AN OVERVIEW

More than any other god in the pantheon, Apollo epitomizes Greek worldview. It follows therefore that Apollo is the most syncretistic, most complex, and ultimately most inscrutable god of the pantheon.

His name has proven impervious to etymological analysis. He displays some characteristics that seem to be Indo-European Greek; some characteristics that are definitely not Greek, but might be (Balto-Slavic) Indo-European; and some characteristics that could be either Pelasgian or Asian.

Apollo is consistently presented as the twin of Artemis, but the two originally were completely independent of one another, and share only Artemis' borrowed trait of being the slayers of children. They share the site of Delos, but Artemis is not found alongside Apollo's temple at Delfi.

ASIATIC ORIGIN?

Since the name Apollo gives little help, scholars have turned to his frequent epithet lykios (or lykeios). A reasonable interpretation takes it to mean Lykian, referring to an area in Anatolia, and it was sometimes understood this way in Classical times. Some possible evidence:
1) Apollo's mother, Leto, is cognate to the Lykian goddess Lada [a questionable assertion];
2) Apollo was widely worshipped in Grecian Asia Minor, including Lykia [true];and,
3) Apollo often is called Letoides, "son of Leto," suggesting the Lykian custom of mother-kin [Several of Zeus' children are regularly identified in terms of their mother; also, the Lykian Greek custom of mother-kin in Classical times was a survival of a once wide-spread Greek tradition according to linguistic evidence.]

SHEPHERD GOD

If part of the composite that is Apollo comes from a shepherd-god (Slavic or otherwise), several of his attributes are explained. Apollo is a god of music, particularly the lyre, and the lyre was a quintessential shepherd's instrument. He is also a bowman; not only was the bow more at home north of Greece than in Greece itself, it was also a common shepherd's weapon, allowing him to strike wolves before they were in a position to attack. While Apollo could use his bow to rain down death or plague, he was above all a healer, and veterinarian and healing skills were part of being a shepherd.

AN OVERVIEW More than any other god in the pantheon, Apollo epitomizes Greek worldview. It follows therefore that Apollo is the most syncretistic, most complex, and ultimately most inscrutable god of the pantheon. His name has proven impervious to etymological analysis. He displays some characteristics that seem to be Indo-European Greek; some characteristics that are definitely not Greek, but might be (Balto-Slavic) Indo-European; and some characteristics that could be either Pelasgian or Asian. Apollo is consistently presented as the twin of Artemis, but the two originally were completely independent of one another, and share only Artemis' borrowed trait of being the slayers of children. They share the site of Delos, but Artemis is not found alongside Apollo's temple at Delfi.	ASIATIC ORIGIN? Since the name Apollo gives little help, scholars have turned to his frequent epithet *lykios* (or *lykeios*). A reasonable interpretation takes it to mean Lykian, referring to an area in Anatolia, and it was sometimes understood this way in Classical times. Some possible evidence: 1) Apollo's mother, Leto, is cognate to the Lykian goddess Lada [a questionable assertion]; 2) Apollo was widely worshipped in Grecian Asia Minor, including Lykia [true];and, 3) Apollo often is called Letoides, "son of Leto," suggesting the Lykian custom of mother-kin [Several of Zeus' children are regularly identified in terms of their mother; also, the Lykian Greek custom of mother-kin in Classical times was a survival of a once wide-spread Greek tradition according to linguistic evidence.]
SLAVIC ORIGIN? Others see the epithet *lykeios* as Indo-European and cognate to Greek *lykos, wolf. A Classical tradition interprets the epithet in this way, and claims that Apollo was worshipped by the Hyperborians. The Greeks took the word to mean "[people] beyond the North Wind." Herodotos reports that the Hyperborians sent an annual gift to Apollo's temple at Delos, and the procession of the Stepteria at Delfi went north after leaving the temple. The folk etymology* aside, Hyperborian probably means "those who carry around or over." The best candidate for "carriers" north of Greece would be peoples along the Amber Route. Slavs lived along the Amber Route and had a tradition of a "Shepherd of Wolves," a being who could call down the wolves or, more importantly, keep them away from the shepherd's flocks. Apollo's association with music, the bow, and healing are all characteristic of shepherd-god.	SHEPHERD GOD If part of the composite that is Apollo comes from a shepherd-god (Slavic or otherwise), several of his attributes are explained. Apollo is a god of music, particularly the lyre, and the lyre was a quintessential shepherd's instrument. He is also a bowman; not only was the bow more at home north of Greece than in Greece itself, it was also a common shepherd's weapon, allowing him to strike wolves before they were in a position to attack. While Apollo could use his bow to rain down death or plague, he was above all a healer, and veterinarian and healing skills were part of being a shepherd.
ASKLEPIOS Apollo's association with healing is realized primarily in his son, Asklepios. The human Coronis became pregnant by Apollo, then committed adultery. The angry god killed her and took the fetus to be raised and trained by Cheiron, wisest of the centaurs. The child was the healer Asklepios. Originally localized to Thessaly, this demigod became well-known all over Greece, and his most important healing site was at Epidauros in the eastern Peloponnesus. (According to Pindar, Asklepios was struck dead by Zeus' lightning bolt when the former gave in to hybris and brought the dead back to life.)	RAT AND MOLE A curious aspect of Apollo and his son Asklepios rests in their names and epithets. In his guise as plague-bringer, Apollo is known as Smintheus (from sminthos, a rat-like mouse) and according to Strabo, Apollo Smintheus is mounted on a mouse. Another epithet for Apollo is Loxias, "oblique-gaited" as in the typical movement of a mouse. The name Asklepios means "blind rat," or "rat-mole." At Asklepios' healing site at Epidauros, the center of the healing mysteries was a bee-hive shaped enclosure (tholos) of maze-like concentric circles reminiscent of a mole-hill. Thus the plague inducer is symbolized by the mouse or rat, and the healer is the blind rat or mole. Curiously, this same imagery occurs in Indic tradition. The destroyer/healer Rudra is associated with the mole, but one of his epithets refers to the movement of a mouse. Apollo and Asklepios may reflect an old Indo-European pattern.