| Admetus | The king of Pherae in Thessaly whom Apollo served as shepherd in penance for having slain the Python at Delphi. According to a variant of the myth, Zeus forced Apollo to serve Admetus after the god had killed the Cyclops, who had created the thunderbolt Zeus used in slaying Apollo's son Asclepius.
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| Asclepius | [as-KLEE-pee-uhs] (Aesculapius) Son of Apollo and Coronis, the Greek founder and patron of medicine. When his skills brought the dead back to life, Zeus killed him with a thunderbolt.
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| caduceus | A wand entwined by two serpents and topped by a pair of wings, emblematic of Hermes as Zeus's personal messenger and herald; it is also associated with Asclepius, god of healing.
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| Chiron | [KYE-rahn] A wise old centaur who tutored several famous heroes, including Jason and Achilles.
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| Croesus | King of Lydia (560 –546 B.C.), famous for his great wealth. His kingdom was captured by Cyrus, founder of the Persian Empire.
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| Cyparissus | A son of Telephus who, for his unusually good looks, was beloved by several gods, including Zephyrus and Apollo. When Cyparissus accidentally killed the stag that was his favorite companion, he asked heaven to let him grieve forever. As a result, he was changed into a cypress, the tree of mourning.
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| Daphne | A nymph beloved of Apollo, she was changed into a laurel tree, the leaves of which were thereafter sacred to the god.
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| Delphi | [DEL-phee] Ancient shrine of prophecy on the slopes of Mount Parnassus, site of Apollo's Oracle. Formerly a sanctuary of Themis and other chthonic goddesses, its name means "womb."
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| ephebe | A class of Greek youths, approximately eighteen to twenty years old, who underwent systematic educational and physical training to serve the polis as hoplites.
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| Hyacinthus | A youth whom both Apollo and Zephyrus loved; when Apollo and Hyacinthus were throwing the discus, the jealous Zephyrus interfered, striking the boy with the discus and killing him, after which he was changed into the flower bearing his name.
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| Leto | [LEE-toh] Titan goddess by whom Zeus fathered Artemis and Apollo.
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| oracle | (1) The word or utterance of a god, usually a command or prophecy about the future. (2) The person inspired to deliver a divine proclamation, such as the Delphic Oracle.
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| Pythia | [PITH-ee-uh] Title of Apollo's virgin priestess at Delphi, a name commemorating the god's victory over Python.
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| Pytho | [PYE-thoh] An ancient name of Delphi, where Apollo dispensed his oracles.
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| Python | [PYE-thuhn] The serpent that guarded the ancient Delphic shrine of Themis and that Apollo killed with his arrow.
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| Themis | [THEE-mis] A Titan goddess, daughter of Gaea and Uranus, who personified justice and law; in some myths, she was the mother of Prometheus. Even after Apollo's cult was established there, she had a prophetic shrine at Delphi.
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| Typhon | A reptilian child of Hera, an incarnation of storm winds.
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| Zephyrus | Personification of the West Wind.
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