Apollo was the god of light, purity, and the sun. He was the sun of Zeus and Leto. His twin sister was named Artemis. He wore a long shirt of golden panther skin and carried a golden bow and quiver. He also wore a wreath of laurel leaves around his head.

When Apollo first received his bow and arrows he ran down the side of Mount Olympus to kill the serpent Python. Python had tormented his mother, Leto, and had stolen and eaten little children. When he reached the bottom of Mount Olympus, the Dryads (tattletales) told Apollo that Python was near Mount Parnassus. He there found Python and shot him with an arrow. When Apollo arrived to where the serpent had been, all he could find was a trail of blood. This trail led to Delphi. At Delphi, Apollo found that Python was hiding in a cave in which Apollo could not follow. To drive the serpent out of the cave, Apollo breathed on the arrows and shot them into the cave as quickly as possible. When the arrows hit the wall they burst into flames. When the smoke filled the cave, the serpent had to come out. As the serpent came out of the cave, Apollo shot many arrows into Python until he died. He next skinned the snake and saved the skin for a prize. The place where Apollo had killed Python was where the gods and others came to hear the priestesses, of the oracles of Mother Earth, prophesy. Mother Earth became angry and told Zeus about this. Apollo then said that he would make up for it. Next Apollo developed the Pythian games in Delphi (Pythian games being named after Python).

Once Apollo, the god of music and more was in a contest. He heard of a satyr named Marsyas getting too much fame for his music. So Apollo challenged him to a playing contest. The winner would give the loser a punishment in which he had to fulfill. The Muses were going to be the judges. Apollo played his lyre (which he often played for the other gods) and Marsyas played his flute. They both played exceptionally and without fault. When this happened, Apollo said to play the instrument upside down while singing. Apollo went first and played and sung a song praising the Muses. Marsyas knew he had lost because he knew that you can't play a flute upside down or sing while playing it. When Marsyas was proclaimed loser, Apollo skinned him alive and nailed him to a tree. A river then came up from the tree's roots. That river was named Marsyas and is still called by that name today.

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