Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) - Volume 1.djvu/248

 opponent of the Arians, and a personal friend of Athanasius ; and in arguing against the former, he maintained, that the Divine Word (the Logos) supplied the place of a rational soul in the person of Christ. He died between 382 and 392 A. D. His doctrine was condemned by a synod at Rome, about 375 A. D., but it continued to be held by a considerable sect, who were called Apollinarists, down to the middle of the fifth century. (Hieron. de Vir. Illust. 104 ; Socrates, H. E. ii. 46, iii. 16 ; Sozomen, H. E. v. 18, vi. 25 ; Suidas, s. v.; Cave, Hist. Litt. ; Wemsdorf, Diss, de Apollin.)

 3. The author of two epigrams in the Greek Anthology, is very probably the same person as the elder Apollinaris of Laodicea. (Jacobs, Anthol. Graec. xiii. p. 853.)

 APOLLINA'RIS, CLAU'DIUS, the commander of Vitellius' fleet at Misenum, when it revolted to Vespasian in A. D. 70. Apollinaris escaped with six galleys. (Tac. Hist. iii. 57, 76, 77.)

 APOLLO, one of the great divinities of the Greeks, was, according to Homer (Il. i. 21, 36), the son of Zeus and Leto. Hesiod(Theog. 918) states the same, and adds, that Apollo's sister was Artemis. Neither of the two poets suggests anything in regard to the birth-place of the god, unless we take (Il. iv. 101) in the sense of "born in Lycia," which, however, according to others, would only mean "born of or in light." Several towns and places claimed the honour of his birth, as we see from various local traditions mentioned by late writers. Thus the Ephesians said that Apollo and Artemis were born in the grove of Ortygia near Ephesus (Tacit. Annal. iii. 61); the inhabitants of Tegyra in Boeotia and of Zoster in Attica claimed the same honour for themselves. (Steph. Byz. s.v. .) In some of these local traditions Apollo is mentioned alone, and in others together with his sister Artemis. The account of Apollo's parentage, too, was not the same in all traditions (Cic. de Nat. Deor. iii. 23), and the Egyptians made out that he was a son of Dionysus and Isis. (Herod. ii. 156.) But the opinion most universally received was, that Apollo, the son of Zeus and Leto, was born in the island of Delos, together with his sister Artemis; and the circumstances of his birth there are detailed in the Homeric hymn on Apollo, and in that of Callimachus on Delos. (Comp. Apollod. i. 4. § 1; Hygin. Fab. 140.) Hera in her jealousy pursued Leto from land to land and from isle to isle, and endeavoured to prevent her finding a resting-place where to give birth. At last, however, she arrived in Delos, where she was kindly received, and after nine days' labour she gave birth to Apollo under a palm or an olive tree at the foot of mount Cynthus. She was assisted by all the goddesses, except Hera and Eileithyia, but the latter too hastened to lend her aid, as soon as she heard what was taking place. The island of Delos, which previous to this event had been unsteady and floating on or buried under the waves of the sea, now became stationary, and was fastened to the roots of the earth. (Comp. Verg. Aen. iii. 75.) The day of Apollo's birth was believed to have been the seventh of the month, whence he is called. (Plut. Sympos. 8.) According to some traditions, he was a seven months' child. The number seven was sacred to the god; on the seventh of every month sacrifices were offered to him (, Aeschyl. Sept. 802; comp. Callim. Hymn. in Del. 250, &c.), and his festivals usually fell on the seventh of a month. Immediately after his birth, Apollo was fed with ambrosia and nectar by Themis, and no sooner had he tasted the divine food, than he sprang up and demanded a lyre and a bow, and declared, that henceforth he would declare to men the will of Zeus. Delos exulted with joy, and covered herself with golden flowers. (Comp. Theognis, 5, &c.; Eurip. Hecub. 457, &c.)

Apollo, though one of the great gods of Olympus, is yet represented in some sort of dependence on Zeus, who is regarded as the source of the powers exercised by his son. The powers ascribed to Apollo are apparently of different kinds, but all are connected with one another, and may be said to be only ramifications of one and the same, as will be seen from the following classification.

Apollo is—1. the god who punishes and destroys the wicked and overbearing, and as such he is described as the god with bow and arrows, the gift of Hephaestus. (Hom. Il. i. 42, xxiv. 605, Od. xi. 318, xv. 410, &c.; comp. Pind. Pyth. iii. 15, &c.) Various epithets given to him in the Homeric poems, such as, , , , , and , refer to him as the god who with his darts hits his object at a distance and never misses it. All sudden deaths of men, whether they were regarded as a punishment or a reward, were believed to be the effect of the arrows of Apollo; and with the same arrows he sent the plague into the camp of the Greeks. Hyginus relates, that four days after his birth, Apollo went to mount Parnassus, and there killed the dragon Python, who had pursued his mother during her wanderings, before she reached Delos. He is also said to have assisted Zeus in his contest with the giants. (Apollod. i. 6. § 2.) The circumstance of Apollo being the destroyer of the wicked was believed by some of the ancients to have given rise to his name Apollo, which they connected with, "to destroy." (Aeschyl. Agam.1081.) Some modern writers, on the other hand, who consider the power of averting evil to have been the original and principal feature in his character, say that, i. e. , (from the root pello), signifies the god who drives away evil, and is synonymous with , , , , and other names and epithets applied to Apollo.

2. The god who affords help and wards off evil. As he had the power of visiting men with plagues and epidemics, so he was also able to deliver men from them, if duly propitiated, or at least by his oracles to suggest the means by which such calamities could be averted. Various names and epithets which are given to Apollo, especially by later writers, such as, , , , , , , and others, are descriptive of this power. (Paus. i. 3. § 3, vi. 24. § 5, viii. 41. § 5; Plut. de apud Delph. 21, de Defect. Orac. 7; Aeschyl. Eum. 62; comp. Müller, Dor. ii. 6. § 3.) It seems to be the idea of his being the god who afforded help, that made him the father of Asclepius, the god of the healing art, and that, at least in later times, identified him with Paeëon, the god of the healing art in Homer. [.]

3. The god of prophecy. Apollo exercised this power in his numerous oracles, and especially in that of Delphi. (Dict. of Ant. s. v. Oraculum) The source of all his prophetic powers was Zeus him