►Mythology: “Apollo”/ Poem: “Hymn to Apollo”, by Geofrey Crow (@GigglingStream) / “@Saltoalreverso #7”.-

“Apollo Receiving the Shepherds’ Offerings” by Gustave Moreau (1895).

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Apollo was the son of Zeus and Leto.

The Roman worship of Apollo was adopted from the Greeks. Apollo had no direct Roman equivalent, although later Roman poets often referred to him as Phoebus.

Apollo had a twin sister, Artemis, the Goddess of Hunting.

Mythographers agree that Artemis was born first and then assisted with the birth of Apollo, or that Artemis was born one day before Apollo, on the island of Ortygia and that she helped Leto cross the sea to Delos the next day to give birth to Apollo.

As the patron of Delphi, Apollo was an oracular go, the prophetic deity of the Delphic Oracle.

As the god of prophecy. Apollo exercised this power in his numerous oracles, and especially in that of Delphi. The source of all his prophetic powers was Zeus himself and Apollo is accordingly called “the prophet of his father Zeus”. According to Apollodorus, the oracle had previously been in the possession of Themis, and the dragon Python guarded the mysterious chasm, and Apollo, after having slain the monster, took possession of the oracle.

Apollo  was also known as “the god who affords help and wards off evil”. He had the power of visiting men with plagues and epidemics, so he was also able to deliver men from them.

Apollo was furthermore depicted as the God of Music. This is shown particularly on the Iliad, in which he appears delighting the immortal gods with his play on the phorminx during their repast. Besides, the Homeric bards derived their art of song either from Apollo or the Muses.

He was also considered a God related to the Foundation of Towns. His assistance in the building of Troy was very important, respecting his aid in raising the walls of Megara.

Medicine and healing  were associated with Apollo too, whether through the god himself or mediated through his son Asclepius.

Coronis was Apollo’s lover and Asclepius’ mother. She was a princess of the Thessalian kingdom of Phlegyantis. 

When she was pregant with his son, Coronis committed adultery with a man named Ischys (“the Mighty”).

Apollo knew it as he had commanded his divine messenger, the white  raven, to guard Coronis. When the raven brought news to Apollo of his lover’s infidelity, the god, angered at the bird, turned the raven’s white feathers black. Apollo killed Ischys and sent his sister, Artemis, to destroy her.

Apollo’s sister, Artemis, slew Coronis with her deadly arrows.

Whilst Coronis was burning on the pyre Apollo made sure to  remove his son (Asclepius) from her womb and he gave it to the Chiron, (son of Cronus, Zeus’ Father and God of time and the ages,  and the Oceanid Nymph, Philyra), who was as the eldest and wisest of the Centaurs, a tribe of half-horse men. 

Coronis was later placed amongst the stars as the constellation Corvus (“the Crow”).

 

In Hellenistic times, especially during the 3rd century BCE, as Apollo Helios he became identified among Greeks with Helios, God of the Sun, and his sister Artemis similarly equated with Selene, Goddess of the Moon.

Furthermore, the Horae could be related to the portions of time of the Day (twelve hours for the Ancient Greeks) These Horae oversaw the path of the Sun-God Helios (Apollo) as he travelled across the sky, dividing the day into its portions.

Apollo was worshipped throughout the Roman Empire. In the Celtic lands he was most often seen as a Healing and Sun God.

He was often equated with Celtic Gods of similar characteristics. [Read more on the Celtic version of Apollo at Linnea Tanner’s blog, “Apollo’s Raven”: “Ancient Celtic Religion: Apollo, God of Sun” and “Apollo and Coronis; White Raven; Association with Healing”].-

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“Apollo and The Nine Muses” by Gustave Moreau (1856).

“Apollo with Urania, Muse of Astronomy” by Charles Meynier (1800).

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►Gallery: “Apollo, Zeus and Leto’s Son”:

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►Links Post:

http://www.theoi.com/Olympios/Apollon.html

http://www.theoi.com/Heroine/Koronis.html

https://ledrakenoir.wordpress.com/2015/08/27/a-divine-day-as-apollon/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo

http://www.linneatanner.com/blog/apollo-god-of-healing/

http://www.linneatanner.com/blog/ancient-celtic-religion-apollo-god-of-sun/

https://ztevetevans.wordpress.com/2015/03/25/spirituality-the-raven-totem/

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And if you hear me, mighty god, with bow and distant eye,

but heed my voice of light turned dark, receive my weary cry!

You maker of contagion, you the master of the Muse,

set her singing through my clumsy mouth, and please do not refuse.

 

~~~

You, the distant deadly archer

who rains his arrows on the earth,

who sees coming and departure

and who predicts both death and birth;

time sets for you no mystery,

dread harbinger of history,

who knows the subtle things that grow

in crowded towns or fields we sow.

You send us both the plagues that spread

and the uncertain art to heal;

what mysteries may you conceal,

unveiling only for the dead?

But let us know your hidden mind,

to see with courage what we find!

 

~~~

 

With courage let us join in song,

in music, rise above.

A life so short and very long

we sing, and hope to love.

 

~~~

 

Your flame, it burns our deepest hearts,

and each one fears it’s something wrong;

a boiling teapot sudden starts

to drown the heat in giving song.

Although it is a mark of shame,

a teapot is not much to blame.

And how much less should we be bad

to turn to song our feeling sad?

This music is your sweetest gift,

you gloried god of structured sound;

to you our song and voice resound,

in love and gratitude uplift.

For though it springs from snapping bone,

in music we are not alone.

 

~~~

 

And if you hear us, mighty god, with bow and distant eye,

but heed this voice of light turned dark, receive our weary cry!

You maker of contagion, you the master of the Muse,

set her singing through our clumsy mouths, and please do not refuse.

~~~

©Copyright 2015. Geofrey Crow.-

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Geofrey Crow.-

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►🌟About Geofrey Crow 🌟

Geofrey dixit: I am an apprentice poet and fiction writer, working to learn the skill of turning life into words, and the even greater skill of turning words into life. I love pretty pictures, distant dreams, and silent sleep. More than anything else I am a lover of words, of the way words can bring us together and allow us, so briefly, to feel ourselves echoed in another’s thoughts. I write because literature can lift us out of ourselves, put us into another person’s mind, and, for a moment, reconcile us to our so solitary condition. If I can learn to do that, maybe in some small way I’ll have justified a part of my existence.

•~~~• ⭐ •~~~ • ⭐ •~~~• ⭐ •~~~• ⭐ •~~~• ⭐ •~~~•

•Make sure to visit Geofrey’s Blog, The Giggling Stream. 

•Feel Free to connect with Geofrey at: Twitter, Facebook and Google Plus.

•~~~• ⭐ •~~~ • ⭐ •~~~• ⭐ •~~~• ⭐ •~~~• ⭐ •~~~•

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►💫 Literary Magazine Salto Al Reverso #7  Is out! 💫  …

And my Brief Story “Otro Cortado” has been featured on Page 40.

►Ya está publicada la Séptima Edición de la Revista Salto Al Reverso …

Y, mi relato “Otro Cortado” ha sido publicado en la Página 40.

Revista Salto al reverso #7 (Click!).

Salto al Reverso #7. Click on the image above to Read. Hacer Click para leer.

Salto al Reverso #7. Click and Scroll down to page 40 to read my brief story. Hacer Click e ir a la página 40 para leer mi relato.

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►💫Quote Challenge💫 

My blogger friends Sylvester from Syl65’s Blog and Marlyn from Kintal have invited me for a so called 3-Day Quote Challenge.

The rules of the challenge are: ♠Post your favorite quotes or your own quotes for three (3) posts in a row. ♠Thank the person who nominated you. ♠Pass it on to three (3) other bloggers per quote, each time you post them. Or pass it to nine (9) bloggers if you choose to post all the quotes together, in the same post.

⚠ Note: I will post the three (3) quotes at once. Thus I will nominate nine (9) Bloggers. Also, I thought It would be fun to add those three quotes on personal photographs… So that’s what I did! 😀

My nominees for the Quote Challenge are: 1. Deanne’ s World 2. The Girl Has No Name 3. An Elephant Called Buddha 4. Mumbai Metro Mess 5. The Raven’s Nest 6. Mithai Mumblezz 7. Fiesta Estrellas 8. Before Sundown 9. Send Sunshine.

► 🌟Three Quotes, and some Old Photographs🌟

~(Featuring My Family and Me)~ Click on the images to read ~

“It is only with the passions of others that we are ever really familiar, and what we come to discover about our own can only be learned from them” [“Swann’s Way”. Marcel Proust]~

“I can’t go back to yesterday because I was a different person then”. [“Alice in Wonderland”. Lewis Carroll]~

“I call people rich when they’re able to meet the requirements of their imagination”. [“The Portrait of a Lady”. Henry James]~

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►💫 Last but not Least: “Three Awards”💫

I would like to thank  bloggers from Emmanuel Muema’s Blog, Don’t Cha Wanna Dream and Belinda Crane for nominating my blog for a Creative Blogger Award, and two  Sisterhood of The World Bloggers Awards, respectively.

I suggest you to check out these blogs and follow them, if you haven’t still done so…

•Rules for these Three Awards: ♠Thank the person who nominated you. ♠Add the logo to your post. ♠Nominate ten (10) bloggers of your choice and tell them about the nomination. 

•Notes:

-As always I am not answering questions. Hence, I will just nominate ten bloggers per award.

-If you have been nominated and want to follow the Nomination Process, just click on the award for which you have been awarded to. That way you’ll be able to grab in regular size!.~ 💗💖💕

I. Nominees for the Creative Blogger Award: 1. Great Indie Authors 2. Debi Riley 3. A Blog Less Traveled 4. Travel Tales of Life 5. Nicodemas 6. UsefulSoul 7. Belinda Crane 8. Geo Kalpataru 9. Don’t Cha Wanna Dream 10. Badfish Out of Water.

 💥🍒 💥🍒

II. Nominees for the Sisterhood of The World Bloggers Award (I): 1. Sacred Touches 2. Poetheart 3. Tales from the Fairies 4. Debbie Robson 5. Raine Fairy 6. Big Body Beautiful 7. Peaceful Warrior 8. Spicy Road 9. Of Opinions 10. Cappy Writes.

💥🍒 💥🍒

III. Nominees for the Sisterhood of The World Bloggers Award (II): 1. Scattered Thoughts 2. Le Carnet de Dame Catherine 3. LDG Luciledegodoy 4.  Loren Photography 5. Emmanuel Muema’s Blog 6. Annina Luck Wildermuth 7. Rosie Amber 8. No Wasted Ink 9. The Axis of Ego 10. Monica Byrne.

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June 2015.

June 2015.

June 2015.

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