Apollo & Artemis
Apollo (Homeric Hymns)
son of Zeus & Leto (titaness daughter of Coeus & Phoebe, on motherhood, nurture, modesty → she’s praised for the birth of two powerful gods)
[younger] twin brother of Artemis (both most widely revered & influential)
appearance: young, beardless, ideal male form, naked or robed with a bow
functions: archery (quick death), music & poetry (culture), oracles, law & order (structure), agriculture, sun, medicine (healing), plague (destruction)
→ multi-domain god representing balance & power; the bridge between Zeus & humans
symbols: lyre, bow & arrow, sun, laurel (sacred tree, victory, Daphne), dolphin (sacred animal, delphi cult), raven (prophecy), palm tree (birth in delos)
Apollo’s cultic sites (where he was worshipped)
Delos - birthplace
originally an insignificant place, Leto’s arrival and offer to give birth to Phoebus “light/radiant” Apollo (bringing in a great temple, hecatombs*, foreigners), would make delos sacred and nourished.
*large/rich sacrifices
Delphi - mainland Greece; Apollo’s site of oracles
Pythian Apollo established after defeating the serpent/dragon Python that guarded the ancient oracle at delphi. represents shift from earth power to orderly olympian power.
known to be the navel/center of the world (represented by the omphalos stone), confirmed when Zeus released 2 eagles from opposite ends of the earth and met at delphi.
delphi’s sanctuary complex → temple of apollo (main oracle site), theatre, treasuries; religion + politics + art combined
the pythian games: athletic & musical competitions (contributed to greek culture & civilization).
delphic/pythian oracular tradition (oracle system):
pay a fee/bring offerings (expensive)
ask inquiries
Pythia (Apollo’s prophetess/oracle*) answers [ambiguously] , entering a trance-like frenzy
*requirements: sexually pure/chaste
Apollo’s known love affairs (Ovid’s Metamorphoses)
Apollo & Daphne
began with Apollo bragging about killing Python [and having better archery skills] to Cupid, who gets offended and humbles him by shooting a leaden arrow (causes rejection) at Daphne (a water nymph attendant of Artemis; devoted to virginhood & independence) and a golden arrow at Apollo (causes love).
the chase → Apollo becomes obsessed and in-love, while Daphne runs, rejects and is terrified.
Daphne begs her father (a river god) to save her, transforming her into a laurel tree (Daphne in greek), to which Apollo still loved, kissed and hugged (as a tree, she rejects this). explains why Apollo wears laurel wreaths.
→ love as unrequited/forced, unequal and destructive
Apollo & Coronis
Apollo’s lover, the mortal Thessalian princess Coronis, cheats on him. he’s shocked and angry, and impulsively kills her with his arrow. Apollo immediately regrets his actions, and on the funeral pyre, he realizes Coronis is pregnant with his child (Asclepius, god of medicine). he cuts the baby out of her womb from the flames, having Chiron foster his child.
→ love, with violence and regret, healing comes from tragedy
Apollo & Hyacinthus
a pederasty* between Apollo and spartan prince Hyacinthus, they were playing a game of discus. Apollo threw the discus, Hyacinthus ran to grab it, but it bounced and hit his face, causing his death. Apollo grieves, failing to heal him, and from Hyacinthus’ blood, a flower grew; the hyacinth, that will carry Apollo’s grief forever.
→ mutual love that's lost, fragility of life
*sexual relationship between an adult man and a younger adolescent male, socially acknowledged in ancient greece
Artemis (Homeric Hymns)
daughter of Zeus & Leto (titaness daughter of Coeus & Phoebe, on motherhood, nurture, modesty → she’s praised for the birth of two powerful gods)
[older] twin sister of Apollo (both most widely revered & influential)
known as a virgin huntress, complete independence of romance & marriage, not controlled by desire
virginity enforcement - the myth of Artemis & Actaeon (Ovid’s Metamorphoses)
→ while Artemis was bathing in a sacred vale after a weary hunt, Actaeon accidentally sees her while wandering in the unfamiliar woods. as punishment, Artemis transforms him into a stag (debated whether that’s justified or too cruel).
character: chaste, austere “strict” female sexuality, music-dance lover, stern, wrathful, destructive*
functions: huntress, mistress of animals, nature goddess, childbirth helper (helped Leto give birth to Apollo), protector of maidens & several nymphs
symbols: bow & arrow, deer/stag (wilderness), hunting dogs (companions), cypress (sacred plant, life & death), moon
→ protector of life (birth & animals) and bringer of death (hunting, punishment
*the massacre of Niobe’s children (Ovid’s Metamorphoses) → Niobe (queen of thebes) brags (hubris) about having more children (14) than Leto, an insult to a goddess. as punishment, Apollo kills Niobe’s sons while Artemis kills her daughters, as a didactic lesson. grieving, Niobe was turned to stone that wept.
Artemis (chastity) vs. Aphrodite (desire)
Euripides’ Hippolytus (a martyr of chastity)
Hippolytus (chaste, virginal, misogynistic man; son of Theseus), devoted to Artemis, rejects women, love and sex. Aphrodite angry, punishes him by making his stepmother Phaedra fall in love with him. she confesses, and he rejects her. protecting her honor, she kills herself, leaving a letter falsely stating Hippolytus raped her. Theseus believes the letter, curses Hippolytus, invoking his father Poseidon to kill him. Poseidon sends a sea monster, killing Hippolytus. Artemis appears too late to save him, and reveals the truth to Theseus, establishing a cult in his honor.
→ balance of worship
Artemis’ Misandry* & Lesbianism
Artemis sometimes seen as a *man-hater, however, has male followers and leads mixed groups (nymphs & young men).
→ sacred band of virgins
modern interpretations link Artemis to a lesbian identity/female-only spaces, connecting to Sappho (ancient greek poet) & sapphic traditions. however, ancient myths DO NOT explicitly define Artemis as lesbian. also often linked to the amazons (female warriors), which also has no strong direct myth connection.