Bow and Arrow
The bow and arrow is the shared weapon of the twin archer gods Apollo and Artemis in Greek mythology, and separately, in an entirely distinct tradition, of Eros and his Roman counterpart Cupid - three different gods carrying the same kind of weapon toward three different ends.
Sections on this page
In Practice
Distinguishing the traditions matters, because the ancient sources never treat the twins' arrows and Eros's arrows as the same instrument or the same kind of power, even though later art sometimes blurs them together. For Apollo, the bow is an instrument of sudden, distant harm delivered as divine judgment. The opening scene of the Iliad shows Apollo descending from Olympus in anger over the mistreatment of his priest, his bow and quiver rattling on his shoulders, and shooting arrow after arrow into the Greek camp - first killing pack animals and dogs, then men, in a plague that lasts nine days until the priest's demand is met. Apollo's arrows in this scene are explicitly a weapon of remote, impersonal punishment; nothing about the scene suggests desire or affection, only wrath delivered from a distance the god never has to close. Artemis's bow, golden according to the short Homeric hymn devoted to her, serves the opposite purpose within the same weapon type: not a punishment aimed at cities but the everyday tool of her identity as goddess of the hunt, used to bring down deer and other wild game across mountains and forests. The hymn describes her drawing her bow "over the shadowy hills and windy peaks," delighting in the chase itself rather than in any single dramatic act of vengeance, which marks a real difference in tone from her brother's arrows even though brother and sister share the same weapon and the same skill. Eros's bow belongs to a separate mythic register entirely, one about causing emotion rather than causing harm or death. Ovid's Metamorphoses describes Eros carrying two kinds of arrows rather than one: a sharp gold arrow that kindles love, and a blunt lead arrow that drives love away. In the story that gives Apollo's own laurel its origin, Eros strikes Apollo with the gold arrow and the nymph Daphne with the lead one in the same scene, setting off Apollo's hopeless pursuit of her - a striking case of an Eros myth reshaping an Apollo myth, without either archer's arrows changing what kind of weapon they are.
Do Apollo and Artemis use their bows for the same thing?
Not quite. Apollo's bow in the Iliad delivers plague as divine punishment, shot from a distance in anger at the mistreatment of his priest, killing animals and then men over nine days. Artemis's bow, described in the short Homeric Hymn to Artemis as golden, is instead the working tool of her role as huntress, used to bring down deer across the mountains rather than to punish a city.
Homer, Iliad 1.43-52
Is Eros's bow the same as Apollo and Artemis's bow?
No - it belongs to an entirely separate tradition. Apollo and Artemis's arrows cause physical harm or bring down game; Eros's arrows, described in Ovid's Metamorphoses, cause emotion instead, with a sharp gold arrow that kindles love and a blunt lead arrow that repels it. The three gods share a weapon type, not a single mythic object or purpose.
Ovid, Metamorphoses 1.468-471
What does Apollo's bow represent in mythology?
Sudden, remote punishment delivered without warning. The Iliad's opening plague, sent because Apollo's priest was disrespected, shows the god's arrows working exactly this way: impersonal, distant, and devastating, striking animals first and then men over nine days until his demand is met, with no negotiation possible until the arrows stop.
Homer, Iliad 1.43-52
What does Artemis's bow represent, compared to Apollo's?
The hunt, rather than punishment. The Homeric Hymn to Artemis describes her drawing her golden bow across the hills and peaks and rejoicing in pursuing game, a portrait of ordinary, repeated activity rather than a single dramatic act of anger, which sets her characteristic use of the weapon apart from her brother's more punitive use of the same skill.
Homeric Hymn to Artemis 1-9
How did Eros's arrows affect Apollo directly?
They caused the myth that gives Apollo his laurel. Ovid describes Eros striking Apollo with the gold, desire-causing arrow and the nymph Daphne with the lead, desire-repelling arrow in the same scene, which sets off Apollo's relentless pursuit of Daphne and her eventual transformation into the laurel tree - an example of Eros's arrows setting an entirely different god's story in motion.
Ovid, Metamorphoses 1.468-471
Where Accounts Differ
- Apollo/Artemis's arrows vs. Eros's arrows
- The ancient sources never treat Apollo and Artemis's arrows and Eros's arrows as the same object or the same kind of power: the twins' arrows cause physical harm or take game, while Eros's arrows (one gold, one lead) cause or repel love. Later art sometimes shows all three gods with visually similar weapons, which can blur a distinction the myths themselves keep firm.
Where This Appears
Sources
- Homer, Iliad 1.43-52
- Homeric Hymn to Artemis 1-9
- Ovid, Metamorphoses 1.468-471