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

History

The earliest known source of this myth is Parthenius, a Greek poet who lived during the 1st century BCE, however, the most well-known and lyrical telling was by the Roman poet Ovid in his Metamorphoses (I.438-567), a collection of Greek fables first written in 8 CE.

Mythos

Purpose

The myth is told to explain the origin of the laurel tree and its connection to Apollo. His priestess employed the use of the leaves at Delphi and they also became the symbol of victory and achievement as laurel wreaths were given to the victors of the Pythian Games.

Characters

The story generally involves three main players:

• Apollo (Phoebus) - Greek god of healing, archery, music and arts, sunlight, knowledge, and patron of Delphi. Regarded as a great warrior.
• Eros (Cupid, Amor) - god of love and sex; also known for his use of bow and arrow. He was often depicted as a winged boy.
• Daphne - a naiad (nymph), or huntress of Artemis. Her parentage varies, depending on the source, but it's generally understood that her father is a river god (either Peneus or Ladon) and her mother was either the nymph Creusa or Gaia.

As a Roman, Ovid called the gods by their Roman names (i.e. Jupiter and Juno instead of Zeus and Hera). However, despite the Roman counterpart of Apollo sharing the same name, Ovid switches between calling him Phoebus and Apollo. It would seem that this reference is used when referring to Apollo in his role as sun god, since the name is an epithet of his maternal grandmother Phoibe ("the bright one"), but there isn't an agreement among scholars on this.

Ovid's version

Ovid breaks the myth out into five parts, beginning with Apollo slaying the Python and ending with the creation of the Pythian Crown. Ovid's Metamorphoses, tr. Anthony S. Kline version of the story translates it in the following way:

Defeat of Python (I:438–472)

Apollo and Daphne's story takes place right after the great snake that terrorized mankind is slain by Apollo. Apollo pierced the Python with 1,000 arrows and then founded the sanctuary of Delphi atop of the Python's dead body. This sanctuary became home to the famous oracle, Pythia, and the sacred Pythian Games were held to celebrate his victory. The winners were, at first, honored with oak wreaths, since the laurel didn't yet exist.

Afterwards, Apollo spots Eros stringing his bow and comments:

"Impudent boy, what are you doing with a man's weapons? That one is suited to my shoulders, since I can hit wild beasts of a certainty, and wound my enemies... You should be intent on stirring the concealed fires of love with your burning brand, not laying claim to my glories!"

Eros, angered by Apollo's implication that one god's abilities could be greater or lesser than another's, flies to the peak of Mount Parnassus then draws and fires two arrows: "one kindles love, the other dispels it. The one that kindles is golden with a sharp glistening point, the one that dispels is blunt with lead beneath its shaft. With the second he transfixed , but with the first he wounded Apollo piercing him to the marrow of his bones."

Apollo sees Daphne (I:473–503)

Having taken after Apollo's sister, Artemis (Diana), Daphne spurned her many potential lovers, preferring instead to spend her times in the woods, exploring the forest and hunting. Due to her emulation of Artemis, she had dedicated herself to perpetual virginity. Her father, the river god Peneus, demanded that she get married and give him grandchildren. She, however, begged her father to let her remain unmarried; he eventually complies, but tells her that her beauty makes it impossible to prevent would-be suitors from beckoning to her.

As soon as Apollo spots her in the woods he falls in love. His own powers of foresight prevent him from being able to tell the ultimate outcome of his pursuit. He quickly calls and rushes to her, but she immediately flees "swifter than the lightest breath of air and resists his words calling her back again."

Apollo pursues and begs Daphne to be with him (I:504–524)

Despite her not yet knowing who pursues her, Apollo seems to know exactly who she is, calling, "Wait nymph, daughter of Peneus, I beg you! I who am chasing you am not your enemy." He comments that she is running from him as prey would from a predator, but tells her that he is spurred on by love and a desire to be with her, not destroy her, so she should have pity on him. He then says that he is worried that she will be injured in the chase and cause him guilt, so if she slows down he will too, but she continues.

He goes on to finally reveal to her who he is—stating that he's not just some random farmer or shepherd, but rather "Delphi's lands are mine, Claros and Tenedos, and Patara acknowledges me king. Jupiter is my father. Through me what was, what is, and what will be, are revealed. Through me strings sound in harmony, to song." He mentions that, even though he is a master archer and patron of medicine, "an arrow truer than mine, has wounded my free heart! ... But love cannot be healed by any herb..."

Daphne becomes the laurel (I:525–552)

Apollo continually followed her, begging her to stay, but the nymph continued to reject him. They were evenly matched in the race until Eros intervened, urging Apollo on until he is at full speed. He reaches out to grab her, but she manages to escape his grasp and quicken her pace. Eros further assists Apollo by giving him wings, then hangs onto Daphne's shoulders in an attempt to slow her gait.

They were soon within sight of her father's waters. Exhausted, overcome by the efforts of her escape, and sensing that she was about to be caught, she ran toward the banks and cried out, "Help me father! If your streams have divine powers change me, destroy this beauty that pleases too well!" No sooner than the cry left her mouth she felt "a heavy numbness seized her limbs, thin bark closed over her breast, her hair turned into leaves, her arms into branches, her feet so swift a moment ago stuck fast in slow-growing roots, her face was lost in the canopy." She had become the laurel tree.

(19/08) Apollo honors the laurel (I:553–567)

Even in this state, Apollo could not help but love her. He touched the trunk of the tree and could feel her heartbeat. He tried to kiss the bark, but the wood shrank away from him still. In spite of Daphne's clear terror and fervent insistence that he leaves her be, Apollo vowed to honor her forever, "We kiss before we burn. You shall be treasured forever as my now precious tree." He says that he will wear her leaves in his hair, will use her wood to make his bow and lyre, and that a crown made of her branches will adorn the heads of royalty and champions of game and battle.

Apollo also used his powers of eternal youth and immortality to render Daphne evergreen, "you also will wear the beauty of undying leaves." The laurel bowed her branches, her leaves seemingly shuddered in surrender. She does not wish to burn with him.

Apollo and Daphne in art

Artists such as Antonio del Pollaiuolo and his brother Piero drew inspiration from Greek mythology in a number of their works. In Pollaiolo's painting Apollo and Daphne (National Gallery in London), both are shown dressed in Renaissance garments, endowing this version of the theme with a courtly character. As Daphne turns into the laurel tree, chastity triumphs.

Between 1622 and 1625, Gian Lorenzo Bernini sculpted a Baroque life-sized marble statue entitled Apollo and Daphne. Apollo clutches Daphne's hip, catching her in flight, as she calls to her father to save her. Apollo wears a laurel crown, while Daphne begins her metamorphosis into the laurel tree. Her fingers are sprouting twigs and leaves, while roots descend from her toes.

Poussin also produced a work on the subject in 1661–1664. Sculptor Massimiliano Soldani Benzi drew from the myth and Bernini's own work to create a smaller, terracotta carving of the pair in c. 1700. The 55.5 cm (21.9 in) sculpture is on display at the Cleveland Museum of Art, in Cleveland, Ohio.

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

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, though Klimt's own biographers make no mention of this story being an inspiration for the work.

See also

• Metamorphoses in Greek mythology

References

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External links

• Media related to Apollo and Daphne at Wikimedia Commons

• Metamorphoses into trees in Greek mythology
• Love stories
• Deeds of Apollo
• Deeds of Eros
• Nymphs
• Myths
• Ovid
• Greek mythology
• Metamorphoses