Apollo was the most beloved of all the Greek gods. Even Zeus was said to love him more than any other Olympian. He was the god of light and beauty, reason and intellect. As Apollo Helios, he is the sun, itself. Apollo is the god of music, painting, sculpture, and poetry. He is the god of peace. He is the only god to never take sides in a mortal war. His terrible manifestation in The Iliad is his vengeance for a personal insult, not an act of war. He is an old god. In his aspect of Apollo Pythios, he is the slayer of chaos representing the victory of the sky gods of light over the more ancient chthonic gods of darkness. At Delphi, he slew the serpent and established his own worship as the god of prophecy even greater than the older oracles of Zeus at Dodona and Siwa. Although Apollo is the incarnation of all grace and beauty, he has a darker side. It is he who sends the plague as punishment for transgressions. But, he is also the god of health and healing who can remove the plague at will. When, in The Iliad, Homer says he comes thundering down from the mountain firing his deadly golden arrows, it is understood at once by any Greek of the day that Apollo is sending a plague upon the Greeks who have wronged his priest and thus, himself. Apollo was no friend of Troy. it was here that he was sent in banishment from Olympus by Zeus to live the life of a mortal shepherd. It was in Troy that he was so mistreated that, in retribution, he all but obliterated the city. He sent a murderous plague that lasted for six months, he caused all women to give birth only to dead children, he decimated the herds, and caused all the crops to dry up in the fields. Still, Apollo, god of peace, would not side with the Greeks against even his enemy, Troy, as he would never countenance mortal wars. There are two stories of Apollo being banished by his father from Olympus. or more likely two versions of the same story, as in both he is made mortal for a time and forced to serve a mortal master as a paid shepherd; they have two very different outcomes. In Troy, Apollo was ill treated and when, in time, Zeus restored him to his status as god, he took a terrible vengeance upon the city. In the alternative version, Apollo was sent to serve King Admetus of Thessaly. The moment the king set eyes upon Apollo he fell to his knees, offered him his throne, and worshiped him as he could plainly see that this was a god. In return for his kindness to him, Apollo caused all cows to give birth to two calves at the same time and caused all fields to be harvested twice a year doubling the wealth of Admetus. Apollo was ever after to be the god of all shepherds. As the shepherd god, wolves were sacrificed to him as well as deer. The swan was sacred to Apollo as he was originally brought to Olympus from Delos in a chariot drawn by white swans. The vulture and the crow were birds of Apollo as they were connected with prophecy. Of all of Apollo’s love affairs, none was a happy and long lasting . He fell in love with Cassandra of Troy and gave her the gift of Prophecy. When she rejected him, he added a curse to the gift; no one would ever believe her. Thus, when she prophesied the fall of Troy, the citizens only thought her mad. By the muse, Kalliope he had two sons, Linus and the tragic Orpheus. By Coronis, he had the famous healer, Asklepios, who himself came to be worshiped as a god. At least four of Apollo’s loves were turned into plants . Daphne became the Laurel which was sacred to Apollo, and his three male lovers became the Hyacinth, the Acanthus, and the Cedar. He is also said to be the lover of The Sibyl Of Cumæ. Apollo and his twin sister, Artemis were born to Zeus and Leto on the island of Delos which was sacred to him throughout antiquity. He is the only god taken into the Roman Pantheon without a name change. This may be due to the fact that he was already an Etruscan god named, Aplu.