#Coronis is one of those big fancy fate stories I like a lot
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Hello! I want to know... Besides Hyacinthus, who is your fav Apollo's lover (male or female)? I really love Cyrene 🤭
Oho, thank you so much for the ask!
There are a couple candidates that immediately come to mind tbh. I'm not the sort that has a strict OTP sense when it comes to Apollo because I imagine there's importance in each of the affairs of the gods that are written about - there must be some reason that we remember their names and stories even now, y'know?
Ultimately, I have a brief selection of the lovers of Apollo whose stories I have personal and vested interest in with no particular preference except maybe for Evadne who, if I were forced to give only one additional favourite besides Hyacinthus, I would probably say it's her.
As for why I prefer Evadne over all the great and powerful romances Apollo has had; maybe it's just because I'm a sucker for the ooey-gooey romances but there's something so sweet about Evadne and Apollo's relationship and the consequent relationship Apollo has with Iamus, his and Evadne's son. I also love the subtle politics of such a relationship - from Evadne's side, yes she's a princess but more importantly, she's one of Poseidon's inhuman daughters - a child between Poseidon and a nymph - and the child between her and Apollo - a son of Zeus - goes on to become the father of a long line of famous prophets for the King of the Gods himself. That makes Iamus one of those rare children of a major god who is not divine but certainly not human either, something that is further exacerbated by the fact that for the first five days of his life, Iamus is cared for by his father who ensures that the baby is fed not milk but honey from the fangs of a snake.
All in all, it's not a very remarkable story in the grand scheme of things. There's no big drama like with Admetus and there's no great tragedy like with Coronis or Melia. Apollo doesn't act particularly noteworthy in either Pindar or Hyginus' account of the tale like he does for Cyrene or Branchus and the end result is a line of prophets sacred to Zeus and the Olympia oracle - a classic example of Apollo in his role as father to the great prophets and wisemen and yet something about the gentleness of Apollo in his affair with Evadne has always captivated me.
Evadne, who so feared her father that she would abandon her newborn child just to spare herself his anger, was able to trust and love Apollo. Likewise, Apollo did not once abandon her, sending the most blessed of attendants to help in her birthing and automatically stepping in to make sure Iamus was fed, clothed and warm until his mother returned for him. It's something about a young Iamus going into the River Alpheus - an ancient stream - and calling out for his purpose from his father and grandfather. It's something about Apollo's immediate and calm response and the way he leads the youth to the temple that will be his destiny and personally educates him in the ways of divination.
It's just one of those stories that always sticks out to me for the portrait of a father and lover it sketches of Apollo, even in a seemingly innocuous myth such as this one.
#ginger answers asks#apollo#evadne#iamus#genuinely though I love this story with all my heart and soul#evadne and iamus are one of those myths that always get me really excited and I love love LOVE paternal Apollo#The other big contender for me is probably Coronis#Yes I know that ends with her cheating and then Apollo (or Artemis or Zeus) smiting her and her lover and the town they were shacking up in#but Apollo genuinely did love Coronis and I like imagining that Coronis loved him too#There are versions where Apollo slays Ischys but can't bring himself to kill Coronis or versions where#Apollo is so immediately hurt by the knowledge that Coronis was cheating on him that the grief of that effectively paralyses him#and it's Artemis who must avenge the shame done to her brother#In all cases Apollo IMMEDIATELY regrets the decision to kill Coronis and rushes down to at least save their child#Which again big paternal Apollo moment because Apollo adored Asclepius and you can take that belief out of my cold dead hands#Coronis is one of those big fancy fate stories I like a lot#Where there's no happy ending for her - because of what she did the only thing waiting for her is death and destruction#but Apollo loved her. Even when she was unfaithful while with his child he loved her#And I just love pulling that apart#My favourite of his male lovers aside from Hyacinthus is Cyparissus!#But yeah hope this answers your question adequately! =w=
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