Apollo Apollo Apollo (Attic, Ionic, and Homeric Greek: , "Apollōn" ( ) is one of the most important and complex of the Olympian deities in classical Greek and Roman religion and Greek and Roman mythology. The national divinity of the Greeks, Apollo has been variously recognized as a god of music, truth and prophecy, healing, the sun and light, plague, poetry, and more. Apollo is the son of Zeus and Leto, and has a twin sister, the chaste huntress Artemis. Seen as the most beautiful god and the ideal of the "kouros" (a beardless, athletic youth), Apollo is considered to be
Apollo Apollo had invented the lyre himself, whose strings he tore in repent to the excess punishment he had given to Marsyas. Hermes' lyre, therefore, is rather a reinvention. Apollo participated in musical contests when challenged by others. He was the victor in all the contests, but usually punished his opponents severely for their hubris. Once Pan had the audacity to compare his music with that of Apollo and to challenge Apollo, the god of music. 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