Editing Apollo (section)

====Establishment of worship in Delphi====

Continuing from his victory over Python, the Homeric hymn describes how the young god established his worship among the humans. As Apollo was pondering about what kind of men he should recruit to serve him, he spotted a ship full of Cretan merchants or pirates. He took the form of a dolphin and sprang aboard the ship. Whenever the oblivious crew members tried throwing the dolphin overboard, the god shook the ship until the crew was awed into submission. Apollo then created a breeze that directed the ship to Delphi. Upon reaching the land, he revealed himself as a god and initiated them as his priests. He instructed them to guard his temple and always keep righteousness in their hearts.<ref>Homeric Hymn to Pythian Apollo</ref>

Alcaeus narrates the following account: Zeus, who had adorned his newborn son with a golden headband, also provided him with a chariot driven by swans and instructed Apollo to visit Delphi to establish his laws among the people. But Apollo disobeyed his father and went to the land of [[Hyperborea]]. The Delphians continuously sung paeans in his honour and pleaded him to come back to them. The god returned only after a year and then carried out Zeus' orders.<ref name="Alcaeus, Hymn to Apollo"/><ref>Himerius, ''Orations''</ref>

In other variations, the shrine at Delphi was simply handed over to Apollo by his grandmother Phoebe as a gift,<ref name="ReferenceG"/> or Themis herself inspired him to be the oracular voice of Delphi.<ref>[http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0006 1]; ''[[Orphic Hymn]]'' 79 ''to Themis''</ref>

[[File:John Flaxman - To Phoebus at His Birth, From Aeschylus, Furies - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|[[Phoebe (Titaness)|Phoebe]] gifts the oracular tripod to Apollo, by [[John Flaxman]]]]

However, in many other accounts, Apollo had to overcome certain obstacles before he was able to establish himself at Delphi. Gaea came in conflict with Apollo for killing Python and claiming the Delphic oracle for himself. According to Pindar, she sought to banish Apollo to Tartarus as a punishment.<ref>Pindar, fr. 55 SM</ref><ref>Henry, W.B. (I.) Rutherford Pindar's Paeans. A Reading of the Fragments with a Survey of the Genre</ref> According to Euripides, soon after Apollo took the ownership of the oracle, Gaea started sending prophetic dreams to the humans. As a result, people stopped visiting Delphi to obtain prophecies. Troubled by this, Apollo went to Olympus and supplicated to Zeus. Zeus, admiring the ambitions of his young son, granted his request by putting an end to the dream visions. This sealed the role of Apollo as the oracular deity of Delphi.<ref>Euripides, ''Iphigenia in Tauris'' 1259</ref>

Since Apollo had committed a blood crime, he also had to be purified. Pausanias has recorded two of the many variations of this purification. In one of them, both Apollo and Artemis fled to Sicyon and were purified there.<ref>Pausanias, ''Description of Greece'' 2. 7. 7</ref> In the other tradition that had been prevalent among the Cretans, Apollo alone travelled to Crete and was purified by [[Carmanor (of Crete)|Carmanor]].<ref>Pausanias, ''Description of Greece'' 2. 30. 3</ref> In another account, the Argive king [[Crotopus]] was the one who performed the purification rites on Apollo alone.<ref>Statius, ''Thebaid'' 1. 561</ref>

According the Aristonous and Aelian, Apollo was purified by the will of Zeus in the [[Vale of Tempe]].<ref>Aelian, ''Varia'' ''Historia'' 3.1</ref> Aristonous has continued the tale, saying that Apollo was escorted back to Delphi by Athena. As a token of gratitude, he later built a temple for Athena at Delphi, which served as a threshold for his own temple.<ref>[[Temple of Athena Pronaia]] was the first one met by the visitor who came to Delphi on foot from the eastern road.</ref> Upon reaching Delphi, Apollo convinced Gaea and Themis into handing over the seat of oracle to him. To celebrate this event, other immortals also graced Apollo with gifts – Poseidon gave him the land of Delphi, the Delphian nymphs gifted him the Corycian cave, and Artemis set her dogs to patrol and safeguard the land.<ref>Aristonous, ''Paean to Apollo''</ref>

Some others have also said that Apollo was exiled and subjected to servitude under king [[Admetus]] as a means of punishment for the murder he had committed.<ref>Scholiast on Euripides, Alcestis. 1 citing Anaxandrides</ref> It was when he was serving as a cowherd under Admetus that the theft of the cattle by Hermes happened.<ref>Hesiod, The Great Eoiae Fragment 16</ref><ref>Antoninus Liberalis, ''Metamorphoses'' 23</ref> The servitude was said to have lasted for either one year,<ref>Strabo, ''Geography'' 10.1.10</ref><ref>Apollodorus, ''Bibliotheca'' 3.10.4</ref> or one great year (a cycle of eight years),<ref>Plutarch, ''Amatorius'' 761e</ref><ref>Apollodorus, ''Bibliotheca'' 3.4.2</ref> or nine years.<ref>Servius, ''Commentary on Aeneid'' 2.761</ref>

Plutarch, however, has mentioned a variation where Apollo was neither purified in Tempe nor banished to Earth as a servant for nine years, but was driven out to another world for nine great years. The god who returned was cleansed and purified, thus becoming a "true Phoebus – that is to say, clear and bright". He then took over the Delphic oracle, which had been under the care of Themis in his absence.<ref>Plutarch, ''Why the Oracles Cease To Give Answers'' 421c</ref> Henceforth, Apollo became the god who cleansed himself from the sin of murder, made men aware of their guilt and purified them.<ref>Apollo, Fritz Graf</ref>

The Pythian games were also established by Apollo, either as funeral games to honor Python<ref name="Pseudo-Hyginus, Fabulae 140"/><ref name="ReferenceE"/> or to celebrate his own victory.<ref>Strabo, ''Geography'' 9. 3. 10</ref><ref>Statius, ''Thebaid'' 6. 8</ref><ref name="Ovid, Metamorphoses 1. 434"/> The [[Pythia]] was Apollo's high priestess and his mouthpiece through whom he gave prophecies.<ref>{{OEtymD|Pythia}}</ref>