From all these circumstances, there can scarcely re main a doubt that Apollo was originally, as his name implies, esteemed a malignant demon, till at length, by an excess of courtesy in his votaries, he was transformed into the elegant deity of the Greeks and Romans.
We must not forget to mention, that Vossius, De Idol. vol. i. 1. 2, supposes that the name, Apollo, is de rived from the Abelion of the east, a deity whose attri butes are the same as Apollo's. In confirmation of this opinion, he observes, that the Romans, in ancient times, wrote Apello, instead of Apollo. But this opinion, though plausible, and adopted by Mr Bryant, cannot be well founded: for there is not the smallest doubt, that the Apollo of the Romans was derived immediately from the A7rvAAo.o of the Greeks.
Attributes of Apollo.—He was supposed to preside over medicine and prophecy, poetry and music : archery was also under his peculiar patronage. Most of his at tributes are specified in these beautiful lines of Ovid : Apollo is usually represented as a beautiful, beardless young man, holding a bow and arrows in his right hand, and in his left a lyre or harp. He is crowned with laurel, which was sacred to him; hence, in the Pythian games, the most eminent musicians and poets were crowned with laurel, as being under the immediate pro tection of Apollo ; and hence, in modern times, the title of Laurent is bestowed with doubtful propriety, on those poets who compose, invito Apolline, a mercenary ode once a year, to entitle them to the royal munifi cence.
Apollo had a great number of epithets to correspond with his supposed qualifications. As the god of augury, he was called Pythius, from to consult ; or, as some will have it, from the serpent Python, which he slew. As the god of archery, he is called Pzan, from warm to strike ; from the same quality, he derives the titles of Arcitenens and ilrgyrotoxus. As the god who rules the sun, he is called Phabus, 9o.ts pros the light of life. Phanfflus, from his splendour, &c. He is called Delius, from the island of Delos, in which he was born, and Cynthius, from a mountain in that island. He was called Loxias by the Greeks, from the ambiguity of his oracles, of which the following is an example: Cicero, however, considers this response to be spurious, because it is not delivered in Greek, the language al ways used by the Pythoness. But it would be endless to
enumerate all the poetical epithets and attributes of the deity. We shall Wet efore proceed to notice The Actions of distinguishes four Apollos, all born of different parents, and at different periods; the most famous is the son of Jupiter and La tom. The actions of this god will not detain us long, as they are familiar to every school-boy who can read Tooke's Pantheon. His first adventure, after his vic tory over Python, whom Juno had sent to destroy his mother, was his unsuccessful passion for the nymph Daphne. She, flying from his embraces, was changed into a laurel, which Apollo henceforth adopted as his favourite tree. This tree, however, still retained the coyness of its parent stock, and resisted, as is said, the colours of the painter, when he wished to draw upon it the image of the amorous god. His musical contests with Pan and Marsyas are well known. In the former, he affixed a pair of asses' ears to king Midas, who was umpire in the dispute, to remain as a monument of his musical skill; in the latter, he flayed alive the unfortu nate musician who had dared to contend with him. Apollo was banished from heaven by Jupiter, because he had slain the Cyclops, who forged the thunderbolt with which Jupiter slew Esculapius. During his exile, lie was employed in the servile occupation of tending Ad metus's cattle ; he also raised the walls of Troy for Laomedon, the stones dancing into order, to the music of his harp. A great part of Apollo's history is occu pied with his amours, with which we will not stain our pages.
We can have no hesitation in adopting the opinion of Vossius, that Apollo was merely a metaphorical person age, and that his history, his attributes, and his exploits, may in a great measure be deduced from properties and effects of the sun, over which Apollo was supposed to preside.
There is in the possession of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, a Shanscrit MS. presented by colonel Ma cicod, entitled 'RI BAGIIAWAT, or the Life of the Indian Apollo. (g)