Apollo: Explained

By: Mia Smith

For Research Excursion #2, I wanted to go deeper into the role Apollo specifically played in ancient Greece. Since he and Zeus were mentioned most often in Antigone, I knew his history and legend would be important. What I found was exactly that: in ancient Greece, especially Athens, Apollo was almost equal in importance to Zeus and was the key deity for centuries of worship, conflict, and governmental structure. As a deity, he held power as the god of sun, light, music, and poetry; he brought his followers joy and happiness, which was often much-needed, depending on who was ruling at the time. 

When the Roman empire came to pass, almost all Greek gods were given Roman names that better fit Roman ideologies; I say almost because Apollo was one of the few exceptions to this change. His role as Apollo was so quintessentially Greek, the Romans didn't want to risk his wrath by attempting to change his name. That's saying a lot, considering they even gave Zeus a Roman name.

Apollo and Helios were associated with season solstices by most citizens of ancient Greece, including Plato, who spoke this association often. 

The sacred temple of Apollo Patroos (context in the blue dot) is still being excavated today, and is called a temenos. Many experts disagree on when the original temple was built, but the general consensus is thar it was built between 340 and 320 BCE. 

I hadn't realized what an integral piece of ancient Greek culture Apollo was, but after my research, I've come to understand that without Apollo and his intense followers, Greek history and culture would be incredibly different.

I hope you enjoy!

P.S. Getting the timeline to read in BCE dates was incredibly hard, so I got it as close as I could.

Bibliography:

 Erskine, Andrew. “EPILOGUE.” The Gods of Ancient Greece: Identities and Transformations, edited by Andrew Erskine and Jan N. Bremmer, Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh, 2010, pp. 505–510. JSTOR

The Power of Individual and Community in Ancient Athens and Beyond : Essays in Honour of John K. Davies, edited by Zosia Archibald, and Jan Haywood, Classical Press of Wales, The, 2018. ProQuest Ebook Central

 Arnold, Irene Ringwood. “Local Festivals at Delos.” American Journal of Archaeology, vol. 37, no. 3, 1933, pp. 452–458. JSTOR

 Hedrick, Charles W. “The Temple and Cult of Apollo Patroos in Athens.” American Journal of Archaeology, vol. 92, no. 2, 1988, pp. 185–210. JSTOR