The topic of the original webpage is establishing Apollo as the god of healing and his association with healing and medicine through his son, Asclepius. The author explains the myth of Apollo catching Coronis, his son’s mother, cheating and sends his sister, Artemis, to kill her. Apollo’s rage extended to everyone in his vicinity and he turned the silver raven that was sent to safeguard Coronis into a black crow for not pecking out the eyes of the man Coronis cheated with. Asclepius was saved while his mother died and sent to live with a centaur who taught him about herbs and healing and because of this associate, Apollo was known as the god of healing. The Romans associated Apollo with healing because their prayers to Apollo to save them from the plague were answered.
In Ovid’s Metamorphoses, the raven talks to a crow that warns him of Apollo’s wrath. In the webpage, there is no mention of this conversation. The webpage also discusses that Apollo acted with anger and passion because the raven did not peck out the eyes of Coronis’ other lover (Prince Ischys). This is not mentioned in Metamorphoses, although it could be inferred from the crow’s warning to the raven.
The webpage uses the myth to support the Apollo’s role as the god of truth and healing, and so it does not emphasize the details of the raven’s life and conversations with others. In Metamorphoses, the myth is used within the context and thus not linked explicitly with Apollo as the god of healing. The role of the raven in the webpage is important, but relatively short as the main purpose is to illustrate Apollo’s emotions and swift, merciless action to get revenge on Coronis. The website is a non-academic blog run by an individual who is interested in Greek myth, and this context helps answer the questions of why details from Ovid’s myth as missing in the webpage. The webpage includes information about Apollo killing his baby mother’s lover and killing Coronis with the help of his sister. It also includes detail about his son, which is not included in the myth. The analysis of the myth is the raven was punished by Apollo by bringing him bad news and not acting to harm Prince Ischys, and so Coronis was killed and became a crow constellation. The webpage references 2 books for its information on the myth. The books are Apollo by Fritz Graff and Mythology by Edith Hamilton. Most of the information on the webpage does look reliable, but the author should’ve used in-text citation, even as a number or hyperlink, so readers know where the information in each paragraph is from. The part about Roman associations of Apollo and healing should be verified because they state specific times, but it is not clear from which source they obtained this information from.
There are holes in the aftermath of Coronis’ death where Apollo takes his son with him to become a healer. Although it is addressed that Asclepius stays with Chiron the centaur, there is not much information about if Apollo also practiced herbal healing with his son. In terms of the myth Apollo and Coronis in Metamorphoses, I believe the conversation between the raven and the crow should be included, along with a sentence explaining line 596 about the eyes of Argus and its relation to Apollo.
Myth on the Web 