The Music of Apollon

The Musician of the Gods

Apollon is often named Lord of Music, God of the Golden Lyre, Musician of the Gods, and Leader of the Muses. But how far does this aspect goes? How deep is it really and how does it relates with everything else in the sphere of Apollon. Does it even relate or He is God of Music because someone had to be and the Gods choose Him by luck, just as they had divided Earth, Sky and Underworld?

As with everything concerning Apollon, Music is a sign of Civilization. It is a primitive sign of development which appeared when we first started to join in what became the cradle of community, tribes, and can become a lavish sign of power and knowledge in developed societies. It is a universal language which anyone can understand and was used since ancient time to honour the Gods, infuse the spirits of men with emotions, cause fear in the enemies' soul, express emotions, but also to transmit knowledge from one generation to the next.

It is also deeply connect to religion, another sign of Civilization. As god of shamanism He is the support of all things religious, something represented in mythology in his relation to Hestia, who can be considered Goddess of Religion. She kindled the fire at Delphi and attends the House of Apollon. So he is the act of religion: purification, oracles, the Voice of Zeus, as the poet called Him in the Homeric Hymn, God of the Muses who inspired the Hymns and dances, God of perfection which men pursued through building religious temples and statuary. And music? Music is an integral part of an Hellenic ritual, as well as of many other religions and even Christianity as recently re-discovered its power as spirits' lifter.

Music even reflects Apollon relation to Dionysus. Both share Delphi, were the fire of Hestia burns, something that means that Dionysus too is a God of religion. In fact, he is God of divine possession. Apollon and Dionysus are often considered opposites, God of Order and Civilization vs God of Chaos and Wild, but even as such they are complimentary and both share their part in everything. Music is no exception and although Apollon is God of all Music he is often associated with the ordered Paian to contrast with the wild Evoe (Dithyramb), the music of the cult of Dionysus.

So we see that music is more than "just another thing" in Apollon's repertoire. We have already touched a bit in every aspect of Apollon and it's relation to music, but let's review in a more clear way.

As purifier Apollon relates to religion and so does music. But this can be taken even further. Purification is the act of cleansing our body and souls but it is intended mainly to remove unwanted emotions and thoughts. Music is a powerful emotion creator: we feel sad when we hear certain music, happy with others, inspired, energized, enraged, calmed, sleepy... Certain music seem to irradiate purifying energy and are cathartic. Music as tremendous potential as a Kathartic element.

As God of oracles Apollon is also connect with religion. There are even divination methods concerning music and music is often used, in modern times, to induce a divination trance. Although the connection may seem thin, in shamanism and other religions as well, music is used as a way to connect with the Gods and Apollon is the bridge between us and Zeus as an Oracle giver.

The God of Shamanism, which connects Him also with Healing, must be the God of Music because it plays such an important role in shamanic rites and in altering consciousness. Music can also be used for healing by infusing the right emotions: confident, calm and happy people often recover faster and music is just the thing to infuse these feelings.

As leader of the Muses and poet the connection is clear and no words are necessary.

Perfection and arête are reflected in a composer's effort to compose the best play, or the singer's to bend his voice to his will, or the player to master an instrument. Music is almost pure energy and that draws it very close, at least in some philosophies, to the Gods and perfection. Music can also infuse us with the inspiration necessary to arête.

Light is a pure form of energy and so is music (sound). Apollon is almost the God of energy in this sense and both music and light, or the lack of them, can play an important role in purification and other religious rituals.

As the God of Civilization he is the patron of the things that separate the civilized from uncivilized and Music is among them. Because as God of the Ram and Rescuer He relates to civilization this is the link between those aspects.

There are many other aspects in Apollon's complex domain but because they are either minor or relate to those already stated, I will not explore them in this page.

We have seen that music is indeed a natural Domain to Apollon and that it translates in a far deeper way than merely as Musician of the Gods and entertainer.

~Miguel

False words are not only evil in themselves, but they infect the soul with evil - Plato