All 30 Uses of
Apollo
in
The Odyssey, by Homer (translated by: Butcher & Lang)
- Penelope mentions her purpose to wed the man who on the following day, the feast of the Archer-god Apollo, shall draw the bow of Odysseus, and send an arrow through the holes in twelve axe-blades, set up in a row.†
Book Intr.Apollo = the United States space program to place a person on the moon
- The wooers defer the plot to kill Telemachus, as the day is holy to Apollo.†
Book Intr.
- But when we had reached holy Sunium, the headland of Athens, there Phoebus Apollo slew the pilot of Menelaus with the visitation of his gentle shafts, as he held between his hands the rudder of the running ship, even Phrontis, son of Onetor, who excelled the tribes of men in piloting a ship, whenso the storm-winds were hurrying by.†
Book 3
- Would to our father Zeus and Athene and Apollo, would that in such might as when of old in stablished Lesbos he rose up and wrestled a match with Philomeleides and threw him mightily, and all the Achaeans rejoiced; would that in such strength Odysseus might consort with the wooers: then should they all have swift fate, and bitter wedlock!†
Book 4
- Yet in Delos once I saw as goodly a thing: a young sapling of a palm tree springing by the altar of Apollo.†
Book 6 *
- While Rhexenor had as yet no son, Apollo of the silver bow smote him, a groom new wed, leaving in his halls one only child Arete; and Alcinous took her to wife, and honoured her as no other woman in the world is honoured, of all that now-a-days keep house under the hand of their lords.†
Book 7
- Would to father Zeus, and Athene, and Apollo, would that so goodly a man as thou art, and like-minded with me, thou wouldst wed my daughter, and be called my son, here abiding: so would I give thee house and wealth, if thou wouldst stay of thine own will: but against thy will shall none of the Phaeacians keep thee: never be this well-pleasing in the eyes of father Zeus!†
Book 7
- For so Phoebus Apollo in his soothsaying had told him that it must be, in goodly Pytho, what time he crossed the threshold of stone, to seek to the oracle.†
Book 8
- Wherefore the great Eurytus perished all too soon, nor did old age come on him in his halls, for Apollo slew him in his wrath, seeing that he challenged him to shoot a match.†
Book 8
- Poseidon came, the girdler of the earth, and Hermes came, the bringer of luck, and prince Apollo came, the archer.†
Book 8
- But the lord Apollo, son of Zeus, spake to Hermes: 'Hermes, son of Zeus, messenger and giver of good things, wouldst thou be fain, aye, pressed by strong bonds though it might be, to lie on the couch by golden Aphrodite?'†
Book 8
- Then the messenger, the slayer of Argos, answered him: 'I would that this might be, Apollo, my prince of archery!†
Book 8
- Now after they had put from them the desire of meat and drink, then Odysseus of many counsels spake to Demodocus, saying: 'Demodocus, I praise thee far above all mortal men, whether it be the Muse, the daughter of Zeus, that taught thee, or even Apollo, for right duly dost thou chant the faring of the Achaeans, even all that they wrought and suffered, and all their travail, as if, methinks, thou hadst been present, or heard the tale from another.†
Book 8
- Now I had with me a goat-skin of the dark wine and sweet which Maron, son of Euanthes, had given me, the priest of Apollo, the god that watched over Ismarus.†
Book 9
- And he gave it, for that we had protected him with his wife and child reverently; for he dwelt in a thick grove of Phoebus Apollo.†
Book 9
- Now Antiphates begat Oicles the great-hearted, and Oicles Amphiaraus, the rouser of the host, whom Zeus, lord of the aegis, and Apollo loved with all manner of love.†
Book 15
- And Apollo made the high-souled Polypheides a seer, far the chief of human kind, Amphiaraus being now dead.†
Book 15
- But when the tribes of men grow old in that city, then comes Apollo of the silver bow, with Artemis, and slays them with the visitation of his gentle shafts.†
Book 15
- Now even as he spake, a bird flew out on the right, a hawk, the swift messenger of Apollo.†
Book 15
- Would to our father Zeus, and Athene, and Apollo, would that in such might as when of old in stablished Lesbos he rose up in strife and wrestled with Philomeleides, and threw him mightily, and all the Achaeans rejoiced; would that in such strength Odysseus might consort with the wooers; then should they all have swift fate and bitter wedlock!†
Book 17
- Would God that Apollo, of the silver bow, might smite Telemachus to-day in the halls, or that he might fall before the wooers, so surely as for Odysseus the day of returning has in a far land gone by!'†
Book 17
- Now when wise Penelope heard of the stranger being smitten in the halls, she spake among her maidens, saying: 'Oh that Apollo, the famed archer, may so smite thee thyself, Antinous!'†
Book 17
- Would to Father Zeus and Athene and Apollo, that the wooers in our halls were even now thus vanquished, and wagging their heads, some in the court, and some within the house, and that the limbs of each man were loosened in such fashion as Irus yonder sits now, by the courtyard gates wagging his head, like a drunken man, and cannot stand upright on his feet, nor yet get him home to his own place, seeing that his limbs are loosened!'†
Book 18
- And even if he hath perished as ye deem, and is never more to return, yet by Apollo's grace he hath a son like him, Telemachus, and none of the women works wantonness in his halls without his knowledge, for he is no longer of an age not to mark it, Thus he spake, and the wise Penelope heard him, and rebuked the handmaid, and spake and hailed her: 'Thou reckless thing and unabashed, be sure thy great sin is not hidden from me, and thy blood shall be on thine own head for the same!†
Book 19
- Now the henchmen were leading through the town the holy hecatomb of the gods, and lo, the long-haired Achaeans were gathered beneath the shady grove of Apollo, the prince of archery.†
Book 20
- And in the morning bid Melanthius, the goatherd, to lead hither the very best goats in all his herds, that we may lay pieces of the thighs on the altar of Apollo the archer, and assay the bow and make an end of the contest.'†
Book 21
- If he shall string the bow and Apollo grant him renown, I will clothe him in a mantle and a doublet, goodly raiment, and I will give him a sharp javelin to defend him against dogs and men, and a two-edged sword and sandals to bind beneath his feet, and I will send him whithersoever his heart and spirit bid him go.'†
Book 21
- Lo, soon shall the swift hounds of thine own breeding eat thee hard by thy swine, alone and away from men, if Apollo will be gracious to us and the other deathless gods.'†
Book 21
- Then Odysseus of many counsels stripped him of his rags and leaped on to the great threshold with his bow and quiver full of arrows, and poured forth all the swift shafts there before his feet, and spake among the wooers: 'Lo, now is this terrible trial ended at last; and now will I know of another mark, which never yet man has smitten, if perchance I may hit it and Apollo grant me renown.'†
Book 22
- Then wise Laertes answered him, saying: 'Ah, would to father Zeus and Athene and Apollo, that such as I was when I took Nericus, the stablished castle on the foreland of the continent, being then the prince of the Cephallenians, would that in such might, and with mail about my shoulders, I had stood to aid thee yesterday in our house, and to beat back the wooers; so should I have loosened the knees of many an one of them in the halls, and thou shouldest have been gladdened in thine inmost heart!'†
Book 24
Definitions:
-
(1)
(Apollo in mythology) Greek and Roman mythology: god of sunlight, music, poetry, prophecy, and healing
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(2)
(Apollo US space program) US space program to place a person on the moonThree missions are especially remembered:
- Apollo 1 -- 3 men killed by fire (1967)
- Apollo 11 -- first manned mission to land on the Moon (1969)
- Apollo 13 -- called a "successful failure" because it safely returned to earth after being crippled by an explosion (1970)