Apollo is the god of music, playing a golden lyre. The Archer, far shooting with a silver bow. The god of healing who taught man medicine. The god of light. The god of truth, who can not speak a lie. One of Apollo's more importaint daily tasks is to harness his chariot with four horses an drive the Sun across the sky. He is famous for his oracle at Delphi. People travled to it from all over the greek world to devine the future. His tree was the laurel. The crow his bird.The dolphin his animal.
Apollo was born of the goddess Leto, who was the daughter of Titans and rival to Hera. It was Hera who tormented Leto's pregnancy and pursued her throughout the world until, at last, she found peace on the lonely windswept island of Delos(center of the Cycladic world). There she gave birth to Apollo and his sister Artemis. While still a baby, Apollo demanded bow and arrows and with them sped to Mount Parnassos, where he sought out the great serpent Python, enemy of Leto. Overmatched, Python fled to Delphi, to the security of the shrine of the Earth Mother, but Apollo disregarded the sanctitiy of the shrine and slew Python, polluting the sanctuary.
Apollo then Went either to the Vale of Tempe, or to Crete, where he was purified of the crime of murder and the pollution of the holly ground. The divergence in the myths at this point reflect the various claims upon Greek origins for Apollo. After being purified , Apollo returned to Delphi where he persuaded Pan, the goat-god of wild places and evocative music, to reveal the art of prophecy. Inherent in this aspect of the myth is also the reconciliation between Apollo and Dionysos, that god and force of nature which makes itself felt in orgiastic music and dance.