What is phoibus?

Answer 1

in the Illiad, "Phoibus" is the name of two gods: Phoibus Helios (the god of the sun) as well as Phoibus Apollo (the god who causes plagues to humanity if he isn't worshipped). Phoibus and Phoebus mean the same thing: "shining." "Phoibus Helios" was the "bright sun" and "Phoibus Apollo" meant "bright sky" because Apollo can also throw lightning bolts (which are his arrows). apollo became so complicated (he ruled over a lot of different things) that over time that we just remember him as god of the sun along with helios. "phoibus" in mythology is a word that is older than "phoebus" therefore it could mean either god since they were separate a long time ago.