Among the crowd of Olympian gods the one most widely admired was
Apollo．He was the son of Zeus and Let to．According
to Greek
mythology，Leto was driven by Hera from land to land at last Poseidon
took Pity on her and brought the island of Delos out of water for her
to live on．There she gave birth to the twins ，Apollo and Artemis．
Apollo was me sun-god．He wore a purple robe．He usually sat in
his bright eastern palace early in the morning and madeready to start
his daily journey across the sky．During the day hed rove his carriage
of gold and ivory ， and brought light， life and love to the great world
below． Iate in the afternoon he came to the end of his journey in the
far western sea and got on his golden boat to return to his eastern
home．
Apollo was the god of music and poetry．He could stir up all
feelings．These feelings are expressed in lofty songs．With his lyre of
gold and the sweet accents of his godlike voice heled the choir of the
Muses at Olympus．The pleasant music from his lyre was so exciting that
stones marched into their places in rhythmic time and of their own will
when he helped Poseidonbuild up the walls of Troy．On one
occasion，invited to a contest by the human musician Marsyas，he won and
then flayed him to death for his pride．On another occasion，he lost out
toPan at a musical contest and turned the ears of the judge，King
Midas，into those of an ass．
His son，Orpheus，took over such skill from the father that his lyre moved man and animals alike．
Apollo stood for youthful and manly beauty．His
goldenhair，stately manner and air all combined to make him the
admiration of the world．A beautiful girl，by the name of Clytle，was so
fond of his beauty and glory that from dawn to dusk she knelt on the
ground，her hands outstretched towards the sungod，and her eyes looked at
his golden wheeled carriage racing across the blue sky．Though her love
was not returned，she had never
changed her mind about Apollo．The gods
were moved at the sad sight，and changed her into a sunflower．