The son of Zeus and Leto, Apollo was the twin brother of Artemis and belonged to the second generation of Olympian gods. To avoid the jealous rage of Hera, who had pursued her all over the earth, Leto sought, in vain, a place to give birth. Only the island Asteria or Ortygia, barren and floating, was prepared to accept her. Assisted by Athena and all the other goddesses of Olympus, the mother remained in labor for nine days and nine nights, until Hera agreed to let Ilithia, the goddess who presided over childbirth, descend from Olympus to help her. The moment that Ilithia set foot on Ortygia, Leto started to give birth. She seized hold of a palm, the only tree that grew on the wandering isle, and brought into the world first Artemis and then her twin brother Apollo. At the moment of the god's birth sacred swans flew over Ortygia. Apollo, in gratitude for the refuge the island had granted his mother, fixed it at the center of the Greek world and gave the new name of Delos (the Brilliant).
Zeus immediately made gifts to his new son and smoothed away Hera's resentment. Themis nursed Apollo with nectar and ambrosia for four days, enough time for him to prepare to take revenge on his mother's enemies. Making his way to Delphi, he used his arrows to kill the serpent Python, who on Hera's orders had persecuted Leto while she was carrying the divine twins. He then seized the oracle kept by the monster and consecrated a tripod in the temple; the Pythia gave out her oracles while seated on this stool.
The giant Tityus, who had tried to rape Leto at Hera's instigation, was also brought down by the arrows of Apollo (or of Apollo and Artemis) and banished by Zeus to Tartarus, where his liver was devoured eternally by two serpents or two vultures.
Apollo was very fond of his mother, whom he defended tenaciously not only from physical violence but also from insults and sarcasm: on Niobe, who dared to mock her, he wreaked a terrible vengeance. His relationship with Zeus was one of esteem and respect, and only on two occasions did Apollo incur the wrath of his father. The first time was when, at the instigation of Hera, all the gods of Olympus with the exception of Hestia tried to overthrow Zeus by taking him prisoner. The situation was resolved by Thetis, who sent Briareus to free him, but Apollo and Poseidon were condemned to serve King Laomedon, for whom they built the walls of Troy. On another occasion, Zeus and Apollo clashed over Asclepius, the son of Apollo who was worshipped at Epidauros and eventually burned to ashes with a lightning bolt for having dared to bring several dead people back to life. Apollo took his revenge by killing the Cyclopes, but his father punished him by forcing him to remain in the service of Admetus, King of Thessaly, tending his herds and flocks for nine years. He cannot have been a very conscientious herdsman if the newborn Hermes was able to carry off fifty heifers.
Though he refused to marry, Apollo had many loves, and not always happy ones. His passion for the nymph Daphne and the Trojan princess Cassandra was not returned; he was betrayed by Coronis, who preferred a mortal but bore him Asclepius; even Marpessa left him for Idas. He had more success with the nymph Cyrene and the Muses who were associated with his cult (Apollo Musagetes). His love affairs with the young men Hyacinth and Cyparissus are also famous.
Though the powers attributed to Apollo were apparently very different in kind, they were in reality linked to one another. This made him the most complete expression of the divine conceived by the Greeks. He was, as we have seen, the god who punishes, so that all unexpected deaths were attributed to his arrows, but he was also the god who gave succor with medicine. He had the power of prophecy and presided over the arts, especially those of song and music in which he was closely connected with the Muses: Marsyas, who doubted his supremacy, paid , who doubted his supremacy, paid a cruel price for his pride.
Apollo was also the god who protected the foundation of cities and defended the civil institutions of society. In the Greek world, he personified the rational mind and his figure was deliberately contrasted with personages or aspects of myth that represented passion, or animal instincts.