Complete Encyclopaedia of Music/A/Apollo

Apollo. One of the heathen gods, and said to be the inventor of music. He raised the walls of the city of Troy by the music of his harp alone: "Troy you shall see, and walls divine admire, Built by the music of Apollo's lyre." It is said there was a stone, upon which Apollo only laid down his harp, and the stone by the touch became so melodious, that whenever it was struck with another stone, it sounded like a harp. It has been thought that Apollo was the name of the sun, for it may be observed that Apollo's skill in music seems to agree with the nature of the sun, which, being placed in the midst of the planets, makes with them a kind of harmony, and, as it were, a concert ; and because the sun is thus placed, the middlemost of the seven planets, the poets assert that the instrument which Apollo plays on is a harp with seven strings.