Ἀπόλλων

See also: Απόλλων

Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

Ἀπείλων (Apeílōn) — Arcadocypriot
Ἀπέλλων (Apéllōn) — Doric, Laconian
Ἄπλουν (Áploun) — Thessalian
Ἀπέλον (Apélon) — Pamphylian

Etymology

Uncertain. Possibly from Pre-Greek, or from an older, obsolete verb meaning "to drive away," as in evil (via Klein from Usener).^[1] Plato in Cratylus connects it to ἀπόλλυμι (apóllumi, “to destroy”), ἀπολούων (apoloúōn, “washing”), ἀπολύων (apolúōn, “delivering”), ἁπλοῦν (haploûn, “simple”), and ἀειβάλλων (aeibállōn, “always shooting”). Plotinus, in Ennead V.5.6.26-30, claims that Pythagoreans derived it from ἀ- (a-) and πολῠ́ς (polús) to render Απόλλων, literally "one without parts," as a 'symbol' of the Monad.^[2]

Sometimes said to derive from *Apeljōn to synchronize the Arcadocypriot and Doric variations with the Hittite deity Apaliunas, Hittite 𒀀𒀊𒉺𒇷𒌋𒈾𒀸 (A-ap-pa-li-u-na-aš).

Pronunciation

(5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /a.pól.lɔːn/
(1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /aˈpol.lon/
(4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /aˈpol.lon/
(10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /aˈpol.lon/
(15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /aˈpo.lon/

Proper noun

Ᾰ̓πόλλων • (Ăpóllōn) m (genitive Ᾰ̓πόλλωνος); third declension

(Greek mythology) Apollo

Inflection

Third declension of ὁ Ἀπόλλων; τοῦ Ἀπόλλωνος (Attic)

Case / #	Singular
Nominative	ὁ Ἀπόλλων ho Apóllōn
Genitive	τοῦ Ἀπόλλωνος toû Apóllōnos
Dative	τῷ Ἀπόλλωνῐ tōî Apóllōnĭ
Accusative	τὸν Ἀπόλλω / Ἀπόλλωνᾰ tòn Apóllō / Apóllōnă
Vocative	Ἄπολλον Ápollon
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Derived terms

Ἀπολλόδοτος (Apollódotos)
Ἀπολλόδωρος (Apollódōros)
Ἀπολλωνία (Apollōnía)
Ἀπολλώνιον (Apollṓnion)

Descendants

Armenian: Ապոլլոն (Apollon), Ապոլոն (Apolon)
→ Coptic: ⲁⲡⲟⲗⲗⲱⲛ (apollōn)
Greek: Απόλλων (Apóllon), Απόλλωνας (Apóllonas)
→ Latin: Apollō
→ Faliscan: 𐌀𐌐𐌏𐌋𐌏 (apolo)
→ Russian: Аполло́н (Apollón)

References

^ Klein, Dr. Ernest (1966-1967), “Apollo”, in A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary Of The English Language‎^[1], eighth impression, Amsterdam: Elsevier, published 2003, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 43, column 2.
^ Stamatellos, Giannis. Plotinus and the presocratics: a philosophical study of presocratic influences in Plotinus' Enneads. SUNY press, 2012.

“Ἀπόλλων”, in Liddell & Scott (1940), A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
“Ἀπόλλων”, in Liddell & Scott (1889), An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
“Ἀπόλλων”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891), A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
Ἀπόλλων in the Diccionario Griego–Español en línea (2006–2025)
“Ἀπόλλων”, in Slater, William J. (1969), Lexicon to Pindar, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter
Woodhouse, S. C. (1910), English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎^[2], London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited, page 1,001
http://opsopaus.com/OM/BA/Plethon/Apollo.html

[1] Klein, Dr. Ernest (1966-1967), “Apollo”, in A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary Of The English Language‎^[1], eighth impression, Amsterdam: Elsevier, published 2003, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 43, column 2.

[2] Stamatellos, Giannis. Plotinus and the presocratics: a philosophical study of presocratic influences in Plotinus' Enneads. SUNY press, 2012.

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