Apollo and his twin sister Artemis were born of Zeus and the Titaness Leto. Apellon is a pre-Homeric variation of his name, and Atepomarus is a Celtic version. He is also called Phoebus (Bright one), Chrysocomes (He of the Golden Locks), king of minstrels, Prince of oracles, and Lord of the golden bow. As one of the most important deities of the Greek and Roman pantheons, he is the god of prophecy, mathematics, and music. Acting as the god of poets, he is the leader of the Muses.
Apollo is also a god of healing and purification. Such a talented healer was Apollo’s son, Aesclepius (Asklepios), that Zeus slew him with a thunderbolt for daring to bring a man back to life. According to folklore, the raven is a bird of Apollo. Apollo left a raven to watch over Coronis, but, just before the birth of Aesclepias, Coronis married Ischys. When the raven informed Apollo of her infidelity, he killed Coronis and Ischys(or Artemis did), and turned the raven black for being the bearer of bad news. Prior to this, the raven was a white bird. Before her body was consumed on a funeral pyre, Apollo saved the life of his son. Aristeas is the eldest son and first priest of Apollo. He is also is a Demigod and accompanied Apollo in the form of a raven.
Apollo was also the god of the sun. Every morning, he would rise from his couch in his eastern palace and bridle his stallions to his chariot. He would then drive his chariot across the blue meadows of the sky on a path marked by the goddess of the dawn.
As a god of hunters, he is depicted carrying a bow and arrow, and is associated with the stag or roe. He is also pictured with lions. Though he might be depicted playing the graceful lyre, he was a merciless hunter responsible for slaying the children of Niobe, though she had provoked him by a boastful statement. Strangely enough, he was also associated with mice, and was called Apollo Smintheus (Mouse Apollo). He was associated with the hawk in Greece, a symbol of the sun.
Much as Aphrodite was held up as an example of feminine perfection, Apollo was considered the epitome of youthful masculinity. Delphi and Delos, the place of his birth, are his two main seats of worship, though in Delos he appears to have been second to his sister Artemis.
His most famous oracle in Delphi was the site of his battle with the serpent Python, a child of Gaia. Python gave forth revelations through a fissure in the rock to the Pythia, the oracular priestess. On the orders of Hera, Python had harried his mother from one end of the earth to the other till she found refuge in Delos to bear her children. Once he was able, Apollo hunted Python down in his caverns and killed him with his golden arrows. After he had slain Python, Apollo went to Thessaly where he was forced to act as a slave to mortal man twice by his father as penance for the murder. Apollo then took Python’s place as the deity of Delphi. He slew Cyclopes as well and incurred a temporary banishment for the act.
Aplu is the Etruscan god of thunder and lightning and prophecy. He is a form of Apollo, borrowed from the Greek pantheon. He is depicted partially cloaked and wearing a laurel leaf, but otherwise naked. On his head is a laurel wreath, while in one hand he carries a staff and in the other is a laurel twig.