Side by sideParallel across traditions
Both are associated with healing and the arts (music/dance).
| Apollo (Greek) | Hi'iaka | |
|---|---|---|
| Tradition | Greek Pantheon | Polynesian Pantheon |
| Domains | sun, music, poetry, prophecy, healing, archery | hula, healing, sorcery, lightning, ohia trees |
| Symbols | lyre, bow and arrow, laurel wreath, sun, raven | ohia lehua flower, fern skirt, pa'u (hula skirt), lightning |
| Also called | Phoebus, Phoebus Apollo | Hi'iaka-i-ka-poli-o-Pele, Hi'iaka-in-the-bosom-of-Pele |
Both are associated with healing.
Associated with sun, music, poetry, prophecy, and archery.
Associated with hula, sorcery, lightning, and ohia trees.
Delphi's oracle and the Pythian contest made him the public voice of the gods. Purification, plague, and the lyre sit in the same precinct. A boy-god of light is a later polish; the working cult is prophecy and katharsis.
The epic of Hi'iakaikapoliopele is danced. Chant and forest travel are the cult. She heals and she wrecks; the hula keeps both.
Greek Pantheon
God of sun, music, poetry, prophecy, and healing. Twin brother of Artemis, patron of the Muses and leader of the nine sisters.
Apollo is the ideal of the *kouros* (beardless youth), representing light, harmony, and reason. He is the master of the lyre and the leader of the Muses.
Polynesian Pantheon
The youngest and most beloved sister of Pele. Hi'iaka is the patron goddess of hula dancers and the protagonist of one of the longest epic narratives in Hawaiian mythology, her journey to fetch Pele's lover Lohiau.
Hi'iaka was born as an egg during the great voyage from Kahiki to Hawaii. Pele carried the egg in her bosom, keeping it warm, and from it hatched the youngest of the family. Raised with special care by Pele, Hi'iaka grew into a powerful goddess in her own right.
Hi'iaka is Pele's favorite sister, born as an egg that Pele carried in her bosom during the great migration from Kahiki to Hawaii. She grew to become one of the most important goddesses in Hawaiian tradition, patroness of hula and protagonist of the greatest Hawaiian epic.
Comparisons pair figures that play a similar role across traditions, or that the myths connect within one. A shared role does not, by itself, establish a shared origin.