A woman who undergoes artificial insemination against the wishes of her husband is the unlikely heroine of `` A Question Of Adultery '', yesterday's new British import at the Apollo.

Medicine and healing are associated with Apollo, whether through the god himself or mediated through his son Asclepius, yet Apollo was also seen as a god who could bring ill-health and deadly plague.

The function of Apollo as a " healer " is connected with Paean ( Παιών-Παιήων ), the physician of the Gods in the Iliad, who seems to come from a more primitive religion.

A female dragon named Delphyne ( δελφύς: womb ), who is obviously connected with Delphi and Apollo Delphinios, and a male serpent Typhon ( τύφειν: smoke ), the adversary of Zeus in the Titanomachy, who the narrators confused with Python.

We don't know his original name, but it seems that he was absorbed by the more powerful Apollo, who stood by the " Mistress of the animals ", becoming her brother.

Homer interprets Apollo as a terrible god ( δεινός θεός ) who brings death and disease with his arrows, but who can also heal, possessing a magic art that separates him from the other Greek gods.

In Iliad, his priest prays to Apollo Smintheus, the mouse god who retains an older agricultural function as the protector from field rats.

All these functions, including the function of the healer-god Paean, who seems to have Mycenean origin, are fused in the cult of Apollo.

Aeneas was then enveloped in a cloud by Apollo, who took him to Pergamos, a sacred spot in Troy.

When Zeus struck down Apollo's son Asclepius with a lightning bolt for resurrecting Hippolytus from the dead ( transgressing Themis by stealing Hades's subjects ), Apollo in revenge killed the Cyclopes, who had fashioned the bolt for Zeus.

Daphne was a nymph, daughter of the river god Peneus, who had scorned Apollo.

She fell in love with Apollo who disguised himself as Leucothea's mother to gain entrance to her chambers.

By Cyrene, Apollo had a son named Aristaeus, who became the patron god of cattle, fruit trees, hunting, husbandry and bee-keeping.

* Leucates, who threw himself off a rock when Apollo attempted to carry him off

Apollo has ominous aspects aside from his plague-bringing, death-dealing arrows: Marsyas was a satyr who challenged Apollo to a contest of music.

Apollo also had a lyre-playing contest with Cinyras, his son, who committed suicide when he lost.

In the time of Augustus, who considered himself under the special protection of Apollo and was even said to be his son, his worship developed and he became one of the chief gods of Rome.

In literary contexts, Apollo represents harmony, order, and reason — characteristics contrasted with those of Dionysus, god of wine, who represents ecstasy and disorder.

The statues of Apollo were thought to incarnate his living presence, and these representations of illusive imaginative reality had deep roots in the Minoan period, and in the beliefs of the first Greek speaking people who entered the region during the bronze-age.

Aphrodite and Apollo rescue Aeneas from combat with Diomedes of Argos, who nearly kills him, and carry him away to Pergamos for healing.

Later, when Achilles dies, killed by Paris ( with help from Apollo ), Ajax and Odysseus are the heroes who fight against the Trojans to get the body and bury it next to his friend, Patroclus.

Apollo, like other Greek deities, had a number of epithets applied to him, reflecting the variety of roles, duties, and aspects ascribed to the god.

As Artemis's twin, Apollo had the epithet Didymaeus ( ; Διδυμαιος, Didumaios, from δίδυμος, " twin ").

Acesius was the epithet of Apollo worshipped in Elis, where he had a temple in the agora.

As a protector and founder, Apollo had the epithets Alexicacus ( ; Ἀλεξίκακος, Alexikakos, literally " warding off evil "), Apotropaeus ( ; Ἀποτρόπαιος, Apotropaios, from ἀποτρέπειν, " to avert "), and Epicurius ( ; Ἐπικούριος, Epikourios, from ἐπικουρέειν, " to aid "), and Archegetes ( ; Ἀρχηγέτης, Arkhēgetēs, literally " founder "), Clarius ( ; Κλάριος, Klārios, from Doric κλάρος, " allotted lot "), and Genetor ( ; Γενέτωρ, Genetōr, literally " ancestor ").

In his role as god of prophecy and truth, Apollo had the epithets Manticus ( ; Μαντικός, Mantikos, literally " prophetic "), Leschenorius ( ; Λεσχηνόριος, Leskhēnorios, from λεσχήνωρ, " converser "), and Loxias ( ; Λοξίας, Loxias, from λέγειν, " to say ").

As god of music and arts, Apollo had the epithet Musagetes ( ; Doric Μουσαγέτας, Mousāgetās ) or Musegetes ( ; Μουσηγέτης, Mousēgetēs, from Μούσα, " Muse ", and ἡγέτης, " leader ").

Apollo Vindonnus had a temple at Essarois, near Châtillon-sur-Seine in Burgundy.

It was in this way that Apollo had become recognised as the god of music.

Unusually among the Olympic deities, Apollo had two cult sites that had widespread influence: Delos and Delphi.

Apollo had a famous oracle in Delphi, and other notable ones in Clarus and Branchidae.

* In Oropus, north of Athens, the oracle Amphiaraus, was said to be the son of Apollo ; Oropus also had a sacred spring.

Apollo killed Python but had to be punished for it, since Python was a child of Gaia.

Apollo shot arrows infected with the plague into the Greek encampment during the Trojan War in retribution for Agamemnon's insult to Chryses, a priest of Apollo whose daughter Chryseis had been captured.

Hecuba, was the wife of King Priam of Troy, and Apollo had a son with her named Troilus.

When he found out the truth he sent his sister, Artemis, to kill Coronis ( in other stories, Apollo himself had killed Coronis ).

Acantha, was the spirit of the acanthus tree, and Apollo had one of his other liaisons with her.

Apollo complained to Maia that her son had stolen his cattle, but Hermes had already replaced himself in the blankets she had wrapped him in, so Maia refused to believe Apollo's claim.

In Aeschylus ' Oresteia trilogy, Clytemnestra kills her husband, King Agamemnon because he had sacrificed their daughter Iphigenia to proceed forward with the Trojan war, and Cassandra, a prophetess of Apollo.

Apollo was worshipped as Actiacus ( ; Ἄκτιακός, Aktiakos, literally " Actian "), Delphinius ( ; Δελφίνιος, Delphinios, literally " Delphic "), and Pythius ( ; Πύθιος, Puthios, from Πυθώ, Pūthō, the area around Delphi ), after Actium ( Ἄκτιον ) and Delphi ( Δελφοί ) respectively, two of his principal places of worship.

Apollo Delphinios was a sea-god especially worshiped in Crete and in the islands, and his name indicates his connection with Delphi and the holy serpent Delphyne ( womb ).

Apollo is connected with the site by his epithet Δελφίνιος Delphinios, " the Delphinian ".

For example, the name Delphi and its associated deity, Apollon Delphinios, are explained in the Homeric Hymn which tells of how Apollo carried Cretans over the sea in the shape of a dolphin () to make them his priests.