Apollo was the divine Greek ideal of male beauty. He is represented on vases, described in literature and celebrated in myth as an ephebe (a young man aged 18-20), beardless, athletic – and fair. His functions included healing, prophecy, care for the young, poetry and music.

He was not notable for driving. When he needed transport, he had a driver, or the gift of instant autokinesis. He was a dangerous competitor on chicanes. He plays a crucial part as one of the partisan gods in Homer’s Iliad . In the lineup of the warring gods in the foundation text of Western literature, Apollo shouts for the Trojans. The Trojan Horse does not feature in Homer’s epic, except by reference. Apollo does not appear in the legends around it. He does not hover above it. His side had lost. But myth has always allowed creative rewriting to suit the purposes of the myth-maker. That is one point of myth.

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