1. Stories of Love
and Adventure
Daphne and Apollo
By: Noemi Bautista

2. Characters:
Apollo - The son of Zeus and Leto, and the twin brother
of Artemis. Apollo was the god of music (principally the
lyre, and he directed the choir of the Muses) and also
of prophecy, colonization, medicine, archery (but not for
war or hunting), poetry, dance, intellectual inquiry and
the carer of herds and flocks. He was also a god of light,
known as "Phoebus" (radiant or beaming, and he was
sometimes identified with Helios the sun god).
Daphne - She was the daughter of the river god Peneus.

3. Eros - The Greek god of love and
sexual desire. Eros is usually
depicted as a young winged boy,
with his bow and arrows at the
ready, to either shoot into the
hearts of gods or mortals which
would rouse them to desire. His
arrows came in two types:
golden with dove feathers which
aroused love, or leaden arrows
which had owl feathers that
caused indifference. Sappho the
poet summarized Eros as
being bitter sweet, and cruel to
his victims, yet he was also
charming and very beautiful.
Peneus - The god of a river in
Thessaly, son of Oceanus and Tet
hys. He is the father of Daphne,
the nymph who was pursued
by Apollo.

4. Theme of Love in Apollo and Daphne
When Cupid's golden arrow nails Apollo, making him fall
for Daphne, Apollo doesn't seem exactly in love with
Daphne. Instead, this god of reason
seems overwhelmed with irrational, overpowering erotic
desire. Cupid (a.k.a. Eros) was the god of desire after all,
not love (that was the job of his mother,
Aphrodite/Venus).
However, when Daphne's father turns her into a laurel
tree to protect her from the love-crazy god, Apollo seems
sincerely moved by what's happened. He honors Daphne
for all time by making the laurel his sacred tree, keeping
her memory always close to his heart. Sure, we can
debate whether being transformed into a tree is worth
the "honor" of being sacred to Apollo, but it seems clear
that Apollo has developed something deeper than his
initial wild desire for Daphne.
Overall, though, love is tragic in this story. It's also causes
total chaos. Neither Apollo nor Daphne ends up happy,
and this is actually pretty common in stories about
Apollo. The guy is simply unlucky in love.

5. Theme of Transformation
The theme of transformation pops up in two major ways
in the story of "Apollo and Daphne." First: at the end of
the story, Daphne's father transforms the young nymph
into a laurel tree. At least Daphne will have a long life in
her new tree form, and, thanks to Apollo's blessing, her
laurel leaves will always be green.
The other kinds of transformations that we see in the
story center on matters of the heart. Thanks to Cupid's
gold-tipped arrow, Apollo falls head over heels for the
young nymph. Daphne, on the other hand, is transformed
into someone who despises the very idea of love when
Cupid shoots her with his lead-tipped arrow. The story
shows us how feelings of love and disgust can lead to
dangerous transformations.

6. Setting
Near Mt. Parnassus
Context
The myth survives the ages because
many artists of different generations got
inspired with it.

7. Similar Myths to Apollo and Daphne in Other
Cultures
The First Pine Trees
In the Micmac legend, three brothers make wishes that
aren't all that specific. One brother wishes to be very tall.
The second brother wishes that he could always be in the
forest. The third brother wishes to have a super long
life and always be healthy. These wishes sound a lot like
Daphne's wish to always be in the forest and be a virgin,
right? Like Daphne, these brothers get their wish – sort of.
They're each turned into a pine tree. The first brother
becomes a really tall pine tree, the second turns into a
pine tree that's obviously permanently in the forest, and
the third becomes a healthy pine tree that lives for a very
long time
Venus and Adonis
In the myth about Venus and Adonis, Venus loves a
human man name Adonis. When he's killed in a hunting
accident, she transforms him into a flower, called an
anemone. Just like Apollo, she's honoring the memory of
her lost lover by turning him into a plant.

8. Symbols
Laurel tree - Honor
Cupid's Arrow – Love
Trivia
In the Percy Jackson series, Zeus turns his
demigod daughter, Thalia, into a pine tree to
save her from a hoard of monsters.
Laurel leaves are said to have many medicinal
purposes. Some think that headaches,
indigestion, arthritis pain, and sleeplessness can
all be helped with some of these useful leaves.

9. References:
http://www.pantheon.org/
http://ancienthistory.about.com/library/
bl/bl_text_ovid_daphne.htm
http://poetryintranslation.com/PITBR/La
tin/Metamorph.htm
http://ancienthistory.about.com/od/myt
hs/a/102110-Apollo-And-Daphne-ByThomas-Bulfinch.htm