Who Mourns for Adonais?
- Episode aired Sep 22, 1967
- TV-PG
- 50m
IMDb RATING
7.1/10
4.1K
YOUR RATING
A powerful being claiming to be the Greek god Apollo appears and demands that the crew of the Enterprise disembark onto his planet to worship him.A powerful being claiming to be the Greek god Apollo appears and demands that the crew of the Enterprise disembark onto his planet to worship him.A powerful being claiming to be the Greek god Apollo appears and demands that the crew of the Enterprise disembark onto his planet to worship him.
Bill Blackburn
- Lieutenant Hadley
- (uncredited)
Roger Holloway
- Lt. Lemli
- (uncredited)
Eddie Paskey
- Lieutenant Leslie
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe title is taken from Adonais: An Elegy on the Death of John Keats by Percy Bysshe Shelley. Line 415 reads "Who mourns for Adonais?" Shelley's Adonais is derived from Adonis, a male figure of Greek mythology associated with fertility. Also, "Adonais" would be the English plural of the Hebrew Spoken Name of God (the Hebrew word 'adonai' simply means 'lord'), so it would mean "Who Mourns for the Gods?"
- GoofsAt minute 22, Spock refers to Apollo by name. Apollo told his name only to the landing party, and not the people left on the ship.
- Quotes
[last lines]
Dr. McCoy: I wish we hadn't had to do this.
Capt. Kirk: So do I. They gave us so much - the Greek civilization, much of our culture and philosophy came from the worship of those beings. In a way, they began the Golden Age. Would it have hurt us, I wonder, just to have gathered a few laurel leaves?
- Alternate versionsSpecial Enhanced version Digitally Remastered with new exterior shots and remade opening theme song
- ConnectionsFeatured in William Shatner's Star Trek Memories (1995)
Featured review
Kirk and company vs Apollo.
The theory that the gods worshipped by ancient civilisations on Earth were in fact space travellers with advanced powers was popularised in Erich Von Daniken's 1968 bestseller 'Chariots of the Gods?', but this episode of Star Trek addressed the issue first. In 'Who Mourns for Adonais?', the crew of The Enterprise encounter one such being, Apollo, who has spent the last few thousand years residing on a planet waiting for the human race to advance into space so that he can once again be revered and adored. Of course, Kirk isn't about to kowtow to an alien, not even one that can shoot lightning bolts from his fingertips.
The story starts with The Enterprise halted in its path by a field of energy in the form of a giant green hand - a bizarre image that sets the quirky tone for this memorable adventure for Kirk and company. Beaming down to the planet below, a landing party discovers an ancient Greek temple where they encounter Apollo (Michael Forest), who renders their equipment useless and declares that they must stay on the planet and worship him. The deity also takes a shine to Lieutenant Palamas (Leslie Parrish) and seduces the woman, much to the annoyance of Scotty. In order to defeat Apollo, Kirk and his crewmates attempt to locate the source of his power and destroy it.
There's a fair amount of fun to be had with this one, Apollo growing to giant size to tower over the landing party, transforming Palamas' uniform into a more revealing outfit befitting the queen of a god, and hurling impetuous Scotty backwards with bolts of energy. The one big problem I have with the episode is the notion that Apollo requires a 'source' for his energy, the temple apparently acting like a powerful battery: it begs the question, 'Did he lug that temple all the way to Earth and back all those years ago?'.
The story starts with The Enterprise halted in its path by a field of energy in the form of a giant green hand - a bizarre image that sets the quirky tone for this memorable adventure for Kirk and company. Beaming down to the planet below, a landing party discovers an ancient Greek temple where they encounter Apollo (Michael Forest), who renders their equipment useless and declares that they must stay on the planet and worship him. The deity also takes a shine to Lieutenant Palamas (Leslie Parrish) and seduces the woman, much to the annoyance of Scotty. In order to defeat Apollo, Kirk and his crewmates attempt to locate the source of his power and destroy it.
There's a fair amount of fun to be had with this one, Apollo growing to giant size to tower over the landing party, transforming Palamas' uniform into a more revealing outfit befitting the queen of a god, and hurling impetuous Scotty backwards with bolts of energy. The one big problem I have with the episode is the notion that Apollo requires a 'source' for his energy, the temple apparently acting like a powerful battery: it begs the question, 'Did he lug that temple all the way to Earth and back all those years ago?'.
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- BA_Harrison
- May 29, 2022
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