Apollo is one of the most important and most complicated gods in the Greek Pantheon. If you've taken even a slight interest in Greek mythology, you've probably heard of Apollo as the Sun God and have seen pictures of him driving the chariot of the sun across the sky. But, did you know that he is never mentioned or depicted driving that chariot in Classical Greek literature and art? Or that his origins may not even be Greek. Apollo, a handsome young man with curly golden hair, was the son of , and Leto, a nymph. Zeus's wife and sister Hera, goddess of women, marriage, family and childbirth, was outraged by Leto's pregnancy. She persuaded the spirits of earth to refuse to allow Leto to give birth anywhere on its surface or on its islands at sea. Poseidon took pity on Leto and led her to Delos, a floating island so, not technically the surface of the earth. Apollo and his twin sister, , goddess of the hunt and wild things, were born there. Though he is sometimes pictured with rays of the sun emanating from his head or driving the chariot of the sun across the sky, those attributes were actually borrowed from , a Titan and an earlier, figure from Greece's pre-Hellenistic Archaic period. Over time, the two became blended, but Apollo, an Olympian, is more properly considered the god of light. He was also worshipped as the god of both healing and diseases, of prophesy and truth, of music and arts he carries a lyre made for him by Hermes and of archery one of his attributes is a silver quiver filled with golden arrows. For all the sunshine of his creativity and good looks, Apollo also has a dark side, as the bringer of diseases and trouble, of plague and of murderous arrows. And he has a jealous and short temper. There are many stories about his bringing tragedy to his lovers and others. He was once challenged to musical contest by a human named Marsyas. He eventually won - partly through trickery - but afterward, he had Marsyas flayed alive for daring to challenge him to a contest. To seduce her, he promised the gift of prophesy, but when she still rejected him he cursed her so that she could only foresee tragedy and no one would ever believe her. He turned her into a laurel tree. Clearly Apollo must have carried a torch for her ever after, because he is often depicted with a crown of laurel leaves. Apollo gave him a tame deer for a pet but he accidentally killed it with a javelin while it slept under a tree. Cyparissus died of grief but not before begging Apollo to allow him to cry forever. Apollo turned him into a Cypress tree. The tree's sap sits in droplets on its bark like tears. In fact, he may not have been Greek at all. Some scholars suggest that his story is distinctly Asian and he may have originated in the Middle East. Among his major sites outside of Greece is the Temple of Apollo Smintheus at Çanakkale, Turkey. With Cyrene, the daughter of a king, he fathered Aristaeus, a son and demigod, the patron of cattle, fruit trees, hunting, husbandry and bee-keeping, who taught mankind dairying and the cultivation of olives.. The remains of one of his temples crowns the site with columns. The oracle once prophesied in the name of the Earth Goddess Gaia, but Apollo stole the oracle from her when he slew a dragon known as the Python. The importance of Delphi in the ancient world was as a place of guaranteed peace, where leaders from all over the known world - representatives of the Greek city-states, Cretans, Macedonians and even Persians - could come together, even if they were warring elsewhere, to celebrate the Pythian Games, to make offerings thus the treasuries and consult the Oracle. In addition to the archaelogical site, there is a museum with remarkable objects found there. And, before you leave, stop for refreshments on a terrace overlooking the valley between Mt. Giona, to gape at the Crissaean Plain. From the slopes of Parnassus, all the way down to the sea, the valley is filled with olive trees. Much more than an huge olive grove, this is known as the olive forest of the Crissaean Plain. There are millions maybe billions of olive trees still producing Amfissa olives. Once again, consult the website to decide which admission price is right for you. It is possible to get there by public buses but that can be intimidating because very little English is spoken by the bus drivers or at the bus terminals. Your best bet is to join an organized tour. Travel company offices all over Athens and the rest of Greece can sell you day trip tours to Delphi.
