Apollo Near and Far

Apollo is the one who shoots from afar, who stands at the distance watching down at us, meere leaves that fall just as easily. This is the aspect most schoolars focus, trying to understand all his being through this - Burkert does this brilliantly IMHO.

However, no one ever says that:

• He is the God that possesses people and inspires them prophetic mania;
• He whispered to his prophets in clear words and some even say that he sexually raped them when they were prophetizing;
• He has contless myths where he falls in love with mortals, plays with mortals, talks with mortals;
• He did a number of works on earth: killed the Python, built the walls of Troy, worked has a shepherd, not to mention his participation on the Trojan War;
• He was reputed to conduct men sailing abord a ship, to save them and even guide them in the form of a Dolphin;
• He has several earthen symbols (plants such as the bay and the cypress, animals like the mice, wolves and lion) and few aerial (crow, some types of falcon).

And these are just the ones I can think of the top of my head. I wander if this has something to do with Apollo being a God of contradictions because he teaches moderation: neither too much distance nor too much closeness.