Apollo

"Nobody messes with my little sister."

- Apollo

Apollo (Απόλλων in Ancient Greek ) is the god of the sun, light, prophecy, healing, medicine, plague, truth, poetry, archery, the arts, music, intelligence, and his animal symbol is the mouse. He is the twin brother of Artemis. He and Artemis are known as the "Twin Archers".

History
Apollo is the son of Zeus and the Titaness Leto. He is also the twin brother of Artemis.

When Leto was pregnant, Hera was furious and banned the mainland and the islands from letting Leto give birth on them, but the floating island of Delos (which wasn't a real island) disobeyed Hera by claiming that it had no reason to feat her and let Leto give birth to Artemis and Apollo. Hera then sent the dragon-serpent called Python to kill Leto. A three-year-old Apollo asked Hephaestus for a golden bow (silver in some stories), and a set of arrows, which he used to kill Python. After killing Python, he became the owner of the Oracle of Delphi.

During the Trojan War, Apollo shot arrows infected with the plague into the Greek encampment in retribution for Agamemnon's insult to Chryses, a priest of Apollo whose daughter Chryseis had been captured. He demanded her return, and the Achaeans complied, indirectly causing the anger of Achilles, which is the theme of the Iliad.

When Diomedes injured Aeneas, Apollo rescued him. First, Aphrodite tried to rescue Aeneas but Diomedes injured her as well. Aeneas was then enveloped in a cloud by Apollo, who took him to Pergamos, a sacred spot in Troy. Apollo aided Paris in the killing of Achilles by guiding the arrow of his bow into Achilles heel.

The Titan's Curse
Apollo is first introduced in The Titan's Curse. Apollo's sister Artemis decides to hunt a powerful monster, one that has the power to bring down the gods and Olympus. Before Artemis leaves, she asks Apollo to take her Hunters and various demigods to Camp Half-Blood. When Apollo arrives in his sun chariot (disguised as a red sports car), Artemis takes off.

Apollo gives Percy, Thalia, Nico,Bianca, and the Hunters a ride, and he allows Thalia to drive his chariot, as she is the daughter of Zeus, who is lord of the sky, saying that he won't zap her out of the sky. However, Thalia is terrified during the ride, and ends up accidentally scorching New England. Apollo appears to be scared during the drive, too, though he did say a few reassuring words during the ride.

The combination results in a gut-retching experience for the group. But at last, they arrive at Camp Half-Blood, and Apollo sees them off.

After Artemis is kidnapped, Percy, Thalia, Zoë, Bianca, and Grover leave to rescue her and Annabeth. Apollo is worried about his sister, and when he tries to use his supernatural sight to find her, he discovers she has been clouded from him, so he breaks the Ancient Laws, and helps the questors by getting on a train headed west. Apollo is in disguise as a homeless man named Fred, however he tells Percy a haiku, which reveals himself (as Percy has never met anyone else who could tell such a horrible haiku.). He warns Percy not to let anyone know he spoke to him, and advises him to seek out Nereus, the Old Man of the Sea.

Later, at Olympus, Apollo votes for Percy not to be killed, and and gives him a thumbs-up from his throne. He was listening to his iPod at the time, so it is unknown how much of the debate he actually heard.

The Last Olympian
In The Last Olympian, Apollo joins forces with the other gods of Olympus against Typhon. Apollo also cures Annabeth and he presides over the initiation of Rachel as the new Oracle of Delphi at Camp Half-Blood while also healing Chiron. When Poseidon defeats Typhon, Apollo joins the rest of the gods on Olympus, and is there when Percy, Annabeth, and Grover are all thanked for their efforts.

Apollo's Chariot
"This chariot is built out of human dreams about the sun, kid. It's as old as Western Civilization. Every day, it drives across the sky from east to west, lighting up all those puny little mortal lives. The chariot is a manifestation of the sun's power, the way mortals perceive it."

- Apollo

His Chariot can also turn into a A red convertible Maserati Spyder or Turtle Top shuttle bus.

Personality
Apollo has been obsessed with haikus ever since he visited Japan and also appears to obsess over other kinds of poems, depending on where he visits. He is known to be terrible at them. (In The Titan's Curse, Zoë Nightshade briefly mentions that after Apollo visited Ireland, he obsesses over limericks.) He loves his 'little' sister {note Artemis is actually the older twin but they say Apollo is the older twin in this book} Artemis, even though they often clash, as he is the more laid back, less serious twin. Always hitting on her Hunters though. Apollo is arrogant, described "with a cocky smile"

The sun god drives around in his chariot. He can make the chariot look however he wants, but he prefers a sports car. In The Titan's Curse, Apollo appears driving a Maserati Spyder. Apollo states that his chariot is made from mortal beliefs of the sun. As long as mortals believe that the sun rises and sets, that its hot, and is in the sky for half the day, it is. Apollo is a master in archery and so are his demigod children at Camp Half-Blood. One of these demigods of his is Lee Fletcher who dies fighting in The Battle of the Labyrinth. Lee Fletcher is also the head of the Apollo Cabin. Then Michael Yew who most likely dies in The Last Olympian. Will Solace is the new head counselor. It is said that during capture the flag that the Apollo cabin is one of the cabins with the most campers. Apollo is a major flirt, as he often flirts with Artemis' hunters, even though she has forbidden it. Despite his flirting however, the Hunters refuse to be charmed by Apollo.

Notable Children

 * Asclepius (deceased, brought back to life)
 * Aristeus
 * Linus (deceased)
 * Michael Yew (missing, presumed dead)
 * Lee Fletcher (deceased)
 * Orpheus (deceased, brought back to life)
 * Will Solace
 * Kayla
 * Austin
 * Victoria (appears only in video game)
 * The Beatles (presumably)

Appearance
Apollo normally appears as a handsome teenage boy (When Thalia first met Apollo, she said "Woah. Apollo is hot." And Percy replied, "He's the sun god." She replied, "That's not what I meant."), around seventeen or eighteen, sandy hair, a bright happy smile, and outdoorsy good looks. When Percy meets him for the first time, he was wearing a white sleeveless T-shirt, blue jeans, and loafers. Percy describes Apollo as looking like Luke, without the jagged scar on the cheek. However, he can appear as anyone, as he is a god. While helping Percy on his quest, he shows himself as a homeless man named "Fred". He is often seen driving the sun chariot.

Roman Form
Apollo has the ability to change his appearance into his Roman aspect, which is also generally referred as Apollo, amongst other names such as Invictus or (like the Greeks) Phoebus. As his Roman counterpart, Apollo becomes more disciplined, warlike, and militaristic. He might have more children at the Roman Camp Half-Blood in San Francisco.

Apollo's Relationship with Leto
Apollo loved his mother dearly, that he killed the children of Niobe, with the help of Artemis, because she had insulted Leto, claiming that she'd only managed to give birth to two children whereas Niobe mothered fourteen children, seven being male and seven being female.

Apollo killed the seven sons and his twin Artemis the seven daughters with poisonous arrows to punish Niobe for her hubris, but in some versions of the myth, it is noted that some of the Niobids are spared.

Another tale tells how Artemis and Apollo prevented Leto being raped by giant Titus in the grove of Delphi. Called by their mother for help, the twins attacked the giant with their arrows, killing Titus instantly. Zeus, outraged by Titus' actions, consigned him to Hades, the patron of the underworld.

Powers
As the personifacation of the sun, he has omnipotent control over the sun. After Helios, the Titan associated with Sun and day, he seized the duty of riding the Sun Chariot for himself, and therefore, Apollo controls Sun and daytime. He is also the God of prophecy, truth, medicine, math, poetry, archery, music, and is the God that controls the Oracle at Delphi, and oversees the ceremony in which Rachel receives the Oracle's spirit. He possesses arrows that burn like sun itself.


 * He is an excellent archer,
 * He is a good and able musician,
 * He has the power to either heal or to do harm, and
 * He has great intellect aside from Athena.

Relationship with Artemis
Apollo is fond of calling Artemis his 'little sister', but he knew that Artemis was born before him. This exasperates her. He doesn't take her seriously, and she in turn thinks he is immature and childish. However rocky their relationship is, they love each other very much, and Apollo even broke the Ancient Law and gave Percy information that would help him find Artemis when she was kidnapped, stating that "no one messes with my little sister" (note that he still calls her his little sister). It may be interesting to note that in classic Greek mythology, it is generally agreed that Artemis is the elder of the twins.

Film
In the film, The Lightning Thief, Apollo is played by Dimitri Lekkos. In the movie, Apollo only appears once, during the scene with the whole council, and is not addressed, but is zoomed in on with Demeter and Artemis at his side.