Apollo and Daphne

This is the story of a beautiful mountain nymph, Daphne and the god of reason, music and poetry, Apollo.

Apollo was returning from a battle with Phyton, and he saw Cupid. Apollo bragged about how his arrow was bigger than Cupid’s. Cupid was angry after this assault, and he shot Apollo with a golden love arrow which was meant to make Apollo fall in love with the first person he saw. And then, he shot Daphne with the lead-tipped arrow which made her immune to love. Right at that moment, Apollo’s eyes caught Daphne who was out hunting, and he immediately fall in love with her. Unfortunately, Daphne was not interested in this love. Apollo began to chase her. Daphne couldn’t understand why he is chasing her and started to run away. He was close behind her when she reached her father, the river god Peneus. Peneus quickly changed her into a laurel tree after hearing her cries for help. Ovid tells in Metamorphoses:

"...and seeing Peneus’s waters near cried out ‘Help me, father! If your streams have divine powers change me, destroy this beauty that pleases too well!’ Her prayer was scarcely done when 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. Only her shining beauty was left"

From then on, Apollo was cursed with unrequited love and Cupid’s need for revenge was fulfilled. The God of the Sun, still pinning for what he believes is his true love made a laurel leaf one of his symbols to honor Daphne and learned his lesson about ridiculing Cupid.

Throughout history, this story inspired many artists. They tried to capture this story in a variety of styles and mediums. One of the well-known sculptures about this story is made by Gion Lorenzo Bernini. He depicted the moment when Daphne was slowly morphing into a tree to protect her virtue.

One of the well-known paintings inspired by this story is Piero del Pollaiuolo’s “Apollo and Daphne”. He captured the moment when Daphne’s arms were transforming into branches. Pollaiuolo’s depiction of the expression on Daphne’s face kind of reveals the peace she finds after ending the never-ending chase.