Apollo: God of Music and Medicine

Apollo was the son of Zeus and Leto, a Titan.  Zeus was not married to Leto, but to Hera.  When Hera found out that that Zeus had impregnated another woman besides herself, she was so angry, she wouldn't even allow Leto to go through with the pregnancy.  The land refused Leto a place to stay, fearing the wrath of Hera; However, soon, Leto found a place where she could give birth (to Apollo and his twin sister Artemis), an island named Delos.  It was here that Apollo was taken care of by Themis (a Titan) for four days.  After which he was a grown adult and was able to take care of himself.^[1]

Apollo can be symbolized with a bow, laurel tree or a lyre.

(bow)  (lyre) (laurel tree)

Apollo is most widely known as the god of music, but he is also the god of medicine, the sun, prophecy, and arts in general.  What he is most famous for however, is his oracle at Delphi.  The legend says that in order to escape from the island of Delos, Apollo turned himself into a dolphin.  He then got onto a ship in the ocean and lead it to the mainland.  Once there, he set out to find Pytho, the site of an oracle of Gaia (earth goddess).  Once he found it, he saw that a large, intimidating serpent, Python, protected it.  Apollo killed Python and took the oracle for himself.  Because of this, Pytho was renamed to Delphi, because of Apollo's transformation into a dolphin (delphis in Greek) to reach it.^[2]  Delphi became the most visited oracle in the world, at the time.  According to the Greeks, it was positioned in the center of Earth.

Another myth involving Apollo is, "The Sacred Laurel".  In the myth it is said that in order to take revenge on Apollo, Eros shoots him with an arrow.  When struck with the arrow, Apollo falls in love with Daphne, daughter of the river god.  She was very saught after, but did not want to get married.  So naturally, she did not love Apollo like he loved her.  Once, as Apollo chased her through the woods, she was so frightened she called out for her father to save her.  In order to prevent Daphne from being chased by Apollo again, he turned her into a laurel tree.  Apollo used the branches of the tree to make a wreath, which he would wear to remember Daphne.  Since then, the wreath of laurel branches was given to accomplished poets and victorious athletes.