{
  "id": "apollo",
  "type": "entity",
  "name": "Apollo",
  "summary": "God of the bow, the lyre and prophecy, son of Zeus and Leto and twin of Artemis, born on Delos after nine days of labour while Hera kept Eileithyia away. The Homeric Hymn has him found his oracle at Crisa, kill the she-dragon whose rotting gave Pytho and \"Pythian\" their names, and bring Cretan sailors as his priests; the Iliad opens with his plague on the Greek camp.",
  "locale": "en",
  "tags": [
    "greek",
    "deities",
    "olympians",
    "prophecy",
    "archery",
    "music",
    "delphi"
  ],
  "relations": [
    {
      "rel": "parent_of",
      "target": "asclepius"
    },
    {
      "rel": "equivalent_of",
      "target": "horus"
    },
    {
      "rel": "child_of",
      "target": "zeus"
    },
    {
      "rel": "child_of",
      "target": "leto"
    },
    {
      "rel": "sibling_of",
      "target": "artemis"
    },
    {
      "rel": "member_of",
      "target": "twelve-olympians"
    },
    {
      "rel": "attested_in",
      "target": "theogony"
    },
    {
      "rel": "attested_in",
      "target": "homeric-hymns"
    },
    {
      "rel": "attested_in",
      "target": "iliad"
    },
    {
      "rel": "related",
      "target": "hermes"
    },
    {
      "rel": "related",
      "target": "poseidon"
    },
    {
      "rel": "related",
      "target": "hera"
    }
  ],
  "questions": [
    "Who is Apollo?",
    "Who are the parents of Apollo?",
    "Where was Apollo born?",
    "How did Apollo found the oracle at Delphi?",
    "Why is Apollo called Pythian?",
    "Why does Apollo send a plague in the Iliad?",
    "How did Apollo get the lyre?",
    "Did Apollo serve a mortal master?"
  ],
  "claims": [
    {
      "id": "c1",
      "text": "Apollo is the son of Zeus and Leto: \"Leto was joined in love with Zeus who holds the aegis, and bore Apollo and Artemis delighting in arrows, children lovely above all the sons of Heaven\" (Theog. 918–920).",
      "sources": [
        "hesiod-theogony"
      ],
      "confidence": 0.95
    },
    {
      "id": "c2",
      "text": "The Homeric Hymn places the birth on Delos: Leto \"was racked nine days and nine nights with pangs\" because Hera kept Eileithyia on Olympus \"through envy\"; when Iris fetched her, Leto \"cast her arms about a palm tree\", the child \"leaped forth to the light\", Themis fed him nectar and ambrosia, and he declared, \"The lyre and the curved bow shall ever be dear to me, and I will declare to men the unfailing will of Zeus\" (HH3 89–132).",
      "sources": [
        "homeric-hymns"
      ],
      "confidence": 0.94
    },
    {
      "id": "c3",
      "text": "Apollodorus tells the birth differently: Leto, \"hunted by Hera over the whole earth\", came to Delos \"and brought forth first Artemis, by the help of whose midwifery she afterwards gave birth to Apollo\" (Apollod. 1.4.1). The Hymn gives Artemis a separate birthplace, Ortygia (HH3 14–16), and no midwife role.",
      "sources": [
        "apollodorus-library",
        "homeric-hymns"
      ],
      "confidence": 0.9
    },
    {
      "id": "c4",
      "text": "The founding of Delphi (HH3 281–374): at Crisa under Parnassus he resolved \"to build a glorious temple to be an oracle for men\"; Trophonius and Agamedes laid the footing; by the spring he shot \"the bloated, great she-dragon\"; and because Helios \"made her rot away there ... the place is now called Pytho, and men call the lord Apollo by another name, Pythian\" (HH3 371–374). Pausanias gives the same etymology from pythesthai, \"to rot\" (Paus. 10.6.5).",
      "sources": [
        "homeric-hymns",
        "pausanias-description"
      ],
      "confidence": 0.94
    },
    {
      "id": "c5",
      "text": "His first priests were Cretans: he leapt onto a ship from Cnossos \"like a dolphin in shape\", brought it to Crisa, told them \"I am the son of Zeus; Apollo is my name\", bade them pray to him as Apollo Delphinius, and led them up singing \"Ie Paean\" to keep his temple (HH3 388–501). Apollodorus says instead that Apollo \"learned the art of prophecy from Pan\", came to Delphi \"where Themis at that time used to deliver oracles\", and killed the snake Python that guarded it (Apollod. 1.4.1); Pausanias says the seat was first Earth's, then Themis's gift to Apollo (Paus. 10.5.5–6).",
      "sources": [
        "homeric-hymns",
        "apollodorus-library",
        "pausanias-description"
      ],
      "confidence": 0.9
    },
    {
      "id": "c6",
      "text": "The Iliad opens with his anger: dishonoured through his priest Chryses, Apollo came down \"like the night\", and \"terrible was the twang of the silver bow\"; he shot mules, dogs and then the men, \"and constantly the pyres of the dead burned thick\" for nine days (Il. 1.43–52).",
      "sources": [
        "homer-iliad"
      ],
      "confidence": 0.94
    },
    {
      "id": "c7",
      "text": "He twice served mortals. Poseidon reminds him that at Zeus's bidding they served Laomedon \"for a year's space at a fixed wage\", Apollo herding \"the sleek kine of shambling gait amid the spurs of wooded Ida\", and were cheated of their pay (Il. 21.441–457). Apollodorus adds his thraldom to Admetus of Pherae, for whom he yoked a lion and a boar to win Alcestis (Apollod. 1.9.15).",
      "sources": [
        "homer-iliad",
        "apollodorus-library"
      ],
      "confidence": 0.92
    },
    {
      "id": "c8",
      "text": "The lyre came from Hermes. In the Hymn to Hermes the infant thief offers the tortoise-shell lyre in exchange for the stolen cattle; Apollo \"took it, and readily put his shining whip in Hermes' hand, and ordained him keeper of herds\", swore friendship, gave Hermes \"a splendid staff of riches and wealth ... of gold, with three branches\", and refused him prophecy, which \"only the mind of Zeus knows\" (HH4 496–540).",
      "sources": [
        "homeric-hymns"
      ],
      "confidence": 0.93
    }
  ],
  "takeaways": [
    "Bow, lyre and prophecy are his own programme, stated at birth in the Hymn (HH3 131–132).",
    "The Hymn and Apollodorus disagree on the twins' birth (Ortygia and Delos vs Delos with Artemis as midwife) and on how Delphi was won (a slain she-dragon vs an oracle taken over from Themis).",
    "The epithet \"Pythian\" is an etymology the Hymn and Pausanias both give from the rotting of the monster.",
    "The lyre is Hermes's invention; Apollo's is the golden staff he gave in return."
  ],
  "faqs": [
    {
      "q": "Who are the parents of Apollo?",
      "claim": "c1"
    },
    {
      "q": "Where was Apollo born?",
      "claim": "c2"
    },
    {
      "q": "Why is Apollo called Pythian?",
      "claim": "c4"
    },
    {
      "q": "Why does Apollo send a plague in the Iliad?",
      "claim": "c6"
    },
    {
      "q": "How did Apollo get the lyre?",
      "claim": "c8"
    }
  ],
  "evidence_tier": "primary",
  "evidence": {
    "level": "theoretical",
    "source_types": [
      "paper"
    ]
  },
  "moat_flag": false,
  "winning_edge": "Guides list Apollo's attributes; this object shows where each comes from, and keeps the two rival accounts of Delphi (conquest in the Hymn, inheritance in Apollodorus and Pausanias) as separate, cited claims.",
  "confidence": 0.92,
  "last_verified": "2026-09-03",
  "media": [],
  "x": {
    "myth": {
      "pantheon": "greek",
      "kind": "deity",
      "group": "olympian",
      "domains": [
        "prophecy",
        "archery",
        "music",
        "healing",
        "plague",
        "herds"
      ],
      "symbols": [
        "bow",
        "lyre",
        "laurel",
        "silver bow",
        "dolphin"
      ],
      "wikidata": "Q37340"
    }
  },
  "canonical_url": "https://mythosdata.dev/k/apollo",
  "api_url": "https://mythosdata.dev/api/k/apollo.json",
  "jsonld": {
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "name": "Apollo",
    "description": "God of the bow, the lyre and prophecy, son of Zeus and Leto and twin of Artemis, born on Delos after nine days of labour while Hera kept Eileithyia away. The Homeric Hymn has him found his oracle at Crisa, kill the she-dragon whose rotting gave Pytho and \"Pythian\" their names, and bring Cretan sailors as his priests; the Iliad opens with his plague on the Greek camp.",
    "url": "https://mythosdata.dev/k/apollo",
    "license": "https://spdx.org/licenses/CC-BY-4.0.html",
    "dateModified": "2026-09-03",
    "citation": [
      {
        "@type": "CreativeWork",
        "name": "Hesiod, Theogony — tr. Hugh G. Evelyn-White (Loeb, 1914), Perseus TEI edition",
        "url": "https://github.com/PerseusDL/canonical-greekLit/blob/master/data/tlg0020/tlg001/tlg0020.tlg001.perseus-eng2.xml"
      },
      {
        "@type": "CreativeWork",
        "name": "The Homeric Hymns — tr. Hugh G. Evelyn-White (Loeb, 1914), Perseus TEI edition",
        "url": "https://github.com/PerseusDL/canonical-greekLit/blob/master/data/tlg0013/"
      },
      {
        "@type": "CreativeWork",
        "name": "Apollodorus, The Library (Bibliotheca) — tr. Sir James George Frazer (Loeb, 1921), Perseus TEI edition",
        "url": "https://github.com/PerseusDL/canonical-greekLit/blob/master/data/tlg0548/tlg001/tlg0548.tlg001.perseus-eng2.xml"
      },
      {
        "@type": "CreativeWork",
        "name": "Homer, Iliad — tr. A. T. Murray (Loeb, 1924), Perseus TEI edition",
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    "@type": "Article",
    "headline": "Apollo"
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}