots sent by supernatural beings, or magicians is common in Germanic and Norse mythology.[55] In Greek mythology Artemis was the leader (ἡγεμών, « hegemon ») of the nymphs, who had similar functions with the NordicElves.[74] The « elf-shot » originally indicated disease or death attributed to the elves, but it was later attested denoting stone arrow-heads which were used by witches to harm people, and also for healing rituals.[75]
The Vedic Rudra has some similar functions with Apollo. The terrible god is called « The Archer », and the bow is also an attribute of Shiva.[76]Rudra could bring diseases with his arrows, but he was able to free people of them, and his alternative Shiba is a healer physician god.[77]However the Indo-European component of Apollo does not explain his strong relation with omens, exorcisms, and with the oracular cult.
It seems an oracular cult existed in Delphi from the Mycenaean age.[78] In historical times, the priests of Delphi were called Labryaden, « the double-axe men », which indicates Minoan origin. The double-axe, labrys, was the holy symbol of the Cretanlabyrinth.[79][80] The Homeric hymn adds that Apollo appeared as a dolphin and carried Cretan priests to Delphi, where they evidently transferred their religious practices. Apollo Delphinios or Delphidios was a sea-god especially worshiped in Crete and in the islands.[81] Apollo’s sister Artemis, who was the Greek goddess of hunting, is identified with Britomartis (Diktynna), the Minoan « Mistress of the animals ». In her earliest depictions she is accompanied by the « Mister of the animals », a male god of hunting who had the bow as his attribute. His original name is unknown, but it seems that he was absorbed by the more popular Apollo, who stood by the virgin « Mistress of the Animals », becoming her brother.[74]
The old oracles in Delphi seem to be connected with a local tradition of the priesthood, and there is not clear evidence that a kind of inspiration-prophecy existed in the temple. This led some scholars to the conclusion that Pythia carried on the rituals in a consistent procedure through many centuries, according to the local tradition. In that regard, the mythical seeress Sibyl of Anatolianorigin, with her ecstatic art, looks unrelated to the oracle itself.[82] However, the Greek tradition is referring to the existence of vapours and chewing of laurel-leaves, which seem to be confirmed by recent studies.[83]
Plato describes the priestesses of Delphi and Dodona as frenzied women, obsessed by « mania » (μανία, « frenzy »), a Greek word he connected with mantis (μάντις, « prophet »).[84] Frenzied women like Sibyls from whose lips the god speaks are recorded in the Near East as Mari in the second millennium BC.[85] Although Crete had contacts with Mari from 2000 BC,[86] there is no evidence that the ecstatic prophetic art existed during the Minoan and Mycenean ages. It is more probable that this art was introduced later from Anatolia and regenerated an existing oracular cult that was local to Delphi and dormant in several areas of Greece.[87]
Anatolian origin
Illustration of a coin of Apollo Agyieus from Ambracia
A non-Greek origin of Apollo has long been assumed in scholarship.[7] The name of Apollo’s mother Letohas Lydian origin, and she was worshipped on the coasts of Asia Minor. The inspiration oracular cult was probably introduced into Greece from Anatolia, which is the origin of Sibyl, and where existed some of the oldest oracular shrines. Omens, symbols, purifications, and exorcisms appear in old Assyro–Babylonian texts, and these rituals were spread into the empire of the Hittites. In a Hittite text is mentioned that the king invited a Babylonian priestess for a certain « purification ».[49]
A similar story is mentioned by Plutarch. He writes that the CretanseerEpimenides purified Athensafter the pollution brought by the Alcmeonidae, and that the seer’s expertise in sacrifices and reform of funeral practices were of great help to Solon in his reform of the Athenian state.[88] The story indicates that Epimenides was probably heir to the shamanic religions of Asia, and proves, together with the Homeric hymn, that Crete had a resisting religion up to historical times. It seems that these rituals were dormant in Greece, and they were reinforced when the Greeks migrated to Anatolia.
Homer pictures Apollo on the side of the Trojans, fighting against the Achaeans, during the Trojan War. He is pictured as a terrible god, less trusted by the Greeks than other gods. The god seems to be related to Appaliunas, a tutelary god of Wilusa(Troy) in Asia Minor, but the word is not complete.[89] The stones found in front of the gates of Homeric Troy were the symbols of Apollo. The Greeks gave to him the name ἀγυιεύςagyieus as the protector god of public places and houses who wards off evil, and his symbol was a tapered stone or column.[90] However, while usually Greek festivals were celebrated at the full moon, all the feasts of Apollo were celebrated at the seventh day of the month, and the emphasis given to that day (sibutu) indicates a Babylonianorigin.[91]
The Late Bronze Age (from 1700 to 1200 BCE) Hittite and HurrianAplu was a god of plague, invoked during plague years. Here we have an apotropaic situation, where a god originally bringing the plague was invoked to end it. Aplu, meaning the son of, was a title given to the god Nergal, who was linked to the Babylonian god of the sun Shamash.[21] Homer interprets Apollo as a terrible god (δεινὸς θεός) who brings death and disease with his arrows, but who can also heal, possessing a magic art that separates him from the other Greek gods.[92] In Iliad, his priest prays to Apollo Smintheus,[93] the mouse god who retains an older agricultural function as the protector from field rats.[31][94][95] All these functions, including the function of the healer-god Paean, who seems to have Mycenean origin, are fused in the cult of Apollo.
Unusually among the Olympic deities, Apollo had two cult sites that had widespread influence: Delos and Delphi. In cult practice, Delian Apolloand Pythian Apollo (the Apollo of Delphi) were so distinct that they might both have shrines in the same locality.[96] Apollo’s cult was already fully established when written sources commenced, about 650 BCE. Apollo became extremely important to the Greek world as an oracular deity in the archaic period, and the frequency of theophoric names such as Apollodorus or Apollonios and cities named Apollonia testify to his popularity. Oracular sanctuaries to Apollo were established in other sites. In the 2nd and 3rd century CE, those at Didyma and Claruspronounced the so-called « theological oracles », in which Apollo confirms that all deities are aspects or servants of an all-encompassing, highest deity. « In the 3rd century, Apollo fell silent. Julian the Apostate (359–361) tried to revive the Delphic oracle, but failed. »[7]
Oracular shrines
Giacobbe Giusti, APOLLO
Delos lions
Apollo had a famous oracle in Delphi, and other notable ones in Clarus and Branchidae. His oracular shrine in Abae in Phocis, where he bore the toponymic epithet Abaeus (Ἀπόλλων Ἀβαῖος, Apollon Abaios), was important enough to be consulted by Croesus.[97] His oracular shrines include:
At Clarus, on the west coast of Asia Minor; as at Delphi a holy spring which gave off a pneuma, from which the priests drank.
In Corinth, the Oracle of Corinth came from the town of Tenea, from prisoners supposedly taken in the Trojan War.
At Khyrse, in Troad, the temple was built for Apollo Smintheus.
In Delos, there was an oracle to the Delian Apollo, during summer. The Hieron (Sanctuary) of Apollo adjacent to the Sacred Lake, was the place where the god was said to have been born.
In Delphi, the Pythia became filled with the pneuma of Apollo, said to come from a spring inside the Adyton.
In Didyma, an oracle on the coast of Anatolia, south west of Lydian (Luwian) Sardis, in which priests from the lineage of the Branchidae received inspiration by drinking from a healing spring located in the temple. Was believed to have been founded by Branchus, son or lover of Apollo.
In Hierapolis Bambyce, Syria (modern Manbij), according to the treatise De Dea Syria, the sanctuary of the Syrian Goddess contained a robed and bearded image of Apollo. Divination was based on spontaneous movements of this image.[98]
At Patara, in Lycia, there was a seasonal winter oracle of Apollo, said to have been the place where the god went from Delos. As at Delphi the oracle at Patara was a woman.
In Oropus, north of Athens, the oracle Amphiaraus, was said to be the son of Apollo; Oropus also had a sacred spring.
in Labadea, 20 miles (32 km) east of Delphi, Trophonius, another son of Apollo, killed his brother and fled to the cave where he was also afterwards consulted as an oracle.
Many temples were dedicated to Apollo in Greece and the Greek colonies. They show the spread of the cult of Apollo and the evolution of the Greek architecture, which was mostly based on the rightness of form and on mathematical relations. Some of the earliest temples, especially in Crete, do not belong to any Greek order. It seems that the first peripteral temples were rectanglular wooden structures. The different wooden elements were considered divine, and their forms were preserved in the marble or stone elements of the temples of Doric order. The Greeks used standard types because they believed that the world of objects was a series of typical forms which could be represented in several instances. The temples should be canonic, and the architects were trying to achieve this esthetic perfection.[99]From the earliest times there were certain rules strictly observed in rectangular peripteral and prostyle buildings. The first buildings were built narrowly in order to hold the roof, and when the dimensions changed some mathematical relations became necessary in order to keep the original forms. This probably influenced the theory of numbers of Pythagoras, who believed that behind the appearance of things there was the permanent principle of mathematics.[100]
The Doric order dominated during the 6th and the 5th century BC but there was a mathematical problem regarding the position of the triglyphs, which couldn’t be solved without changing the original forms. The order was almost abandoned for the Ionic order, but the Ionic capital also posed an insoluble problem at the corner of a temple. Both orders were abandoned for the Corinthian order gradually during the Hellenistic age and under Rome.
The most important temples are:
Greek temples
Thebes, Greece: The oldest temple probably dedicated to Apollo Ismenius was built in the 9th century B.C. It seems that it was a curvilinear building. The Doric temple was built in the early 7th century B.C., but only some small parts have been found [101] A festival called Daphnephoria was celebrated every ninth year in honour of Apollo Ismenius (or Galaxius). The people held laurel branches (daphnai), and at the head of the procession walked a youth (chosen priest of Apollo), who was called « daphnephoros ».[102]
Eretria: According to the Homeric hymn to Apollo, the god arrived to the plain, seeking for a location to establish its oracle. The first temple of Apollo Daphnephoros, « Apollo, laurel-bearer », or « carrying off Daphne », is dated to 800 B.C. The temple was curvilinear hecatombedon (a hundred feet). In a smaller building were kept the bases of the laurel branches which were used for the first building. Another temple probably peripteral was built in the 7th century B.C., with an inner row of wooden columns over its Geometric predecessor. It was rebuilt peripteral around 510 B.C., with the stylobate measuring 21,00 x 43,00 m. The number of pteron column was 6 x 14.[103][104]
Dreros (Crete). The temple of Apollo Delphinios dates from the 7th century B.C., or probably from the middle of the 8th century B.C. According to the legend, Apollo appeared as a dolphin, and carried Cretan priests to the port of Delphi.[105] The dimensions of the plan are 10,70 x 24,00 m and the building was not peripteral. It contains column-bases of the Minoan type, which may be considered as the predecessors of the Doric columns.[106]
Gortyn (Crete). A temple of Pythian Apollo, was built in the 7th century B.C. The plan measured 19,00 x 16,70 m and it was not peripteral. The walls were solid, made from limestone, and there was single door on the east side.
Thermon (West Greece): The Doric temple of Apollo Thermios, was built in the middle of the 7th century B.C. It was built on an older curvilinear building dating perhaps from the 10th century B.C., on which a peristyle was added. The temple was narrow, and the number of pteron columns (probably wooden) was 5 x 15. There was a single row of inner columns. It measures 12.13 x 38.23 m at the stylobate, which was made from stones.[107]
Floor plan of the temple of Apollo, Corinth
Corinth: A Doric temple was built in the 6th century B.C. The temple’s stylobatemeasures 21.36 x 53.30 m, and the number of pteron columns was 6 x 15. There was a double row of inner columns. The style is similar with the Temple of Alcmeonidae at Delphi.[108] The Corinthians were considered to be the inventors of the Doric order.[107]
Napes (Lesbos): An Aeolic temple probably of Apollo Napaios was built in the 7th century B.C. Some special capitals with floral ornament have been found, which are called Aeolic, and it seems that they were borrowed from the East.[109]
Cyrene, Libya: The oldest Doric temple of Apollo was built in c. 600 B.C. The number of pteron columns was 6 x 11, and it measures 16.75 x 30.05 m at the stylobate. There was a double row of sixteen inner columns on stylobates. The capitals were made from stone.[109]
Naukratis: An Ionic temple was built in the early 6th century B.C. Only some fragments have been found and the earlier, made from limestone, are identified among the oldest of the Ionic order.[110]
Floor plan of the temple of Apollo, Syracuse
Syracuse, Sicily: A Doric temple was built at the beginning of the 6th century B.C. The temple’s stylobate measures 21.47 x 55.36 m and the number of pteron columns was 6 x 17. It was the first temple in Greek west built completely out of stone. A second row of columns were added, obtaining the effect of an inner porch.[111]
Selinus (Sicily):The DoricTemple C dates from 550 B.C., and it was probably dedicated to Apollo. The temple’s stylobate measures 10.48 x 41.63 m and the number of pteron columns was 6 x 17. There was portico with a second row of columns, which is also attested for the temple at Syracuse.[112]
Delphi: The first temple dedicated to Apollo, was built in the 7th century B.C. According to the legend, it was wooden made of laurel branches. The « Temple of Alcmeonidae » was built in c. 513 B.C. and it is the oldest Doric temple with significant marble elements. The temple’s stylobate measures 21.65 x 58.00 m, and the number of pteron columns as 6 x 15.[113] A fest similar with Apollo’s fest at Thebes, Greece was celebrated every nine years. A boy was sent to the temple, who walked on the sacred road and returned carrying a laurel branch (dopnephoros). The maidens participated with joyful songs.[102]
Chios: An Ionic temple of Apollo Phanaios was built at the end of the 6th century B.C. Only some small parts have been found and the capitals had floral ornament.[109]
Abae (Phocis). The temple was destroyed by the Persians in the invasion of Xerxes in 480 B.C., and later by the Boeotians. It was rebuilt by Hadrian.[114] The oracle was in use from early Mycenaean times to the Roman period, and shows the continuity of Mycenaean and Classical Greek religion.[115]
Floor plan of the Temple of Apollo at Bassae
Bassae(Peloponnesus):A temple dedicated to Apollo Epikourios (« Apollo the helper »), was built in 430 B.C. and it was designed by Iktinos.It combined Doric and Ionic elements, and the earliest use of column with a Corinthian capital in the middle.[116] The temple is of a relatively modest size, with the stylobate measuring 14.5 x 38.3 metres[117] containing a Doricperistyle of 6 x 15 columns. The roof left a central space open to admit light and air.*Delos: A temple probably dedicated to Apollo and not peripteral, was built in the late 7th century B.C., with a plan measuring 10,00 x 15,60 m. The Doric Great temple of Apollo, was built in c. 475 B.C. The temple’s stylobate measures 13.72 x 29.78 m, and the number of pteron columns as 6 x 13. Marble was extensively used.[109]
Ambracia: A Doric peripteral temple dedicated to Apollo Pythios Sotir was built in 500 B.C., and It is lying at the centre of the Greek city Arta. Only some parts have been found, and it seems that the temple was built on earlier sanctuaries dedicated to Apollo. The temple measures 20,75 x 44,00 m at the stylobate. The foundation which supported the statue of the god, still exists.[118]
Temple of Apollo, Didyma
Didyma(near Miletus): The gigantic Ionic temple of Apollo Didymaiosstarted around 540 B.C. The construction ceased and then it was restarted in 330 B.C. The temple is dipteral, with an outer row of 10 x 21 columns, and it measures 28.90 x 80.75 m at the stylobate.[119]
Clarus (near ancient Colophon): According to the legend, the famous seer Calchas, on his return from Troy, came to Clarus. He challenged the seer Mopsus, and died when he lost.[120] The Doric temple of Apollo Clariuswas probably built in the 3rd century B.C., and it was peripteral with 6 x 11 columns. It was reconstructed at the end of the Hellenistic period, and later from the emperor Hadrian but Pausanias claims that it was still incomplete in the 2nd century B.C.[121]
Hamaxitus (Troad): In Iliad, Chryses the priest of Apollo, addresses the god with the epithet Smintheus (Lord of Mice), related with the god’s ancient role as bringer of the disease (plague). Recent excavations indicate that the Hellenistic temple of Apollo Smintheus was constructed at 150–125 B.C., but the symbol of the mouse god was used on coinage probably from the 4th century B.C.[122] The temple measures 40,00 x 23,00 m at the stylobate, and the number of pteron columns was 8 x 14.[123]
Etruscan and Roman temples
Veii (Etruria): The temple of Apollo was built in the late 6th century B.C. and it indicates the spread of Apollo’s culture (Aplu) in Etruria. There was a prostyle porch, which is called Tuscan, and a triple cella 18,50 m wide.[124]
Falerii Veteres (Etruria): A temple of Apollo was built probably in the 4th-3rd century B.C. Parts of a teraccotta capital, and a teraccotta base have been found. It seems that the Etruscan columns were derived from the archaic Doric.[124] A cult of Apollo Soranus is attested by one inscription found near Falerii.[125]
Pompeii (Italy): The cult of Apollo was widespread in the region of Campania since the 6th century B.C. The temple was built in 120 B.V, but its beginnings lie in the 6th century B.C. It was reconstructed after an earthquake in A.D. 63. It demonstrates a mixing of styles which formed the basis of Roman architecture. The columns in front of the cella formed a Tuscan prostyle porch, and the cella is situated unusually far back. The peripteral colonnade of 48 Ionic columns was placed in such a way that the emphasis was given to the front side.[126]
Rome: The temple of Apollo Sosianus and the temple of Apollo Medicus. The first temple building dates to 431 B.C., and was dedicated to Apollo Medicus (the doctor), after a plague of 433 B.C.[127] It was rebuilt by Gaius Sosius, probably in 34 B.C. Only three columns with Corinthian capitals exist today. It seems that the cult of Apollo had existed in this area since at least to the mid-5th century B.C.[128]
Rome:The temple of Apollo Palatinus was located on the Palatine hill within the sacred boundary of the city. It was dedicated by Augustus on 28 B.C. The façade of the original temple was Ionic and it was constructed from solid blocks of marble. Many famous statues by Greek masters were on display in and around the temple, including a marble statue of the god at the entrance and a statue of Apollo in the cella.[129]
Melite (modern Mdina, Malta): A Temple of Apollo was built in the city in the 2nd century A.D. Its remains were discovered in the 18th century, and many of its architectural fragments were dispersed among private collections or reworked into new sculptures. Parts of the temple’s podium were rediscovered in 2002.[130]
When Zeus’ wife Hera discovered that Leto was pregnant and that Zeus was the father, she banned Leto from giving birth on terra firma. In her wanderings, Leto found the newly created floating island of Delos, which was neither mainland nor a real island. She gave birth there and was accepted by the people, offering them her promise that her son would be always favourable toward the city. Afterwards, Zeus secured Delos to the bottom of the ocean.[15] This island later became sacred to Apollo.
It is also stated that Hera kidnapped Eileithyia, the goddess of childbirth, to prevent Leto from going into labor. The other gods tricked Hera into letting her go by offering her a necklace of amber nine yards (8.2 m) long. Mythographers agree that Artemis was born first and subsequently assisted with the birth of Apollo, or that Artemis was born one day before Apollo on the island of Ortygia and that she helped Leto cross the sea to Delos the next day to give birth to Apollo. Apollo was born on the seventh day (ἑβδομαγενής, hebdomagenes)[131] of the month Thargelion —according to Delian tradition—or of the month Bysios—according to Delphian tradition. The seventh and twentieth, the days of the new and full moon, were ever afterwards held sacred to him.[15]
Youth
Four days after his birth, Apollo killed the chthonicdragon Python, which lived in Delphi beside the Castalian Spring. This was the spring which emitted vapors that caused the oracle at Delphi to give her prophecies. Hera sent the serpent to hunt Leto to her death across the world. To protect his mother, Apollo begged Hephaestus for a bow and arrows. After receiving them, Apollo cornered Python in the sacred cave at Delphi.[132] Apollo killed Python but had to be punished for it, since Python was a child of Gaia.
Hera then sent the giant Tityos to rape Leto. This time Apollo was aided by his sister Artemis in protecting their mother. During the battle Zeus finally relented his aid and hurled Tityos down to Tartarus. There, he was pegged to the rock floor, covering an area of 9 acres (36,000 m2), where a pair of vultures feasted daily on his liver.
Apollo shot arrows infected with the plague into the Greek encampment during the Trojan War in retribution for Agamemnon‘s insult to Chryses, a priest of Apollo whose daughter Chryseis had been captured. He demanded her return, and the Achaeans complied, indirectly causing the anger of Achilles, which is the theme of the Iliad.
In the Iliad, when Diomedes injured Aeneas, Apollo rescued him. First, Aphrodite tried to rescue Aeneas but Diomedes injured her as well. Aeneas was then enveloped in a cloud by Apollo, who took him to Pergamos, a sacred spot in Troy.
Apollo aided Paris in the killing of Achilles by guiding the arrow of his bow into Achilles‘ heel. One interpretation of his motive is that it was in revenge for Achilles’ sacrilege in murdering Troilus, the god’s own son by Hecuba, on the very altar of the god’s own temple.
Admetus
When Zeus struck down Apollo’s son Asclepius with a lightning bolt for resurrecting Hippolytusfrom the dead (transgressing Themis by stealing Hades‘s subjects), Apollo in revenge killed the Cyclopes, who had fashioned the bolt for Zeus.[133] Apollo would have been banished to Tartarus forever for this, but was instead sentenced to one year of hard labor, due to the intercession of his mother, Leto. During this time he served as shepherd for King Admetus of Pherae in Thessaly. Admetus treated Apollo well, and, in return, the god conferred great benefits on Admetus.
Apollo helped Admetus win Alcestis, the daughter of King Pelias and later convinced the Fates to let Admetus live past his time, if another took his place. But when it came time for Admetus to die, his parents, whom he had assumed would gladly die for him, refused to cooperate. Instead, Alcestis took his place, but Heracles managed to « persuade » Thanatos, the god of death, to return her to the world of the living.
Niobe, the queen of Thebes and wife of Amphion, boasted of her superiority to Leto because she had fourteen children (Niobids), seven male and seven female, while Leto had only two. Apollo killed her sons, and Artemis her daughters. Apollo and Artemis used poisoned arrows to kill them, though according to some versions of the myth, a number of the Niobids were spared (Chloris, usually). Amphion, at the sight of his dead sons, either killed himself or was killed by Apollo after swearing revenge.
A devastated Niobe fled to Mount Sipylos in Asia Minor and turned into stone as she wept. Her tears formed the river Achelous. Zeus had turned all the people of Thebes to stone and so no one buried the Niobids until the ninth day after their death, when the gods themselves entombed them.
Consorts and children
Love affairs ascribed to Apollo are a late development in Greek mythology.[134] Their vivid anecdotal qualities have made some of them favorites of painters since the Renaissance, the result being that they stand out more prominently in the modern imagination.
Daphne was a nymph, daughter of the river godPeneus, who had scorned Apollo. The myth explains the connection of Apollo with δάφνη (daphnē), the laurel whose leaves his priestess employed at Delphi.[135] In Ovid‘s Metamorphoses, Phoebus Apollo chaffs Cupid for toying with a weapon more suited to a man, whereupon Cupid wounds him with a golden dart; simultaneously, however, Cupid shoots a leaden arrow into Daphne, causing her to be repulsed by Apollo. Following a spirited chase by Apollo, Daphne prays to her father Peneus for help and he changes her into the laurel tree, sacred to Apollo.
Artemis Daphnaia, who had her temple among the Lacedemonians, at a place called Hypsoi[136] in Antiquity, on the slopes of Mount Cnacadion near the Spartan frontier,[137] had her own sacred laurel trees.[138] At Eretria the identity of an excavated 7th- and 6th-century temple to Apollo Daphnephoros, « Apollo, laurel-bearer », or « carrying off Daphne », a « place where the citizens are to take the oath », is identified in inscriptions.[139]
Leucothea was daughter of Orchamus and sister of Clytia. She fell in love with Apollo who disguised himself as Leucothea’s mother to gain entrance to her chambers. Clytia, jealous of her sister because she wanted Apollo for herself, told Orchamus the truth, betraying her sister’s trust and confidence in her. Enraged, Orchamus ordered Leucothea to be buried alive. Apollo refused to forgive Clytia for betraying his beloved, and a grieving Clytia wilted and slowly died. Apollo changed her into an incense plant, either heliotrope or sunflower, which follows the sun every day.
Marpessa was kidnapped by Idas but was loved by Apollo as well. Zeus made her choose between them, and she chose Idas on the grounds that Apollo, being immortal, would tire of her when she grew old.
Castalia was a nymph whom Apollo loved. She fled from him and dove into the spring at Delphi, at the base of Mt. Parnassos, which was then named after her. Water from this spring was sacred; it was used to clean the Delphian temples and inspire the priestesses. In the last oracle is mentioned that the « water which could speak », has been lost for ever.
By Cyrene, Apollo had a son named Aristaeus, who became the patron god of cattle, fruit trees, hunting, husbandry and bee-keeping. He was also a culture-hero and taught humanity dairy skills, the use of nets and traps in hunting, and how to cultivate olives.
Hecuba was the wife of King Priam of Troy, and Apollo had a son with her named Troilus. An oracle prophesied that Troy would not be defeated as long as Troilus reached the age of twenty alive. He was ambushed and killed by Achilleus.
Cassandra, was daughter of Hecuba and Priam, and Troilus’ half-sister. Apollo fell in love with Cassandra and promised her the gift of prophecy to seduce her, but she rejected him afterwards. Enraged, Apollo indeed gave her the ability to know the future, with a curse that she could only see the future tragedies and that no one would ever believe her.
Coronis, was daughter of Phlegyas, King of the Lapiths. Pregnant with Asclepius, Coronis fell in love with Ischys, son of Elatus. A crow informed Apollo of the affair. When first informed he disbelieved the crow and turned all crows black (where they were previously white) as a punishment for spreading untruths. When he found out the truth he sent his sister, Artemis, to kill Coronis (in other stories, Apollo himself had killed Coronis). As a result, he also made the crow sacred and gave them the task of announcing important deaths. Apollo rescued the baby and gave it to the centaurChiron to raise. Phlegyas was irate after the death of his daughter and burned the Temple of Apollo at Delphi. Apollo then killed him for what he did.
In Euripides‘ play Ion, Apollo fathered Ion by Creusa, wife of Xuthus. Creusa left Ion to die in the wild, but Apollo asked Hermes to save the child and bring him to the oracle at Delphi, where he was raised by a priestess.
Acantha, was the spirit of the acanthus tree, and Apollo had one of his other liaisons with her. Upon her death, Apollo transformed her into a sun-loving herb.
According to the Biblioteca, the « library » of mythology mis-attributed to Apollodorus, he fathered the Corybantes on the Muse Thalia.[140]
Apollo and Hyacinthus, 16th-century Italian engraving by Jacopo Caraglio
Hyacinth or Hyacinthus was one of Apollo’s male lovers. He was a Spartanprince, beautiful and athletic. The pair was practicing throwing the discus when a discus thrown by Apollo was blown off course by the jealous Zephyrus and struck Hyacinthus in the head, killing him instantly. Apollo is said to be filled with grief: out of Hyacinthus’ blood, Apollo created a flower named after him as a memorial to his death, and his tears stained the flower petals with the interjection αἰαῖ, meaning alas.[170] The Festival of Hyacinthus was a celebration of Sparta.
Another male lover was Cyparissus, a descendant of Heracles. Apollo gave him a tame deer as a companion but Cyparissus accidentally killed it with a javelin as it lay asleep in the undergrowth. Cyparissus asked Apollo to let his tears fall forever. Apollo granted the request by turning him into the Cypress named after him, which was said to be a sad tree because the sap forms droplets like tears on the trunk.
Hermes was born on Mount Cyllenein Arcadia. The story is told in the Homeric Hymn to Hermes.[179] His mother, Maia, had been secretly impregnated by Zeus. Maia wrapped the infant in blankets but Hermes escaped while she was asleep.
Hermes ran to Thessaly, where Apollo was grazing his cattle. The infant Hermes stole a number of his cows and took them to a cave in the woods near Pylos, covering their tracks. In the cave, he found a tortoise and killed it, then removed the insides. He used one of the cow’s intestines and the tortoise shell and made the first lyre.
Apollo complained to Maia that her son had stolen his cattle, but Hermes had already replaced himself in the blankets she had wrapped him in, so Maia refused to believe Apollo’s claim. Zeus intervened and, claiming to have seen the events, sided with Apollo. Hermes then began to play music on the lyre he had invented. Apollo, a god of music, fell in love with the instrument and offered to allow exchange of the cattle for the lyre. Hence, Apollo then became a master of the lyre.
Apollo in the Oresteia
In Aeschylus‘ Oresteia trilogy, Clytemnestra kills her husband, King Agamemnon because he had sacrificed their daughter Iphigenia to proceed forward with the Trojan war, and Cassandra, a prophetess of Apollo. Apollo gives an order through the Oracle at Delphi that Agamemnon’s son, Orestes, is to kill Clytemnestra and Aegisthus, her lover. Orestes and Pylades carry out the revenge, and consequently Orestes is pursued by the Erinyes or Furies (female personifications of vengeance).
Apollo and the Furies argue about whether the matricide was justified; Apollo holds that the bond of marriage is sacred and Orestes was avenging his father, whereas the Erinyes say that the bond of blood between mother and son is more meaningful than the bond of marriage. They invade his temple, and he says that the matter should be brought before Athena. Apollo promises to protect Orestes, as Orestes has become Apollo’s supplicant. Apollo advocates Orestes at the trial, and ultimately Athena rules in favor of Apollo.
Another contender for the birthplace of Apollo is the Cretan islands of Paximadia.
Musical contests
Pan
Once Pan had the audacity to compare his music with that of Apollo and to challenge Apollo, the god of the kithara, the mountain-god Tmolus was chosen to umpire. Pan blew on his pipes, and with his rustic melody gave great satisfaction to himself and his faithful follower, Midas, who happened to be present. Then Apollo struck the strings of his lyre. Tmolus at once awarded the victory to Apollo, and all but Midas agreed with the judgment. He dissented and questioned the justice of the award. Apollo would not suffer such a depraved pair of ears any longer, and caused them to become the ears of a donkey.
Apollo has ominous aspects aside from his plague-bringing, death-dealing arrows: Marsyaswas a satyr who challenged Apollo to a contest of music. He had found an aulos on the ground, tossed away after being invented by Athena because it made her cheeks puffy. The contest was judged by the Muses.
After they each performed, both were deemed equal until Apollo decreed they play and sing at the same time. As Apollo played the lyre, this was easy to do. Marsyas could not do this, as he only knew how to use the flute and could not sing at the same time. Apollo was declared the winner because of this. Apollo flayed Marsyas alive in a cave near Celaenae in Phrygia for his hubris to challenge a god. He then nailed Marsyas’ shaggy skin to a nearby pine-tree. Marsyas’ blood turned into the river Marsyas.
Another variation is that Apollo played his instrument (the lyre) upside down. Marsyas could not do this with his instrument (the flute), and so Apollo hung him from a tree and flayed him alive.[181]
Cinyras
Apollo also had a lyre-playing contest with Cinyras, his son, who committed suicide when he lost.
Head of Apollo, marble, Roman copy of a Greek original of the 4th century BCE, from the collection of Cardinal Albani
Roman Apollo
The Roman worship of Apollo was adopted from the Greeks.[182]As a quintessentially Greek god, Apollo had no direct Roman equivalent, although later Roman poets often referred to him as Phoebus.[183]There was a tradition that the Delphic oracle was consulted as early as the period of the kings of Rome during the reign of Tarquinius Superbus.[184]
On the occasion of a pestilence in the 430s BCE, Apollo’s first temple at Rome was established in the Flaminian fields, replacing an older cult site there known as the « Apollinare ».[185] During the Second Punic War in 212 BCE, the Ludi Apollinares (« Apollonian Games ») were instituted in his honor, on the instructions of a prophecy attributed to one Marcius.[186] In the time of Augustus, who considered himself under the special protection of Apollo and was even said to be his son, his worship developed and he became one of the chief gods of Rome.[187][182]
After the battle of Actium, which was fought near a sanctuary of Apollo, Augustus enlarged Apollo’s temple, dedicated a portion of the spoils to him, and instituted quinquennial games in his honour.[188] He also erected a new temple to the god on the Palatine hill.[189] Sacrifices and prayers on the Palatine to Apollo and Dianaformed the culmination of the Secular Games, held in 17 BCE to celebrate the dawn of a new era.[190]
Apollo’s most common attributes were the bow and arrow. Other attributes of his included the kithara (an advanced version of the common lyre), the plectrum and the sword. Another common emblem was the sacrificial tripod, representing his prophetic powers. The Pythian Games were held in Apollo’s honor every four years at Delphi. The bay laurel plant was used in expiatory sacrifices and in making the crown of victory at these games.[182]
Gold stater of the Seleucid king Antiochus I Soter (reigned 281–261 BCE) showing on the reverse a nude Apollo holding his key attributes: two arrows and a bow
The palm treewas also sacred to Apollo because he had been born under one in Delos. Animals sacred to Apollo included wolves, dolphins, roe deer, swans, cicadas(symbolizing music and song), hawks, ravens, crows, snakes (referencing Apollo’s function as the god of prophecy), mice and griffins, mythical eagle–lion hybrids of Eastern origin.[182]
As god of colonization, Apollo gave oracular guidance on colonies, especially during the height of colonization, 750–550 BCE.
According to Greek tradition, he helped Cretan or Arcadian colonists found the city of Troy. However, this story may reflect a cultural influence which had the reverse direction: Hittitecuneiform texts mention a Minor Asian god called Appaliunas or Apalunas in connection with the city of Wilusa attested in Hittite inscriptions, which is now generally regarded as being identical with the Greek Ilion by most scholars. In this interpretation, Apollo’s title of Lykegenes can simply be read as « born in Lycia », which effectively severs the god’s supposed link with wolves (possibly a folk etymology).
In literary contexts, Apollo represents harmony, order, and reason—characteristics contrasted with those of Dionysus, god of wine, who represents ecstasy and disorder. The contrast between the roles of these gods is reflected in the adjectives Apollonian and Dionysian. However, the Greeks thought of the two qualities as complementary: the two gods are brothers, and when Apollo at winter left for Hyperborea, he would leave the Delphic oracle to Dionysus. This contrast appears to be shown on the two sides of the Borghese Vase.
The Louvre Apollo Sauroctonos, Roman copy after Praxiteles (360 BC)
Apollo is a common theme in Greek and Roman art and also in the art of the Renaissance. The earliest Greek word for a statue is « delight » (ἄγαλμα, agalma), and the sculptors tried to create forms which would inspire such guiding vision. Greek art puts into Apollo the highest degree of power and beauty that can be imagined. The sculptors derived this from observations on human beings, but they also embodied in concrete form, issues beyond the reach of ordinary thought.
The naked bodies of the statues are associated with the cult of the body that was essentially a religious activity. The muscular frames and limbs combined with slim waists indicate the Greek desire for health, and the physical capacity which was necessary in the hard Greek environment. The statues of Apollo embody beauty, balance and inspire awe before the beauty of the world.
The evolution of the Greek sculpture can be observed in his depictions from the almost static formal Kouros type in early archaic period, to the representation of motion in a relative harmonious whole in late archaic period. In classical Greecethe emphasis is not given to the illusive imaginative reality represented by the ideal forms, but to the analogies and the interaction of the members in the whole, a method created by Polykleitos. Finally Praxiteles seems to be released from any art and religious conformities, and his masterpieces are a mixture of naturalismwith stylization.
Art and Greek philosophy
The evolution of the Greek art seems to go parallel with the Greek philosophical conceptions, which changed from the natural-philosophy of Thales to the metaphysical theory of Pythagoras. Thales searched for a simple material-form directly perceptible by the senses, behind the appearances of things, and his theory is also related to the older animism. This was paralleled in sculpture by the absolute representation of vigorous life, through unnaturally simplified forms.[191]
Pythagoras believed that behind the appearance of things, there was the permanent principle of mathematics, and that the forms were based on a transcendental mathematical relation.[100] The forms on earth, are imperfect imitations (εἰκόνες, eikones, « images ») of the celestial world of numbers. His ideas had a great influence on post-Archaic art. The Greek architects and sculptors were always trying to find the mathematical relation, that would lead to the esthetic perfection.[192] (canon).
In classical Greece, Anaxagoras asserted that a divine reason (mind) gave order to the seeds of the universe, and Plato extended the Greek belief of ideal forms to his metaphysical theory of forms(ideai, « ideas »). The forms on earth are imperfect duplicates of the intellectual celestial ideas. The Greek words oida (οἶδα, « (I) know ») and eidos(εἶδος, « species »), a thing seen, have the same root as the word idea (ἰδέα), a thing ἰδείν to see.[193][194] indicating how the Greek mind moved from the gift of the senses, to the principles beyond the senses. The artists in Plato’s time moved away from his theories and art tends to be a mixture of naturalism with stylization. The Greek sculptors considered the senses more important, and the proportions were used to unite the sensible with the intellectual.
Kouros (male youth) is the modern term given to those representations of standing male youths which first appear in the archaic period in Greece. This type served certain religious needs and was first proposed for what was previously thought to be depictions of Apollo.[195][196] The first statues are certainly still and formal. The formality of their stance seems to be related with the Egyptian precedent, but it was accepted for a good reason. The sculptors had a clear idea of what a young man is, and embodied the archaic smile of good manners, the firm and springy step, the balance of the body, dignity, and youthful happiness. When they tried to depict the most abiding qualities of men, it was because men had common roots with the unchanging gods.[197] The adoption of a standard recognizable type for a long time, is probably because nature gives preference in survival of a type which has long be adopted by the climatic conditions, and also due to the general Greek belief that nature expresses itself in ideal formsthat can be imagined and represented.[192] These forms expressed immortality. Apollo was the immortal god of ideal balance and order. His shrine in Delphi, that he shared in winter with Dionysius had the inscriptions: γνῶθι σεαυτόν(gnōthi seautón= »know thyself ») and μηδὲν ἄγαν(mēdén ágan, « nothing in excess »), and ἐγγύα πάρα δ’ἄτη (eggýa pára d’atē, « make a pledge and mischief is nigh »).[198]
In the first large-scale depictions during the early archaic period (640–580 BC), the artists tried to draw one’s attention to look into the interior of the face and the body which were not represented as lifeless masses, but as being full of life. The Greeks maintained, until late in their civilization, an almost animistic idea that the statues are in some sense alive. This embodies the belief that the image was somehow the god or man himself.[199] A fine example is the statue of the Sacred Gate Kouroswhich was found at the cemetery of Dipylon in Athens (Dipylon Kouros). The statue is the « thing in itself », and his slender face with the deep eyes express an intellectual eternity. According to the Greek tradition the Dipylon master was named Daedalus, and in his statues the limbs were freed from the body, giving the impression that the statues could move. It is considered that he created also the New York kouros, which is the oldest fully preserved statue of Kouros type, and seems to be the incarnation of the god himself.[191]
The animistic idea as the representation of the imaginative reality, is sanctified in the Homeric poems and in Greek myths, in stories of the god Hephaestus(Phaistos) and the mythic Daedalus (the builder of the labyrinth) that made images which moved of their own accord. This kind of art goes back to the Minoan period, when its main theme was the representation of motion in a specific moment.[200] These free-standing statues were usually marble, but also the form rendered in limestone, bronze, ivory and terracotta.
The earliest examples of life-sized statues of Apollo, may be two figures from the Ionicsanctuary on the island of Delos. Such statues were found across the Greek speaking world, the preponderance of these were found at the sanctuaries of Apollo with more than one hundred from the sanctuary of Apollo Ptoios, Boeotiaalone.[201] The last stage in the development of the Kouros type is the late archaic period (520–485 BC), in which the Greek sculpture attained a full knowledge of human anatomy and used to create a relative harmonious whole. Ranking from the very few bronzes survived to us is the masterpiece bronze Piraeus Apollo. It was found in Piraeus, the harbour of Athens. The statue originally held the bow in its left hand, and a cup of pouring libation in its right hand. It probably comes from north-eastern Peloponnesus. The emphasis is given in anatomy, and it is one of the first attempts to represent a kind of motion, and beauty relative to proportions, which appear mostly in post-Archaic art. The statue throws some light on an artistic centre which, with an independently developed harder, simpler and heavier style, restricts Ionian influence in Athens. Finally, this is the germ from which the art of Polykleitos was to grow two or three generations later.[202]
Classical sculpture
Apollo of the « Mantoua type », marble Roman copy after a 5th-century BCE Greek original attributed to Polykleitos, Musée du Louvre
At the beginning of the Classical period, it was considered that beauty in visible things as in everything else, consisted of symmetry and proportions. The artists tried also to represent motion in a specific moment (Myron), which may be considered as the reappearance of the dormant Minoanelement.[200] Anatomy and geometry are fused in one, and each does something to the other. The Greek sculptors tried to clarify it by looking for mathematical proportions, just as they sought some reality behind appearances. Polykleitos in his Canon wrote that beauty consists in the proportion not of the elements (materials), but of the parts, that is the interrelation of parts with one another and with the whole. It seems that he was influenced by the theories of Pythagoras.[203] The famous Apollo of Mantua and its variants are early forms of the Apollo Citharoedus statue type, in which the god holds the cithara in his left arm. The type is represented by neo-Attic Imperial Roman copies of the late 1st or early 2nd century, modelled upon a supposed Greek bronze original made in the second quarter of the 5th century BCE, in a style similar to works of Polykleitos but more archaic. The Apollo held the cythara against his extended left arm, of which in the Louvre example, a fragment of one twisting scrolling horn upright remains against his biceps.
Though the proportions were always important in Greek art, the appeal of the Greek sculptures eludes any explanation by proportion alone. The statues of Apollo were thought to incarnate his living presence, and these representations of illusive imaginative reality had deep roots in the Minoan period, and in the beliefs of the first Greekspeaking people who entered the region during the bronze-age. Just as the Greeks saw the mountains, forests, sea and rivers as inhabited by concrete beings, so nature in all of its manifestations possesses clear form, and the form of a work of art. Spiritual life is incorporated in matter, when it is given artistic form. Just as in the arts the Greeks sought some reality behind appearances, so in mathematics they sought permanent principles which could be applied wherever the conditions were the same. Artists and sculptors tried to find this ideal order in relation with mathematics, but they believed that this ideal order revealed itself not so much to the dispassionate intellect, as to the whole sentient self.[191] Things as we see them, and as they really are, are one, that each stresses the nature of the other in a single unity.
In the archaic pediments and friezes of the temples, the artists had a problem to fit a group of figures into an isosceles triangle with acute angles at the base.
The Siphnian Treasury in Delphi was one of the first Greek buildings utilizing the solution to put the dominating form in the middle, and to complete the descending scale of height with other figures sitting or kneeling. The pediment shows the story of Heracles stealing Apollo’s tripod that was strongly associated with his oracular inspiration. Their two figures hold the centre. In the pediment of the temple of Zeus in Olympia, the single figure of Apollo is dominating the scene.[197]
These representations rely on presenting scenes directly to the eye for their own visible sake. They care for the schematic arrangements of bodies in space, but only as parts in a larger whole. While each scene has its own character and completeness it must fit into the general sequence to which it belongs. In these archaic pediments the sculptors use empty intervals, to suggest a passage to and from a busy battlefield. The artists seem to have been dominated by geometrical pattern and order, and this was improved when classical art brought a greater freedom and economy.[197]
Hellenistic Greece-Rome
Apollo as a handsome beardless young man, is often depicted with a kithara (as Apollo Citharoedus) or bow in his hand, or reclining on a tree (the Apollo Lykeios and Apollo Sauroctonostypes). The Apollo Belvedere is a marblesculpture that was rediscovered in the late 15th century; for centuries it epitomized the ideals of Classical Antiquity for Europeans, from the Renaissance through the 19th century. The marble is a Hellenistic or Roman copy of a bronze original by the Greek sculptor Leochares, made between 350 and 325 BCE.
The life-size so-called « Adonis » found in 1780 on the site of a villa suburbana near the Via Labicanain the Roman suburb of Centocelle is identified as an Apollo by modern scholars. In the late 2nd century CE floor mosaic from El Djem, Roman Thysdrus, he is identifiable as Apollo Helios by his effulgent halo, though now even a god’s divine nakedness is concealed by his cloak, a mark of increasing conventions of modesty in the later Empire.
Another haloed Apollo in mosaic, from Hadrumentum, is in the museum at Sousse.[204]The conventions of this representation, head tilted, lips slightly parted, large-eyed, curling hair cut in locks grazing the neck, were developed in the 3rd century BCE to depict Alexander the Great.[205] Some time after this mosaic was executed, the earliest depictions of Christ would also be beardless and haloed.
In discussion of the arts, a distinction is sometimes made between the Apollonian and Dionysian impulses where the former is concerned with imposing intellectual order and the latter with chaotic creativity. Friedrich Nietzscheargued that a fusion of the two was most desirable. Carl Jung‘s Apollo archetyperepresents what he saw as the disposition in people to over-intellectualise and maintain emotional distance.
Charles Handy, in Gods of Management (1978) uses Greek gods as a metaphor to portray various types of organisational culture. Apollo represents a ‘role’ culture where order, reason and bureaucracy prevail.[206]
In spaceflight, the NASA program for landing astronauts on the Moon was named Apollo.
Jump up^Krauskopf, I. 2006. « The Grave and Beyond. » The Religion of the Etruscans. edited by N. de Grummond and E. Simon. Austin: University of Texas Press. p. vii, p. 73-75.
Jump up^For the iconography of the Alexander–Helios type, see H. Hoffmann, 1963. « Helios », in Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt2, pp. 117–23; cf. Yalouris 1980, no. 42.
Jump up^Joseph Fontenrose, « Apollo and Sol in the Latin poets of the first century BC », Transactions of the American Philological Association30(1939), pp 439–55; « Apollo and the Sun-God in Ovid », American Journal of Philology61 (1940) pp 429–44; and « Apollo and Sol in the Oaths of Aeneas and Latinus » Classical Philology38.2 (April 1943), pp. 137–138.
Jump up^« The young men became grown-up kouroi, and Apollon was the « megistos kouros » (The Great Kouros) : Jane Ellen Harrison (2010): Themis: A study to the Social origins of Greek Religion Cambridge University Press. pp. 439–441, ISBN1108009492
Jump up^Visible Religion. Volume IV–V. Approaches to Iconology. Leiden, E. J. Brill, 1985 p. 143 [1]
^ Jump up to:abThe word usually appears in plural: Hesychius: ἀπέλλαι (apellai), σηκοί (« folds »), ἐκκλησίαι (« assemblies »), ἀρχαιρεσίαι(« elections »): Nilsson, Vol. I, p. 556
Jump up^Doric Greek verb: ἀπέλλάζειν (« to assemble »), and the festival ἀπέλλαι (apellai), which surely belonged to Apollo. Nilsson, Vol I, p. 556.
Jump up^Martin Nilsson, Die Geschichte der Griechische Religion, vol. I (C. H. Beck), 1955:555–564.
Jump up^The reading of Apaliunas and the possible identification with Apollo is due to Emil Forrer(1931). It was doubted by Kretschmer, GlottaXXIV, p. 250. Martin Nilsson (1967), Vol I, p. 559
^ Jump up to:abde Grummond, Nancy Thomson (2006) Etruscan Myth, Sacred History, and Legend. (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology); Mackenzie, Donald A. (2005) Myths of Babylonia and Assyria (Gutenberg)
Jump up^Angel, John L.; Mellink, Machteld Johanna (1986). Troy and the Trojan War: A Symposium Held at Bryn Mawr College, October 1984. Bryn Mawr Commentaries. p. 42. ISBN978-0-929524-59-7.
Jump up^Immerwahr, Sara Anderson; Chapin, Anne Proctor (2004). Charis: Essays in Honor of Sara A. Immerwahr. Amer School of Classical. p. 254. ISBN978-0-87661-533-1.
Jump up^Miranda J. Green, Dictionary of Celtic Myth and Legend, Thames and Hudson Ltd, 1997
Jump up^Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum XIII, 1863–1986; A. Ross, Pagan Celtic Britain, 1967; M.J. Green, The Gods of the Celts, 1986, London
Jump up^J. Zwicker, Fontes Historiae Religionis Celticae, 1934–36, Berlin; Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum V, XI, XII, XIII; J. Gourcest, « Le culte de Belenos en Provence occidentale et en Gaule », Ogam6.6 (1954:257–262); E. Thevonot, « Le cheval sacre dans la Gaule de l’Est », Revue archeologique de l’Est et du Centre-Est (vol 2), 1951; [], « Temoignages du culte de l’Apollon gaulois dans l’Helvetie romaine », Revue celtique(vol 51), 1934.
Jump up^W.J. Wedlake, The Excavation of the Shrine of Apollo at Nettleton, Wiltshire, 1956–1971, Society of Antiquaries of London, 1982.
Jump up^M. Szabo, The Celtic Heritage in Hungary(Budapest 1971)
^ Jump up to:abDivinites et sanctuaires de la Gaule, E. Thevonat, 1968, Paris
^ Jump up to:abLa religion des Celtes, J. de Vries, 1963, Paris
Jump up^J. Le Gall, Alesia, archeologie et histoire(Paris 1963).
Jump up^Paieon (Παιήων) puts pain-relieving medicines on the wounds of Pluton and Ares ( Ilias E401). This art is related with Egypt: (Odyssey D232): M. Nilsson Vol I, p. 543
Jump up^Ἐπὶ καταπαύσει λοιμῶν καὶ νόσων ᾄδόμενος. Which is sung to stop the plagues and the diseases. Proklos: Chrestom from Photios Bibl. code. 239, p. 321: Martin Nilsson. Die Geschicthe der Griechischen religion. Vol I, p. 543
^ Jump up to:ab« The conception that the diseases come from invisible shots sent by magicians or supernatural beings is common in primitive people and also in European folklore. In North-Europe they speak of the « Elf-shots« . In Sweden where the Lapps were called magicians, they speak of the « Lappen-shots ». Martin Nilsson (1967). Vol I, p. 541
Jump up^Ilias A 314. Martin Nilsson (1967). Vol I, p. 543
Jump up^[2]: Harper’s Dictionary of classical antiquity
Jump up^« Many pictures show the serpent Python living in amity with Apollo and guarding the Omphalos. Karl Kerenyi (1951). ed. 1980: The gods of the Greeks, pp. 36–37
Jump up^« In a Pompeian fresco Python is lying peacefully on the ground and the priests with the sacred double axe in their hand bring the bull (bouphronion). Jane. H. Harisson (1912): Themis. A study of the social origins of the Greek religion. Cambridge University Press. pp. 423–424
Jump up^In Minoan religion the serpent is the protector of the household (underground stored corn). Also in Greek religion, « snake of the house » (οἰκουρὸς ὄφις) in the temple of Athena at Acropolis, etc., and in Greek folklore. Martin Nilsson, Vol.I, pp. 213–214
Jump up^Nordig sagas. Hittite myth of Illuyankas. Also in the Bible: Leviathan. W. Porzig (1930). Illuyankas and Typhon. Kleinasiatische Forschung, pp. 379–386
^ Jump up to:ab. Martin Nilsson (1967), Vol I, pp. 499–500
Jump up^Hall, Alaric. 2005. ‘Getting Shot of Elves: Healing, Witchcraft and Fairies in the Scottish Witchcraft Trials’, [3], 116 (2005), pp. 19–36.
Jump up^For Śarva as a name of Shiva see: Apte, p. 910.
Jump up^For association between Rudra and disease, with Rigvedic references, see: Bhandarkar, p. 146.
Jump up^Martin Nilsson (1967). Vol I. pp. 559–560.
Jump up^« You Apollo Smintheus, let my tears become your arrows against the Danaans, for revenge ». Iliad 1.33 (A 33).
Jump up^An ancient aetiological myth connects sminthos with mouse and suggests Cretan origin. Apollo is the mouse-god (Strabo 13.1.48).
Jump up^« Sminthia » in several areas of Greece. In Rhodes (Lindos) they belong to Apollo and Dionysos who have destroyed the rats that were swallowing the grapes ». Martin Nilsson (1967). pp. 534–535.
Jump up^Rufus B. Richardson, « A Temple in Eretria » The American Journal of Archaeology and of the History of the Fine Arts, 10.3 (July – September 1895:326–337)
Jump up^Peter Schneider: Neue Funde vom archaischen Apollontempel in Didyma. In: Ernst-Ludwig Schwandner (ed.): Säule und Gebälk. Zu Struktur und Wandlungsprozeß griechisch-römischer Architektur. Bauforschungskolloquium in Berlin vom 16.-18. Juni 1994. Diskussionen zur Archäologischen Bauforschung
Jump up^« The love-stories themselves were not told until later. » Karl Kerenyi, The Gods of the Greeks 1951:140.
Jump up^The ancient Daphne episode is noted in late narratives, notably in Ovid, Metamorphoses, in Hyginus, Fabulae, 203 and by the fourth-century-CE teacher of rhetoric and Christian convert, Libanius, in Narrationes.
Jump up^G. Shipley, « The Extent of Spartan Territory in the Late Classical and Hellenistic Periods », The Annual of the British School at Athens, 2000.
Jump up^Rufus B. Richardson, « A Temple in Eretria » The American Journal of Archaeology and of the History of the Fine Arts, 10.3 (July – September 1895:326–337); Paul Auberson, Eretria. Fouilles et Recherches I, Temple d’Apollon Daphnéphoros, Architecture (Bern, 1968). See also Plutarch, Pythian Oracle, 16.
Jump up^Homann-Wedeking (1966). Art of the World. Archaic Greece, pp. 144–150.
Jump up^« Each part (finger, palm, arm, etc.) transmitted its individual existence to the next, and then to the whole » : Canon of Polykleitos, also Plotinus, Ennead I vi. i: Nigel Spivey (1997). Greek art, Phaidon Press Ltd. London. pp. 290–294.
Jump up^According to Hesiod, Theogony927–929, Hephaestus was produced by Hera alone, with no father, see Gantz, p. 74.
Jump up^According to Hesiod‘s Theogony886–890, of Zeus’ children by his seven wives, Athena was the first to be conceived, but the last to be born; Zeus impregnated Metis then swallowed her, later Zeus himself gave birth to Athena « from his head », see Gantz, pp. 51–52, 83–84.
Jump up^According to Hesiod, Theogony183–200, Aphrodite was born from Uranus’ severed genitals, see Gantz, pp. 99–100.
Homer, The Iliad with an English Translation by A.T. Murray, Ph.D. in two volumes. Cambridge, MA., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1924. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
Homer; The Odyssey with an English Translation by A.T. Murray, PH.D. in two volumes. Cambridge, MA., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1919. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
Palaephatus, On Unbelievable Tales 46. Hyacinthus (330 BCE)
Apollodorus, Apollodorus, The Library, with an English Translation by Sir James George Frazer, F.B.A., F.R.S. in 2 Volumes.Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1921. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
Pausanias, Pausanias Description of Greece with an English Translation by W.H.S. Jones, Litt.D., and H.A. Ormerod, M.A., in 4 Volumes.Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1918. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
M. Bieber, 1964. Alexander the Great in Greek and Roman Art. Chicago.
Hugh Bowden, 2005. Classical Athens and the Delphic Oracle: Divination and Democracy. Cambridge University Press.
Walter Burkert, 1985. Greek Religion (Harvard University Press) III.2.5 passim
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Freese, John Henry (1911). « Apollo« . In Chisholm, Hugh. Encyclopædia Britannica. 2 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 184–186.
Gantz, Timothy, Early Greek Myth: A Guide to Literary and Artistic Sources, Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996, Two volumes: ISBN978-0-8018-5360-9 (Vol. 1), ISBN978-0-8018-5362-3 (Vol. 2).
Robert Graves, 1960. The Greek Myths, revised edition. Penguin.
Miranda J. Green, 1997. Dictionary of Celtic Myth and Legend, Thames and Hudson.
Karl Kerenyi, 1953. Apollon: Studien über Antiken Religion und Humanität revised edition.
Karl Kerenyi, 1951. The Gods of the Greeks
Mertens, Dieter; Schutzenberger, Margareta. Città e monumenti dei Greci d’Occidente: dalla colonizzazione alla crisi di fine V secolo a.C.. Roma L’Erma di Bretschneider, 2006. ISBN88-8265-367-6.
Martin Nilsson, 1955. Die Geschichte der Griechische Religion, vol. I. C.H. Beck.
Pauly–Wissowa, Realencyclopädie der klassischen Altertumswissenschaft: II, « Apollon ». The best repertory of cult sites (Burkert).
Pfeiff, K.A., 1943. Apollon: Wandlung seines Bildes in der griechischen Kunst. Traces the changing iconography of Apollo.
D.S.Robertson (1945) A handbook of Greek and Roman Architecture Cambridge University Press
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Giacobbe Giusti 
