Apollo

Apollo was one of the ancient Greek gods, who was beloved by the people of Greece. They believed that Apollo was a handsome, powerful, just, and healing God who loved poetry and music. He was also known as the god of the sun.

In the 20^th century, the United States named one of their space shuttles Apollo. In 1969, after 102 hours of flight Apollo 11 along with three astronauts was able to successfully land on the moon. This was the first time a human set foot on the moon.

During the time of Muhammad Raza Pahlavi, one of the torture machines used by the Iranian intelligence agency SAVAK was called Apollo. This device was used to punish and torture political prisoners who would refuse to name their allies and friends.

Why was this device called Apollo? The reason this device was called “Apollo” was that the prisoners would wear a metal helmet that looked similar to the helmets astronauts wore. These political prisoners’ arms and legs would be bound to a chair and the helmet would be placed upon them. Afterwards, they would be tortured and if they screamed, the sound would stay in the helmet and would echo inside causing severe pain and damage to the eardrums.

The political prisoners would say: when the sound reflected in the metal helmet it was as if the world had collapsed (please find the meaning of the phrase). If the prisoners’ struggled while being tortured, the sharp edges of the helmet would wound their necks and shoulder. Whenever the political prisoners talk about Apollo, they are not talking about the Greek god or the space shuttle that took man to the moon; they would be reminded of their torture. For this reason, they would always talk bad about Apollo.