Re: APOLLO and ... MARS?

--- In cybalist@..., "João S. Lopes Filho" <jodan99@...> wrote:

> I found this in
> http://www.users.qwest.net/~mcochrane/Myth/Apollo/apollo.html
> I'd like to hear your comments...
> " In light of Apollo's resemblance to various Oriental gods

identified with

> the planet Mars, it is significant to note that the Greek god's

close

> resemblance to the Latin god Mars has long been acknowledged. Well

over a

> hundred years ago, Roscher documented that the cults of Apollo and

Mars were

> fundamentally analogous. Roscher pointed to a host of features

shared in

> common between the two gods, including the following:
> (1) each was associated with the first month of the year;
> (2) each was identified with certain animals and sacred trees;
> (3) each was regarded as a patron of migrations and founder of

cities;

> (4) each was associated with colonizing ventures as exemplified by

the Latin

> ver sacrum rite.
> Apollo, like Mars, was invoked as a great warrior to fend off the

hostile

> neighbors. An early Greek prayer invokes Apollo as follows: "Send a
> far-darting arrow from your bow against the enemy. Strike, O

Paian!"

> Indeed, the Athenian army appears to have been under the direct

patronage of

> Apollo.
> Both gods were associated with the advent and warding off of

pestilence and

> disease. The name Isminthians-signifying that god who sends, but

also

> averts, plagues of mice (smintheus is an ancient Cretan word meaning
> "mouse")-is one of the Latin god's oldest epithets.
> Yet the very same epithet was applied to Apollo in Asia Minor.

This fact,

> if it does not support the identification of Apollo and Mars, at

least

> supports the view that the two gods were functionally analogous in

ancient

> cult. The fact that the cult of Apollo Smintheus has yet to be

found on

> mainland Greece-but only upon the outlying islands of Crete and

Rhodes,

> sites of archaic Greek colonies situated between mainland Greece

and Asia

> Minor-is an indication, perhaps, that Apollo's cult originally came

to

> Greece from the ancient Near East.
> An unusual feature of Mars' cult is the war-god's identification

with a

> wolf. This motif is attested very early and, as the epithet lupus

Martius

> attests, would appear to be central to the mythology and iconography
> surrounding the Latin god.
> As Apollo Lykeios, the ancient Greeks understood Apollo as a wolf-

god

> (lykeios is from a Greek stem meaning "wolf"). As the chorus of

Aeschylus'

> Seven attests, Apollo the wolf was conceived as a

warrior: "Lykeios, lord,

> be wolvish toward the enemy's army." Wolves were sacrificed to

Apollo at

> Argos and elsewhere on the Greek peninsula (this in spite of the

fact that

> wolves were extremely rare animals in Greek cult), and in Argive

ritual a

> wolf was pitted in combat against a bull, this latter rite said to

symbolize

> Apollo's combat with Poseidon. Although scholars have observed that
> Apollo's lupine-characteristics belong to the most archaic stage of

his

> cult, an explanation of the significance of Apollo Lykeios has not

been

> forthcoming."
> (...)

I read the article, found it very interesting.

The idea of a connection with Mars is interesting, since there isn't
a good match for Apollo in the Greek pantheon. Mars originally was a
protector of fields and herds, a hunting god, and a god of
boundaries at least according to my Roman Religion professor. These
match up well with some of Apollo's attributes.

I want to find details about the shared sacred animals, trees, etc.
That's intriguing stuff.

I would speculate that the wolf attribute might be associated with
the idea of a role as protector and destroyer of herds and cattle, as
well as with war and the underworld.

One thing that occured to me when I read it-They were discussing
the nature of Hyperborean Apollo, an epithet usually used to denote a
northern origin of the deity-From the peoples beyond the North Wind.

I thought of a different meaning to this though-In the Pelasgian
Creation Myth, which I was discussing with Glen in a different thread,

The fist being is goddess Eurynome, who starts out alone, dancing
above the waters. She eventually dances, creating Ophion out of the
northern wind, a serpent, who coils about her and mates with her.
This impregnates her, so she turns into a dove and lays an egg.
Ophion coils about this egg seven times, and then the universe
emerges from the egg.

The article mentions that Apollo's favorite number is 7, a rather
unusual Hellenic number. So I propose that this Hyperborean name is
referring to Apollo's identification with the primeval male
principle, Ophion.
Apollo has association with serpents, being one and slaying them.
Many of Apollo's attributes identify him with ithyphallic fertility
gods appropriate for this serpentine Ophion deity.

Cort Williams