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Apollo
Greek mythology · deity · prophecy, music, healing, archery
Son of Zeus and Leto, god of the oracle at Delphi. Patron of music and healing who can equally send plague, his arrows open the Iliad by devastating the Greek camp.
Stories
The Wrath of Achilles
A plague from Apollo forces Agamemnon to surrender his war-prize, so he seizes Achilles's instead. The greatest of the Greeks withdraws from battle in fury and prays for his own side to suffer; the Iliad is the story of what that anger costs.
The Death of Patroclus
With the ships burning, Patroclus begs to wear Achilles's armor and drives the Trojans back almost to their walls. Apollo strikes the armor from him, and Hector finishes it. The news breaks Achilles: grief, then a rage that no wall can hold.