Shakespeare's Myths

General — Birth of Apollo — Pythian Apollo — Apollo’s loves — Apollo’s Children


General

Callimachus.  Hymns, “To Apollo”.

Cicero.  De Natura Deorum, II, lxvii; III, lvii.

Cornutus.  Compendium theologiae graecae, 32.

Euripides.  Iphigeneia in Tauris, 1235-38; 1278-83.

Homer.  Hymns, “To Pythian Apollo”.

Ovid.  Amores, I, xv, 35-36.

Ovid.  Art of Love, II, 493-510.

Ovid.  Heroides, XV, “Sappho to Phaon”, 21-22.

Ovid. Metamorphoses, I, 515-22; II, 23-30.

Plato.  Cratylus, 405-406a.

Plutarch.  Lives, “Pelopidas”, XVI, 5-8.

Pseudo-Orpheus.  Argonautics, 1-7.

Virgil.  Aeneid, IV, 143-50; IX, 638-40; XII, 390-97.

 

Among Apollo’s numerous attributes, the following are most commonly mentioned:

• Lyre:

Homer.  Iliad, I, 603-05.

Ovid.  Heroides, XVI, “Paris to Helen”, 181-82.

Ovid.  Metamorphoses, I, 517-18; XI, 155-93.

Pausanias.  Elis, V, xiv, 8.

 

• Bow and arrow:

Hesiod.  Theogony, 94.

Homer.  Iliad, I, 21; I, 36-52.

Ovid.  Amores, III, iii, 29.

Plutarch.  De E Delphico 2, 6, 9, 21.

Virgil.  Georgics, IV, 3-7.

 

• Laurel-tree:

Ovid.  Metamorphoses, I, 553-67.

Pliny.  Natural History XVI, 33 (20).

 

• Swan:

Aristophanes.  The Birds, 832.

Callimachus.  Hymn to Delos, 249.

Cicero.  Tusculan Disputations, 30 (73).

Euripides.  Ion, 161-65.

Lucian.  De Electro seu Cycnis, 4.

Ovid.  Metamorphoses, II, 368-81.

 

• Hawk:

Ovid.  Metamorphoses, VI, 123; XI, 339-45.

 

• Raven:

Hyginus.  Fables, CCII.

Ovid.  Metamorphoses, II, 542-32.

 

Birth of Apollo

Apollodorus.  The Library, I, iv, 1.

Apollonius Rhodius.  The Argonautics, II, 704-15.

Euripides.  Iphigeneia in Tauris, 1235-58.

Hesiod.  Theogony, 918-20.

Hyginus.  Fables, CXL.

Homer.  Hymns, “To Delian Apollo”, 17-18.

Lucian.  Dialogues of the Gods, XVI.

Ovid.  Metamorphoses, I, 416-51.

Plutarch.  Moralia : Greek Questions, 12.

Strabo.  Geography, IX, iii,12.

Virgil.  Aeneid, III, 73-79.

 

Pythian Apollo

Aeschylus.  Eumenides, 713-14.

Apollodorus.  The Library, I, iv, 1; II, vi, 2; III, v, 7.

Homer.  Hymns, “To Pythian Apollo”.

Lucian.  Phalaris B, 4 ; 12.

Lucian. Dialogues of the Gods, "Zeus Tragedian", 26,1-23; 27, 1-20; 28,1-8; 29,1-14; 30,1-34; 31, 1-25.

Ovid.  Metamorphoses, I, 446-47, 517-18; XV, 628-40.

Plutarch.  De Pythiae Oraculis, 12, 21.

Plutarch. Lives, “Lycurgus”, V, 4; VI, 3; XIII, 11; XXIX, 3-6,

Seneca. Oedipus, 212-38.

Virgil.  Aeneid, III, 80-101; VI, 341-48

 

Apollo’s loves

Callimachus.  Hymn to Apollo, 49.

Nicander.  Theriaca, 902-06.

Ovid.  Metamorphoses, I, 452-567, 751-79; II, 542-632; IV, 192-270; VI, 124; IX, 331-32;  X, 106-43, 162-219; XI, 303-17.

Plutarch.  Lives, “Numa”, IV, 8.

Plutarch.  Erotikos (Dialogue on Love), 2.17, 761E.

Tibullus.  Elegies, II, iii, 11-30.

 

Apollo’s Children

Apollodorus.  The Library, I, iii, 2, 4; III, i, 2.

Celsus.  De Medicina, I, 2.

Hyginus.  Fables, CLVI, CLXI.

Lucian.  Dialogues of the Gods, XIII.

Pseudo-Orpheus.  Argonautics, 187-93.

Ovid.  Metamorphoses, I, 751; II, 629; IX, 356; XI, 8, 316-17.

 

How to cite

Claire Bardelman. “Apollo.”  2010.  In A Dictionary of Shakespeare's Classical Mythology (2009-), ed. Yves Peyré. http://www.shakmyth.org/myth/28/apollo/classical+sources

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