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Apollo and Daphne is a story from ancient Greek mythology, retold by Hellenistic and Roman authors in the form of an amorous vignette.

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Apollo and Daphne in art

Between 1622 and 1625, Gian Lorenzo Bernini sculpted a Baroque life-sized marble statue entitled Apollo and Daphne. Apollo clutches Daphne's hip, pursuing her as she flees to escape him. Apollo wears a laurel crown, and Daphne is portrayed halfway through her metamorphosis into the laurel tree with her arms already transforming into its branches as she flees and calls to her father to save her from Apollo.

The 18th century artist Giovanni Battista Tiepolo in c. 1743-1744 painted an oil similarly depicting Daphne just beginning her metamorphosis with Apollo in pursuit. It now hangs in the Louvre in Paris.

Artists such as Antonio del Pollaiolo and his brother Piero often manipulated scenes from Greek mythology into the setting of their time periods. In Pollaiolo's painting Apollo and Daphne, both are shown dressed in Renaissance garments, with Daphne in the midst of transforming into the laurel tree. It hangs in the National Gallery in London.

It has been argued that The Kiss by Gustav Klimt is a painting symbolic of the kissing of Daphne by Apollo at the moment she is transformed into a laurel tree.

Themes

Chastity vs. lust

The myth of Apollo and Daphne has been examined as a battle between chastity (Daphne) and sexual desire (Apollo). As Apollo lustfully pursues Daphne, she is saved through her metamorphosis and confinement into the laurel tree which can be seen as an act of eternal chastity. Daphne is forced to sacrifice her body and become the laurel tree as her only form of escape from the pressures of Apollo's constant sexual desires. Apollo crafts himself a wreath out of her laurel branches and turning her symbol of chastity into a cultural symbol for him and other poets and musicians.

Predator vs. prey

In Ovid's Metamorphoses, Book I: Apollo and Daphne, Ovid uses animals to make the emotions of characters more relatable to the reader. Ovid characterizes Apollo's pursuit for Daphne as more animalistic than human, and creates the metaphor of a predator and its prey to show the connection between the two. Ovid writes, "sic agna lupum, sic cerva leonem, sic aquilam penna fugiunt trepidante columbae," meaning, "Thus a young lamb flees the wolf, thus the doe flees the lion, thus the dove flees the eagle, wing trembling." Each animal that is being preyed on is fleeing from its predator, and in each case the predator is as the stronger animal. The word "fugere" shows the urgency about and genuine fear of the predator. Ovid uses the word "fugiunt" in the present tense, showing that the prey is still fleeing its predator.

Ovid's use of animals allows us to truly understand exactly what is happening in the moments between Daphne and Apollo. He is able to relate the characteristics of the animals to the characters in his story. Ovid writes, “hostēs quaeque suōs” meaning, “each flees its own enemies”. This shows us the severity of the situation she is in; Daphne doesn’t just view Apollo as someone who is in love with her, but instead as an enemy. Ovid also continues on to write, “amor est mihi causa sequendi” meaning “love is the reason of following for me”. Continuing along with Ovid’s use of animals to portray Apollo and Daphne’s relationship, this quote allows us to see how Apollo is following Daphne. The word “following” brings a sense of stalking, as an animal would stalk its prey. Apollo claims that his reason for following is out of love, but the tone we get from it is like an animal stalking its prey out of hunger, as if without seizing this prey they will die.

Apollo expresses his concern of Daphne trying to get away. Ovid shows this when he writes, “moderatius, oro, curre fugamque inhibe,” meaning, “I ask you run more slowly and hold back flight." Ovid uses animalistic terms here by saying “flight." He wants Daphne to “hold back flight” which echoes the dove and the eagle in the previous lines.

Apollo and Daphne's emotions

Daphne

In the tale of Apollo and Daphne, one could see Apollo as a man crazed by desire for something that he cannot attain: Daphne. Because of his stalking her with evil intent, Daphne is unable to attain her desire of perpetual virginity. In many cultures, some women have desired to hold onto virginity.

Daphne’s resistance to iugales (marriage) and viri (men) is clearly presented in Ovid's descriptions of her. When asking her father to grant her perpetual virginity, her physical description of "patris. . . harens. . . cervice (485)" clinging to the neck of her father conveys to the reader both her dependence on her father as well as her sense of comfort in her current situation.

Compared through a simile to a crimen (crime), in the same line Daphne is said to be "taedas exosa iugales (483)" or hateful of nuptial marriage. These intense words convey not only her overall exosa towards iugales but also her fear to stray from such.

During the chase itself, Daphne is said to be "celer timore" or quick by fear. Not only was her "timore" allowing her speed but also her resistance. Daphne's grit and determination are expressed by Ovid through her tousle with the elemental forces: "Nudabant corpora venti, obviaque adversas vibrabant flamina vestes (497)," translating to, "the winds were exposing her skin and the opposing winds were shaking the clothes facing the opposite direction."

In her transformation to a laurel tree it is evident she achieved perpetual virginity, as she was confined both literally and figuratively in her new form, yet her fear of Apollo was ever-present, for even in her final form of the tree she is said to have "refugit tamen oscula lignum (556)," translating to, "the wood flees the kisses again."

Apollo

There are three main emotions that Apollo experiences throughout the three main parts of the story: pride, lust, and loss.

In the prologue to the story, Apollo has had a sense of conceit towards Cupid, so much that Cupid decides to change this permanently. As Cupid's effects start to take over Apollo, he is filled with lust for Daphne, and it grows stronger throughout the entire chase. Once Daphne is transformed, Apollo's desire becomes grief at the loss of Daphne, yet it continues on and he makes her his. This loss is shown through a heavy use of the nasal consonants, emulating a sound of moaning, with loss in this example.

Literary analysis

In Metamorphoses, Ovid uses specific word orders to show Daphne's transformation from a woman to a tree. In the first line he uses a chiasmus, writing, "citaeque victa labore fugae," meaning, "and having been conquered by the work of swift flight" (543-544). The use of the chiasmus shows the reader how Daphne's body is no longer able to carry her, as she seems to have given into her exhaustion. Ovid uses the word order A-B-B-A with the B's being her body each A being the "citaeque fugae." This use of chiasmus allows us to imagine what is literally happening.

Another example of Ovid's specific word order is his use of a synchesis, which allows the author to rearrange the words from their natural word order, A-B-A-B. In line 549, Ovid uses a synchesis to describe the beginning process of Daphne turning into a tree. He does this to compare the beauty she once had to the harsh new form she takes as a tree. For example, "Mollia cinguntur tenui praecordia libro," meaning, "Her soft breasts are surrounded by a thin bark." He wants to show the contrast between her once "soft breasts" that represented beauty and youth to her now "thin bark," providing an image that is rough and undesirable. In this instance, Ovid also uses the sounds of the words to call attention to what is happening. By using the sounds /p/ and /t/, he is forcing the reader to slow down and read the scene more carefully due to the harsh consonants at the beginning of each word.

Ovid uses a specific word order in line 564, an unusual word placement by which he was able to continue the transformation of Daphne. The "tuebere" is among "mediamque. . . quercum," showing how Daphne is held in her beloved forests and will remain there due to "tuebere" being in the future tense. Ovid uses distinct word order throughout Daphne's transformation to emphasize the isolation and change within the end of the story. While he does use this type of word order earlier in the story there are many moments at the end where his use is obvious.

References

1. ^ Impeluso, Lucia; Stefano Zuffi (2003). Gods and Heroes in Art. Los Angeles: Getty Publications.
2. Vives Chillida, Julio (2008). El beso (los enamorados) de Gustav Klimt. Un ensayo de iconografía. Lulu. ISBN 978-1-4092-0530-2.
3. Paulson, Ronald; Eisenman, Peter (2007). Sin and Evil: Moral Values in Literature. Yale University Press. ISBN 0300120141.

• Metamorphoses into trees in Greek mythology
• Love stories
• Apollo
• Cupid
• Nymphs