Editing Apollo (section)

===Trojan War===
{{More citations needed section|date=December 2024}}
Apollo sided with the Trojans during the [[Trojan War]] waged by the Greeks against the Trojans.

During the war, the Greek king [[Agamemnon]] captured [[Chryseis]], the daughter of Apollo's priest [[Chryses]], and refused to return her. Angered by this, Apollo shot arrows infected with the plague into the Greek encampment. He demanded that they return the girl, and the Achaeans (Greeks) complied, indirectly causing the ''[[Achilles and Patroclus#In the Iliad|anger of Achilles]]'', which is the theme of the ''[[Iliad]]''.

[[File:John Flaxman - Apollo Preceding Hector with His Aegis, and Dispersing the Greeks, Fuseli's Lectures - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|left|Apollo preceding [[Hector]] with his [[aegis]], and dispersing the Greeks, by [[John Flaxman]]]]

Receiving the [[aegis]] from Zeus, Apollo entered the battlefield as per his father's command, causing great terror to the enemy with his war cry. He pushed the Greeks back and destroyed many of the soldiers. He is described as "the rouser of armies" because he rallied the Trojan army when they were falling apart.

When Zeus allowed the other gods to get involved in the war, Apollo was provoked by Poseidon to a duel. However, Apollo declined to fight him, saying that he would not fight his uncle for the sake of mortals.

[[File:Diomedes prevented by Apollo from pursuing Aeneas (?) MET 80355.jpg|thumb|Apollo preventing [[Diomedes]] from pursuing [[Aeneas]]]]

When the Greek hero [[Diomedes]] injured the Trojan hero [[Aeneas]], [[Aphrodite]] tried to rescue him, but Diomedes injured her as well. Apollo then enveloped Aeneas in a cloud to protect him. He repelled the attacks Diomedes made on him and gave the hero a stern warning to abstain from attacking a god. Aeneas was then taken to Pergamos, a sacred spot in [[Troy]], where he was healed.

After the death of [[Sarpedon (Trojan War hero)|Sarpedon]], a son of Zeus, Apollo rescued the corpse from the battlefield as per his father's wish and cleaned it. He then gave it to Sleep ([[Hypnos]]) and Death ([[Thanatos]]). Apollo had also once convinced Athena to stop the war for that day, so that the warriors can relieve themselves for a while.

[[File:Hector's body dragged at the Chariot of Achilles.jpg|thumb|Apollo protecting Hector's body, by [[John Flaxman]]]]

The Trojan hero [[Hector]] (who, according to some, was the god's own son by [[Hecuba]]<ref>[[Stesichorus]], Fr. 108; [[Tzetzes]], ''On Lycophron''  266; Porphyry in his ''Omissions'' states that [[Ibycus]], [[Alexander Aetolus|Alexander]], [[Euphorion of Chalcis|Euphorion]] and [[Lycophron]] all made Hector the son of Apollo.</ref>) was favored by Apollo. When he got severely injured, Apollo healed him and encouraged him to take up his arms. During a duel with Achilles, when Hector was about to lose, Apollo hid Hector in a cloud of mist to save him. When the Greek warrior [[Patroclus]] tried to get into the fort of Troy, he was stopped by Apollo. Encouraging Hector to attack Patroclus, Apollo stripped the armour of the Greek warrior and broke his weapons. Patroclus was eventually killed by Hector. At last, after Hector's fated death, Apollo protected his corpse from Achilles' attempt to mutilate it by creating a magical cloud over the corpse, shielding it from the rays of the [[Helios|sun]].

Apollo held a grudge against Achilles throughout the war because Achilles had murdered his son [[Tenes]] before the war began and brutally assassinated his son [[Troilus]] in his own temple. Not only did Apollo save Hector from Achilles, he also tricked Achilles by disguising himself as a Trojan warrior and driving him away from the gates. 

Finally, Apollo caused Achilles' death by guiding an arrow shot by [[Paris (mythology)|Paris]] into [[Achilles]]' heel. In some versions, Apollo himself killed Achilles by taking the disguise of Paris.

Apollo helped many Trojan warriors—including [[Agenor]], [[Polydamas (mythology)|Polydamas]], and [[Glaucus]]—in the battlefield. Though he greatly favored the Trojans, Apollo was bound to follow the orders of Zeus and served his father loyally during the war.