From: João S. Lopes Filho
Message: 9551
Date: 2001-09-17
----- Original Message -----
From: <jdcroft@...>
To: <cybalist@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Sunday, September 16, 2001 7:06 PM
Subject: Apollo (was Re: [tied] Nostradamus and Dumezil)
> MrCaws@... wrote:
>
> > I used to wonder how Apollo was depicted as a serpent on
> > > Delos, or even how he slew the Python at Delphi considering he
> was
> > in
> > > no way a thunder-god. Now I know. Delphi was the center of the
> > world
> > > in Greek tradition. Ormazd defeated Ahriman in the center of the
> > > world before casting him into the abyss. Apollo continued this
> same
> > > myth in Greece. Even his birthplace on Delos makes sense: the
> > > heavenly paradise located in the center of the world, where is
> > > located in Persian myth the 'world mountain' as is found on
> Delos.
> >
> > I would argue that Apollo took on the role of serpent slayer
> because
> > he played the role of cultural hero. The thunder deity(Thor, Perun
> > etc) often plays this role, but others do as well. Hercules for
> > example. Since Apollo was a big cheese cultural hero, esp. in the
> > Aegean and W. Anatolia, this slaying makes sense. There is also a
> > freudian hero element to the story, as one version of the story has
> a
> > serpent molesting Leto, and Apollo then taking his vengeance. This,
> > though, seems to be connected to a Canaanite story about Laton
> (Leto),
> > and Yamm as the serpent, interestingly enough.
> >
> > In addition, this story bolsters Apollo's claim to deity of
> prophecy
> > by defeating a demonized version of a predecessor.
>
> I find it ironic considering Apollo's origins as the Hurrian-Hattic
> god Aplu - the mouse god of the plague. It is interesting that
> Apollo, as a god of illness needed to be apeased in the diseases he
> caused. This promoted him to being God of Medicine. Travelling
> Westwards to the Aegean, it seems he there became associated with the
> Mycenaeans God "Paean" - a God of song and music, with whom he fused
> to become the God of Delos. It would appear that it was in this
> guise he first came to Delphi, not as slayer of the serpents, but as
> a snake charmer! Eventually, through association with lunar Artemis
> as his twin sister, with Lat/Leto recognised as his mother, Apollo
> became recognised as Phoebus Apollo - sun god who substituted or
> absorbed the earlier sun-god Helios. As Helios he could not just
> charm the serpents of Gaia, he was now forced to slay them. Here we
> see the historic transformation of a God of Rodents, becoming a
> Killer of Serpents. The first case of a mouse killing a snake that I
> have heard!
>
> Regards
>
> John
>
>
>
>
>
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