Apollon

Apollon (Απολλων) is the Greek god of prophecy, oracles, the arts, archery, healing, and plagues/disease. He is also a protector of the young and the leader of the Muses. He is the twin brother of Artemis and the son of Leto and Zeus.

Places of Worship

Regions

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Depictions

Apollon is typically depicted as a beautiful, beardless young man with long hair. Here are some examples of depictions of him:

Symbols

There are a variety of animals, plants and symbols associated with Apollon. Everything listed here is historically attested.

  • Animals: Swan, Raven
  • Plants: Laurel, Larkspur, Cypress
  • Misc: Lyre, Bow

I rememember reading somewhere that lapis lazuli was associated with Apollo, due to the stones connection to Hyakinthos, but I can't track down the source. Take this with a grain of salt.

Festivals

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Epithets

Cult Titles/Epithets (ie related to his functions, areas of influence, et cetera)

  • Agraios/Agraeus - Of the Hunt/Hunter
  • Alexikakos/Alexicacus - Averter of Evil
  • Argyieus/Argyeus - Of the Streets
  • Boedromios/Boedromius - Rescuer
  • Epikourios/Epicurius - Succouring/Helping
  • Hekatos/Hecatus - Shooter From Afar
  • Lykios/Lycius - Of the Wolves
  • Mousegetes/Musagetes - Leader of the Muses
  • Paian/Paean - Healer
  • Proopsios/Proupsius - Foreseeing
  • Thearios/Thearius - Of the Oracle
  • Theoxenios/Theoxenius - God of the Foreigners

Offerings

The standard offerings of wine and incense were offered to him. (placeholder, I'll do this later, sorry).

Modern Worship

Apollon is definitely one of the more popular Theoi with modern pagans, even outside of the real of Hellenic polytheism. In my observation, he is worshiped widely by LGBT people (particularly LGBT men/masculine identified people), artists (including writers!), musicians and sun enjoyers. This isn't to say those are the only people who worship him, that's just what the bulk of his worshipers are from my observations.

In my experience, he's pretty understanding if you're going through stuff and can't keep up with offering to him as often as you'd like. I haven't really seen this topic come up with other people! My theory is that people don't like to advertise when they're doing their practice "poorly" (beyond feeling bad about it). Either way, I can only speak to my own experience here and my experience is that he is understanding and wants worshipers to be sincere above all else.

Many worshipers tend to learn skills associated with him, like painting, poetry, or learning an instrument. Many people also like to offer him things associated with the sun, like sunflowers or citrine stones. I personally like to give him lavender scented offerings (UPG! This might not be what he wants from you!).

As a god of foreigners and the protection of children, there's probably other things you could do that would honor him. Y'know, in relation to that.

Personal Experiences

I was planning on keeping this in the "modern worship" section, but it felt a little out of place, since it doesn't really explain much about actively worshiping him

I've been devoted to Apollon for nearly a decade, so I've a decent amount of experience with him. In my experience, he isn't particularly hands-on and can even be a bit stand-offish. I think he prefers to only offer guidance when he feels it necessary. This is an experience I have that seems to differ from other worshipers experiences, actually! He isn't very "chill" to me, but I think it's because I was a flaky teenager when I started worshiping him and that's what I needed. I'd say, despite the distance, he is "warm" and relatively approachable and understanding. While I've felt genuine anger from Aphrodite for missteps (I elaborate on her page), I've never felt the same from him. That isn't to say I haven't royaly screwed up before, but he's been "gentler" with it.

I do personally involve political activism as an important part of my practice and, while I'd do it anyway, it is also devotional. I would not be honoring Apollon to the best of my ability if I did not oppose ICE coming for my neighbors, or if I didn't advocate for Palestinians.

Sources

Links

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