Gods, Myths and Heroes - Part 39

 Apollo

Apollo was one of the major Greek and Roman gods.  He was considered to be the most beautiful god, and he personified the ideal of the beautiful youth.  Above, the Piraeus Apollo, from 530-520 BC, is in the somewhat stiff style of early Greek statues.

Perhaps the most famous statue of Apollo is the Apollo Belvedere, a 2nd century Roman copy of a Greek original in a more fluid style that shows off the god's beauty.  Now in the Vatican Museums.

Above, Apollo with his lyre, a Roman copy of a 4th century BC Greek original.  I included this one because of the draping.  The cloth was apparently there to show the skill of the sculptor, not to cover the private parts.  The Greeks and Romans were not ashamed of nudity.

Above, Apollo from the Temple of Apollo in Pompeii, dating from the 1st century BC to the 1st century AD.

We've already seen this painting of Marc'Antonio Pasqualini Crowned by Apollo by Andreas Sacchi, c. 1640, in a previous post about harpsichords.

This is the Apollo Fountain in Dudley, England by William Bloye, 1939.

Apollo remains a subject for artists to the present day.  Above, Self-Portrait as Apollo by Brad, 2011.

Apollo was a major god and there are countless myths involving him.  We have already seen Musical Duel Between Pan and Apollo by Laurits Tuxen, c. 1900, above.  In this myth, there was a musical duel between Pan on his panpipes, at left, and Apollo on his lyre.  Apollo won, but King Midas, who observed the contest, thought Pan was better.  Apollo punished Midas for his poor musical judgment by turning his ears into donkey's ears.

And in case you thought Apollo was a nice guy, in another musical contest with a satyr named Marsyas, Apollo won again and punished the loser for daring to challenge him by having Marsyas flayed (skinned) alive.  Above, Apollo and Marsyas by Lorenzo Sciorini, c. 1540-1598, show Apollo holding the skin that has been removed from Marsyas at right.

The beautiful Apollo had countless love affairs with both sexes.  Above, Apollo Pursuing Daphne by Theodore van Thulden, 1638.  In this myth, Apollo chased after the nymph Daphne, but she wanted nothing to do with him, and she turned herself into a laurel tree to escape him.

Note the sun's rays shining from Apollo's head.  We'll see more about them later.

One of Apollo's male lovers was Hyacinthus, a prince of Sparta.  Above, Apollo and Hyacinth by Todd Yeager.

In the myth, Apollo and Hyacinthus were throwing the discus.  Zephyrus, the god of the west wind, was jealous (he wanted Hyacinthus, too), and he sent a wind that blew Apollo's discus off course, striking Hyacinthus in the head and killing him.  The grief-stricken Apollo changed Hyacinthus into the hyacinth flower.

(Above, Hyacinthus with a discus, a Roman copy of a Greek original c. 390 BC.)

Another male lover of Apollo was Cyparissus.  Above, Apollo and Cyparissus by Giulio Romano, c. 1523-1527.  This may be the first depiction in Western art since the fall of the Roman Empire that actually shows gay erotic behavior – Apollo is kissing Cyparissus, and his hand is fondling Cyparissus' penis.

In the myth, Apollo gave Cyparissus a tame deer, but Cyparissus accidentally killed it with a javelin.  Cyparissus asked Apollo to let his tears fall forever, so Apollo turned him into a cypress tree, which has sap that forms drops like tears on its trunk.

Are we seeing a pattern here?  Everyone whom Apollo loves gets turned into a plant.

In Hellenistic times (5th century BC), Apollo became identified with the sun god Helios.  He became known as Phoebus Apollo, literally "bright Apollo".   Above, Preston Bradley as Apollo, 2007.

The Colossus of Rhodes, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, was a giant statue of Helios (or Apollo), over 100 feet tall, at the entrance of the harbor on the Greek island of Rhodes.  It was destroyed by an earthquake in 226 BC, and we have no ancient images to show us what it looked like.  This is an artist's conception by Sidney Barclay in 1880.  Note the sun's rays around its head, like the rays that we saw earlier in Apollo Pursuing Daphne.

We end with a more familiar image.  Did you ever wonder why the Statue of Liberty has spikes around her head?  The statue was deliberately modeled after the Colossus of Rhodes, and those spikes are the rays of the sun god, Apollo.