One of the most important Olympian gods; son of Zeus and Leto, twin brother of Artemis. He was also called Delian from Delos, the island of his birth, and Pythian, from his killing of Python, the fabled serpent that guarded a shrine on the mountains of Parnassus. He was concerned with prophecy, medicine (he was the father of Asclepius), music and poetry (he was also the father of Orpheus and the patron of the Muses). He was associated with law, philosophy, and the arts. He sometimes gave the gift of prophecy to mortals whom he loved, such as the Trojan princess Cassandra. He was also a master archer and a fleet-footed athlete, credited with having been the first victor in the Olympic games. Some tales depict Apollo as pitiless and cruel. According to Homer's Iliad, Apollo answered the prayers of the priest Chryses to obtain the release of his daughter from the Greek general Agamemnon by shooting fiery, pestilence-carrying arrows into the Greek army. He also abducted and ravished the young Athenian princess Creusa and abandoned her and the child born to them.