is the son of Zeus and Leto. His twin sister is Artemis. He is a god with many attributes. As ruler over the nine Muses -- the source of inspiration to humans in all the arts -- he is identified with the arts but particularly music. He is known as the god of music, often portrayed playing a golden lyre. He is also called the Archer, often depicted shooting long distances with a silver bow. He is also the god of healing, who taught man medicine, and the god of light, sometimes referred to as the sun god. One of Apollo's more important daily tasks is to harness his chariot with four horses and drive the sun across the sky. He was not supposed to be able to tell lies and was thus the god of truth.He is famous for his oracle at Delphi. People traveled to it from all over the Greek world to divine the future. He is thus also known as the god of prophecy and divination.He was a patron of Troy and was instrumental in the killing of the Greek hero, Achilles.His tree is the laurel and the crow his bird. The dolphin is the animal identified with him. BALDERBalder, the favourite son of Odin and Frigg, is described as a very handsome and wise god. His name means "The Glorious." Some consider him to be a god of light since he was so bright with light shining from him. He was also called the "god of tears." He was killed by his blind twin brother, Hod. Balder's wife was Nanna and they had a son named Forseti. Balder and Nanna lived in Breidablik [The Broad-Gleaming], where nothing unclean could be and there were "fewest baneful runes." Breidablik had a silver roof on golden pillars. Saxo (one of possible authors of the Prose Edda) gave a very different picture of Balder: he was a vicious god who fought with Hod to marry Nanna. Balder's name rarely occurs in place names, therefore, it is thought that not many people worshipped him. The poets used his name to mean warrior. DIRECT COMPARISONBoth Apollo and Balder are known as the gods of light and both ...
