From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Phoebus (pronounced /ˈfiːbəs/) is the Latin form of Greek Phoibos (Φοίβος) "Shining-one",(also spelled Pheabus) a byname used in classical mythology for either the god Apollo, or the god Helios, or the sun, generally.

Classical Latin poets also used Phoebus as a byname for the sun-god, whence common references in later European poetry to Phoebus and his "winged chariot" as a metaphor for the sun.

In mythological texts the sun-god and Apollo are not otherwise confused or identified. For example, in Ovid's Metamorphoses the hero Phaëton is son of Phoebus the sun-god, not son of Phoebus Apollo.^{[citation needed]}

Paired with Athena, he was a mascot of the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. He should not be confused with Phobos.^{[citation needed]}

In AD 362, in the Delphic Pythia's last prophecy, she said to Oribasius of Pergamum (personal physician of the Roman Emperor Julian the Apostate) "Report to the emperor, fallen is [the] splendid hall, Phoebus no longer has [his] house. Neither the prophesying laurel nor the well will talk anymore, silent also the babbling water."