Who was Apollonius?

The story of Apollonius just fascinates me the more I learn.

It's kind of like finding a hidden Tesla in the ancient religious world in a sense.
And by that I mean.. Tesla is sort of downplayed while other scientists got way more fame..
Yet Tesla has his hardcore fans in the modern age. Despite others sort of being highlighted by those who sort of teach "general popular" history.

Apollonius is kind of like the lost Jesus. Some people even think they are one and the same.
And it's been claimed by followers of each that the other side stole parts of their story.
IE.. Apollonius followers claimed Jesus followers stole parts of their story and vice versa.

The two figures have some striking similarities.. But also some significant differences too.
Whether they are one and the same, we will probably never know.
I think it's more likely they are different, ultimately though.. I don't know. I admit it.

However.. For this post, let's just assume they are different.
And I'm not going deep into details here yet as I'm just not well studied enough on the subject yet to go deep.
Let's just start here.

"Before he was born, his mother had a visitor from heaven who told her that her son would not be a mere mortal but in fact would be divine. His birth was accompanied by unusual divine signs in the heavens."

Uh oh. We got a crazy one on our hands here!

"And they say that he declined to wear apparel made from dead animal products and, to guard his purity, abstained from all flesh diet, and from the offering of animals in sacrifice. For that he would not stain the altars with blood..."

"What induces you," he said, "Apollonius, to dress yourself differently from everybody else, and to wear this peculiar and singular garb?"
"Because," said Apollonius, "the earth which feeds me also clothes me, and I do not like to bother the poor animals."

"Why is it that men call you a god?"
"Because," answered Apollonius, "every man that is thought to be good, is honored by the title of god."

"... my defense ... shall set the truth before you. In all my actions I have at heart the salvation of mankind, yet I have never offered a sacrifice in their behalf, nor will I ever sacrifice anything, nor touch sacrifices in which there is blood, nor offer any prayer with my eyes fixed upon a knife or the kind of sacrifice that he [the accuser] means."

So.. I'm liking the kind of message he's putting out there in how he's not into sacrificing other beings and he avoids exploiting them and extends his circle of compassion to include them.

"Read the life of a man who religion apart resembles you in many things; a man sought out by the rich, yet who never sought for riches; who loved wisdom and despised gold; a man frugal in the midst of feastings, clad in linen in the midst of those clothed in purple, austere in the midst of luxury . . . . In fine, to speak plainly, perchance no historian will find in ancient times a philosopher whose life is equal to that of Apollonius.” [Sidonius Apollinaris, The letters of Sidonius

G. R. S. Mead : "He attracted to himself many followers and disciples. It would have been interesting if Philostratus had told us more about these 'Apollonians,' as they were called, and whether they constituted a distinct school, or whether they were grouped together in communities on the Pythagorean model, or whether they were simply independent students attracted to the most commanding personality of the times in the domain of philosophy."

He also actually brought us real science unlike Jesus.
Like.. The Apollonius circle. And..

"He wrote many books and treatises on a wide variety of subjects during his life, including science, medicine, and philosophy. Most of which were destroyed by early Christians. The Book of Stones is a lengthy analysis of alchemical works attributed to Apollonius by Persian alchemist Jabir ibn Hayyan ( ca.721 -815 ) ,,,Medieval writer Nicetas tells us of bronze doors at Byzantium which bore inscribed extracts from the Book of Rites, a lost work of Apollonius, and that these doors were melted down in order to destroy non-Christian beliefs which had persisted around the teachings of Apollonius of Tyanna."

Yet.. Almost no one in the modern age has ever heard of him. Weird.

"...it is a remarkable, if not a suspicious circumstance that should not be passed unnoticed, that several Christian writers, while they recount a long list of miracles and remarkable incidents in the life of this Cappadocian Savior (Apollonius), extending through his whole life, and forming a parallel to similar incidents of the Christian Savior, not a word is said about his crucifixion."—Kersey Grave

Yet.. I did find something about it! From a highly influential speaker of the occult.

"It has been claimed that Apollonius of Tyana was initiated into the Arcanum of Egypt in the Great Pyramid, where he hung upon a cross until unconscious and was then laid in the tomb for three days. While his body was unconscious, his soul was thought to pass into the realms of the immortals (the place of death) After it had vanquished death (by recognizing that life is eternal) it returned again to the body, which then rose from the coffer, after which he was hailed as a brother by the priests, who believed that he had returned from the land of the dead. This concept was, in substance, the teaching of the Mysteries." (Manly P. Hall, The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Reader's Edition) p. 183)

Things that make you go.. Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm............ -.-