Apollo - the archer god

In Greek and Roman mythology, Apollo, the ideal of the kouros (a beardless youth), was the archer-god of medicine and healing, light, truth, archery and also a bringer of death-dealing plague; as the leader of the Muses (Apollon Musagetes) and director of their choir, he is a god of music and poetry. Hymns sung to Apollo were called Paeans. The American missions to the moon, Project Apollo, were named for the god.

As the patron of Delphi ("Pythian Apollo"), Apollo was an oracular god. Moreover, he was the prophetic deity of the Delphic Oracle, as well as one of the most important and many-sided of the Olympian deities. In classical times, he took the place of Helios as god of the sun. Apollo also had dominion over colonists, over medicine (mediated through his son Asclepius), and was the patron defender of herds and flocks.

Apollo was the son of Zeus and Leto, and the twin brother of the chaste huntress Artemis who took the place of Selene as goddess of the moon. Apollo was known in Greek-influenced Etruscan mythology as Apulu. In Roman mythology, he was known as Apollo and increasingly, especially during the 3rd century BC, as Apollo Helios and became identified with Sol (the Sun). In Hellenistic times, Apollo became conflated with Helios, god of the sun, and his sister similarly equated with Selene, goddess of the moon. However, Apollo and Helios remained separate beings in literary and mythological texts.

Apollo's most common attributes were the lyre and the bow. Other attributes of his included the kithara (an advanced version of the common lyre) and plectrum). Another common emblem was the sacrificial tripod, representing his prophetic powers. The Pythian Games were held in Apollo's honor every four years at Delphi. The laurel bay plant was used in expiatory sacrifices and in making the crown of victory at these games. The palm was also sacred to Apollo because he had was born under one in Delos. Animals sacred to Apollo included wolves, dolphins and roe, swans and grasshoppers (symbolizing music and song), hawks, ravens, crows and snakes (referencing Apollo's function as the god of prophecy), mice, laurel and griffins, mythical eagle-lion hybrids of Eastern origin.

As god of colonization, Apollo gave oracular guidance on colonies, especially during the height of colonization (750 BC–550 BC). According to Greek tradition, he helped Cretan or Arcadian colonists found the city of Troy. However, this story may reflect a cultural influence which had the reverse direction: Hittite cuneiform texts mention a Minor Asian god called Appaliunas or Apalunas in connection with the city of Wilusa, which is now regarded as being identical with the Greek Illios by most scholars. In this interpretation, Apollo’s title of Lykegenes can simply be read as "born in Lycia", which effectively severs the god's supposed link with wolves (possibly a folk etymology).

In literary contexts, Apollo represents harmony, order, and reasons—characteristics contrasted with those of Dionysus, god of wine, who represents ecstasy and disorder. The contrast between the roles two qualities as complementary: the two gods are brothers, and when Apollo at winter left for Hyperborea, he would leave the Delphi Oracle to Dionysus. This contrast appears to be shown on the two sides of the Borghese Vase.