Apollo: The Anti Book Boyfriend

Happy February! I’m excited again to participate in the YA Science Fiction and Fantasy Addicts February blog hop, which is all about love. Be sure to visit the other stops on the hop to get book recommendations, talk book boyfriends, and enter to win the latest giveaway. People have asked me why I made Apollo the villain in my Furious Legacy series. Isn’t he the Sun God, the god of healing? Yes, yes he is. But, there’s two sides to everyone and he’s not all sunshine and roses.

Apollo: The Anti Book Boyfriend

There are many stories about the Greek God, Apollo, and his tumultuous love life. He had many love affairs with both women and men. Among these were Hecuba, the famous Queen of Troy and Dryope, a princess who was seduced by Apollo in the form of a tortoise. Like most romances with the gods, his tended to end tragically. Although, he does get points for creativity. You need a certain level of confidence to pull off a tortoise themed seduction.

Apollo and Daphne

This is the one where Daphne pays for Apollo angering Eros, the god of love. Daphne was the daughter of a river god and known for her beauty, but she had no interest in being anybody’s object of desire. She just wanted to live her life. However, when Apollo mocked Eros, Eros got angry and shot two arrows: a golden arrow that hit Apollo and made him fall madly in love with Daphne, and a lead arrow that made Daphne hate Apollo. He chased her relentlessly and she rejected him nonstop, but he wouldn’t give up. Finally, she went to a river god and begged him to free her from Apollo’s love.

He turned her into a laurel tree, which was probably not what she had in mind. Even this didn’t break the spell. Apollo used his powers to make Daphne’s laurel tree an evergreen and he made it his sacred plant and vowed to always wear it and keep it close. He’s often seen wearing laurel leaves as a crown or as part of his clothing. So, even though she turned herself into a tree to avoid him, she’s now always with him for eternity.

Apollo and Cassandra

This is probably one of the most famous stories about him. Cassandra was a princess of Troy, who caught Apollo’s eye. In return for allowing him to have his way with her, he promised Cassandra the gift of prophesy. When she later rejected him, he turned it into a curse. Famously, she became the prophet foresaw disaster, but nobody believed her. She predicted the fall of Troy and Agamemnon’s death, as well as her own after she became a spoil of war, but nobody believed her.

Apollo, Coronis, and why ravens are black

Coronis was a mortal princess who fell in love with Apollo and became pregnant with his son, Asclepius, the future god of medicine. Apollo left her but expected her to remain faithful to him and left a white raven behind to make sure she was safe. When she fell into the arms of another man, the raven told Apollo that she was unfaithful to him.

In some versions, the raven lies to him to protect Coronis. Either way, Apollo flew into a rage. When Apollo got angry, he punished the raven by changing its feathers black and gave it the task of announcing important deaths. He also sent his sister, Artemis, to kill Coronis, who was pregnant with his child. As she was dying on the funeral pyre, he rescued his baby from her and gave him to Charon, the centaur, to raise. She joined the stars as the constellation Corvus (“the Crow”).

Conclusion

One of the reasons I love Greek mythology is because the gods are complex, and Apollo is no exception. As I said in the beginning, he had loads of lovers and this is just a small selection of their stories. If you have a favorite Apollo story, drop it in the comments. When the gods mix with mortals, it rarely works out for the mortal. If there’s a takeaway from these stories, it’s that if you catch the eye of a god, run away.

Who is your favorite Greek god? Drop a comment and let me know.

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