I got curious about Apollo’s lovers after someone pointed out there wasn’t just Hyacinth or Daphne so I looked.
I found out that one kid can have a lot of different candidates for their mother.
Disclaimer: a lot of this comes from Wikipedia. I’ve included their sources in italics. It’s a long, incomplete list.
🎵🎶male🦢
There is Ademetus of Pherae in Thessaly. He was an Argonaut and hunted the Caledonian boar. His wife loved him so much that she exchanged her life for his so he could live until she was supposed to die. She did this with the help of Apollo. At one time Apollo was sent to work for Adementus as punishment for killing Delphyne, the serpent at Delphi. Apollo fell in love and after his punishment served Adementus out of affection.
Maybe Hymensias (Hymen*) god of marriage ceremonies. He’s also a Erotes**. In most stories he’s a son of Apollo by one of the Muses. Sometimes Dionysus is his dad, sometimes it’s Magnes. There seems to be a lot of instances where someone is either a son or lover depending on who’s telling a story. When he’s the son of Magnes, Apollo Falls in love and stays at Magnes house for a while. (Megalai Ehoiai) Unrelated but he and a bunch of women get captured by pirates and he and the women killed thier captors.
Adonis who it’s said “acted like a man with Aphrodite and a woman with Apollo”. (Ptolemy Hephestion, New History Book 5)
Maybe Boreas 🌬️ who’s the personification of the north wind, storms, and winter. You may know his name from the Hyacinth myth. Some of Boreas’ sons, Zetes and Calais, described Apollo as “beloved of our sire”. (Valerius Flaccus)
Branchus was a former Shepard in Miletus in what’s now Türkiye. Apollo gifted him with prophecy and he introduced the worship of Apollo to Didyma in the Ionian part of Türkiye then mysteriously disappeared.
Carnus was Acarnanian Greek and seer who was taught divination by Apollo who helped raise him. But in some stories they are friends and/or lovers. Unfortunately Hippotes used Carnus’ obscure prophesies as an excuse to murder him. And that’s how the Dorians got a plague, Apollo got a new cult, and the Spartans began celebrating the Carnia.
Cinyras was mentioned by Pindar as “beloved of Apollo” and priest of Aphrodite. (Pindar, Pythian Ode 2) Mars murdered him supposedly because he posed a challenge to Apollo. No idea why Mars would be involved, I’m pretty sure Apollo could handle it.
Cyparissus was loved by Apollo. He also accidentally killed his pet stag and turned into a cypress tree. The cypress then became associated with mourning and now it’s found in many cemeteries. The tree is also sacred to Apollo.
Helenus of Troy/Scarmandrios was a son of Priam and Hecuba and twin of Cassandra. Like his sister he was also a prophet. His name was changed from Scarmandrios to Helenus. (Photius Bibliotheca excerpt)
Hippolytus of Sicyon in the Peloponnesus (Plutarch, Life of Numa 4.5)
Iapyx/Lapis was a lover of Apollo who chose healing as his gift instead of prophecy. He became healer to Aeneas and founded the city of Apulia/Puglia in southern Italy, the stiletto part. He may be the brother of Icarus. (Aeneid XII 391-402).
Maybe Phorbas/Phorbaceus, son of Triopas and Hiscilla, prince of Thessaly, and hero of Rhodes. He was either a rival in love of Apollo or actually his lover.
Acacllis/Acalle, a princess of Crete. A daughter of Minos and Pasiphae and Ariadne’s sister. She may have had multiple children by Apollo and maybe other gods. Acacllis was a Cretan name of A narcissus flower.
Various Muses. Apollo is their leader and occasional lover who has father multiple children by some of them.
Aegle/Coronis the Lapith*** was a princess of Thessaly and mother of Asclepius. Coronis was turned into the constellation Corvus. (According to Istrus).
Celaeno of Phocis mother of Delphus by Apollo. Phocis is the area of Greece that Delphi is in.
Melaens/Melena was the sister of Celaeno and may have been the mom of Delphus by Apollo instead of her.
Aethusa was a daughter of Poseidon and Alcyone. She bore Apollo Eleuther and Linus making her the great grandma of Orpheus. She’s usually identified as a Thracian****
Chione daughter of Daedalion, By Apollo she bore Philammon, maybe. She’s also mother of Autolycus by Hermes. Then she got cocky and bragged that she was hotter than Artemis. Artemis shot her through her tongue, killing her. Her dad didn’t take it well and Apollo had to turn him into a hawk to save him. Philonis has the same story.
Alciope mother of Linus by Apollo. Maybe.
Chrysothemis maybe a lover of Apollo, she was a poet. She’s also the daughter in law to Dionysus and Ariadne.
Rhoeo was mother of Anius by Apollo. Her mom was Chrysothemis by Staphylus making her grand daughter of Dionysus and Ariadne.
Anchiale according to Servis, she was the mother of Oaxes by Apollo. Maybe.
Areia was a nymph from Crete, daughter of Cleochus, and mother of Miletus by Apollo. (Apollodorus, 3.1.2)
Arsinoe may have been mother to Asclepius instead of Coronis. She also had a daughter by Apollo. Arsinoe was honored as a heroine in Sparta.
Corycia was a naiad from the springs of the Corycian cave on Mt Parnassus in Phocis. She had a son, Lycorus, by Apollo.
Cyrene/Kyrene the lion killer was a Thessalian princess and queen of Cyrene. She killed a lion w/her bare hands and Apollo thought it was hot. She had Aristaeus, Atuchus, and Idmon by Apollo. Idmon was a seer, Aristaeus became a god. Apollo made her queen of Cyrene in NE Libya.
Dia may have been the mother of Dryops by Apollo.
Evadne, Apollo was her first love. She conceived a child, Iamus, on her.
Hecuba was queen of Troy and may of had 2 kids with Apollo, Hector and Troilus. According to Stesichorus,Hecuba was rescued by Apollo during the sack of Troy. She may have been turned into a dog in 2 different stories, one because of her reaction to being given to Odysseus as a slave. In either story This allowed her to escape, now she travels with Hecate.
Hyria/Thyria/Hyrie/Thyrie was mother of Cycnus/Cygnus. May have been turned into a swan like her son.
Issa/Amphissa. Her story was woven by Arachne during her contest with Athene. Achilles may have used this name when he pretended to be a woman.
Leuconoe was a daughter of Lucifer and mother of Philammon. Maybe.
Othreis was an oread in a relationship with Zeus and Apollo. With Apollo she had Phager.
Parthenope of Leleges*****daughter of king Ancaeus of Samos and Samia. She had one of the Lycomedes by Apollo.
Phthia was mother of Doris, Laodocus, and Polypoetes.
Psamathe her chile was torn apart by dogs sometime after she abandoned him. Her father had her murdered for some reason and Apollo avenged her and the child’s death with a plague.
Rhodoessa bore the hero Ceos.
Stilbe was the mother of Centaurus and Lapiths. Centaurus is the ancestor of Centaurs.
Syllis was mother of Zeixippus.
Thero, daughter of Phyla’s and Leipephilene, mother of Chaeron
Thyia is associated with the cults of multiple gods. One of the candidates of the mother of Delphos by Apollo.
Zeuxippe is daughter Athamas and maybe mother of Ptous. Ptous is also an epithet of Apollo.
*no relation to the body part.
**In some myths, Eros is separated into multiple deities called Erotes collectively.
***Lapiths were a legendary ethnic group who lived in Thessaly in the Pineios valley. They were related to centaurs and were excellent horsemen. Unlike their centaur cousins, Lapiths looked like regular humans. They were descended from Apollo. They also fought with the centaurs and won. (centauromachy)
****Thracians were cultures that lived in Bulgaria, Romanian, N Greece, and NW Türkiye. It seems to be an umbrella term, like Celtic or Slavic.
*****Leleges we’re president Greek inhabitants of parts of Greece
Hi friends! Me n a friend are planning on making Apollo altars and though I've got plenty of ideas I'm curious to see what you all put on your altar to Apollo. Anyone comfortable with sharing?
So if you are an Apollo devotee reblog or like this. I’m looking for people who worship him, I need advices and just to know and follow your tumblr page haha
I just started devoting myself to him and started a blog where I’ll write about him, if you want to see it: https://lightofapollo.wordpress.com
