Apollo and Daphne
Ancient Greek Mythology, Religion, Art
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Greek myths tell of Apollo having a number of sexual relationships with both males and females. He chased after the nymph Daphne, daughter of Ladon, because of an arrow from Eros. She was saved by the river god Peneus who changed her into a laurel tree - thereafter, laurel trees were sacred to Apollo. Other females he chased included the mortal princess Leucothea who was buried alive after her father, Orchamus, found out about the tryst.
Another nymph, Castalia, also tried to escape him via the spring at Delphi, thus leading it to become sacred to him as well. Coronis, daughter of King Phleyas of Lapiths, gave Apollo a son named Asklepios who went on to inherit his father's gift of healing. Hecuba, wife of King Priam of Troy, gave Apollo a son named Troilius while her daughter, Cassandra, spurned his advances despite his offer of the gift of prophecy in exchange for a little fun. In retaliation, he cursed her with the ability to know the future without anyone ever believing her.
As noted above, Apollo also spent a lot of time with male companions as well - more than any of the other Greek gods. The fact that he was also god of the palestra where Greek youths participated in nude athletic training probably had something to do with this.
The Spartan prince Hyacinth was one of Apollo's lovers and he created the flower of that name from his blood after he was killed by a discus blown off course by Zephryus who also loved the youth. In fact, most of Apollo's male lovers seem to meet with bad ends - although he does agree to turn them into permanent fixtures of the natural landscape afterwards. Cyparissus became the Cypress tree, for example.
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