Greek Mythology #2 Admetus and Apollo

After Apollo's son, Asclepius died, Apollo was enraged. He would have talked to Zeus, except he was kind of like, the king of the Gods, so he had to do something else. So he killed the three cyclopes. The sons of Gaea who had forged Zeus' thunderbolt.

Now, it was Zeus' turn to be mad. He would have killed Apollo just then, except since he is a God, and he was immortal, he had to come up with a special punishment. So he sentenced Apollo to time as a mortal.

Apollo, kicked off Mount Olympus, stumbled around until he found the city of Pheres. He walked up to King Admetus, asking to be his servant, and he accepted. But he didn't put Apollo at the highest position because that would be unfair to his other servants.

Keep in mind, they didn't know it was a God.

So Apollo lived the next few months as a shepherd. Apollo, learned how to enjoy his new job. He grew to respect the king and truly cared for him.

Admetus was one of the suitors for Alcestis, daughter of King Pelias of Iolcos. King Pelias, did not want his daughter to get married. Alcestis had no decision in who she would get married to. So King Pelias made the most outrageous challenge he could think of. He said, if you can drive to Iolcos on a chariot pulled by a yoke with a boar and a lion, you win the hand of Alcestis. Admetus, did not think this was possible. How was he supposed to yoke two animals that had different balance.

So Apollo did him a favor and he and his sister, Artemis, got the lion and the boar for him. Then Artemis used her 'god-like superpowers' to tame the lion and the boar. So Admetus rode a wobbly chariot into Iolcos, returning with a future wife.

At the wedding, a pack of snakes started invading. But Apollo told Admetus to pay tribute to Artemis for helping him get a wife, so he did. And as soon as he did, the snakes slithered away.

Sometime later, Apollo was told by Hermes that Admetus was going to die the next day. Apollo, did not want that to happen. So he went and had a word with the fates. The fates are three goddess' who say the a person is going to die. Apollo had them make it so Admetus wouldn't die, but the fates said that someone else would have to die in his place. So when Apollo told Admetus what had to happen, Alcestis immediately said, "I'll do it," and passed away on the spot.

Admetus wouldn't talk to Apollo after that. The next morning Admetus was getting the ceremony ready for Alcestis burial. Meanwhile, Apollo met a stranger, who he sent to King Admetus, to see if he could get a place to rest for the day. So when the stranger opened the door, Admetus was startled. Admetus then broke into tears and told the stranger his story of how he lost Alcestis. The stranger told him that he could help. The stranger told him his plan. Admetus put Alcestis in his coffin but he left the door open, and waited. Suddenly, they heard a noise. It was Thanatos, the Greek God of peaceful death. Thanatos was trying to claim her soul, the stranger stepped up. It was just kind of a coincidence that the strange was none other than the most famous hero in all of Ancient Greece, Heracles (Hercules in latin). Heracles then wrestled Thanatos, and for a few minutes they just wrestled and wrestled and wrestled and wrestled. Eventually Heracles beat the tired Thanatos, and Alcestis came back to life. King Admetus and Queen Alcestis lived happily ever after.

Apollo would stay mortal for a few more years, and eventually become a God again.

Stay tuned next time, as we stay aboard the Apollo train. We will talk about; Another son of Apollo, being married for around 1 hour, and why you should never look behind you, even if someone trips.