Apollo Apollo is said to have built a foundation and an altar on Delos using the horns of the goats that his sister Artemis hunted. Since he learnt the art of building when young, he later became "Archegetes", the founder of towns and god who guided men to build new cities. In his young years when Zeus had ignored him, Apollo spent his time herding cows. There, he was reared by Thriae, the bee nymphs, who trained him and enhanced his prophetic skills. During this time, Apollo also invented the lyre, and along with Artemis, the art of archery. He then
Apollo (). The magicians were also called "seer-doctors" (), and they used an ecstatic prophetic art which was used exactly by the god Apollo at the oracles. 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 Vedic god of disease Rudra. He sends a plague () 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