From: João S. Lopes Filho
Message: 9965
Date: 2001-10-03
----- Original Message -----
From: <MrCaws@...>
To: <cybalist@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Tuesday, October 02, 2001 10:39 PM
Subject: [tied] 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
>
>
>
>
>
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