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*Daphne and Apollo*

Daphne and Apollo by John Waterhouse



The story of Daphne is well-known but unoriginal. It is almost word for word the same story as that of Syrinx and Pan. The only real difference is that instead of being pursued by the ugly Pan, she was being pursued by the beautiful god Apollo. This made little difference to her though, she still wasn't remotely interested. She ran away from Apollo as fast as her legs would carry her, but to little avail. As Apollo closed on her she called out to her father, a river god, to help her. The old god did the only thing he knew how to do, and transformed her. Just as Apollo grabbed her, Daphne's skin turned to bark underneath his fingertips and she grew leaves and foliage. She was transformed into a laurel tree. Apollo, not one to give up so easily, stroked the tree for a while and then cut off some of her branches and wove them into a crown. I suppose he found this romantic. If I had been Daphne though, I think I would have found this practice quite painful. At any rate, he proclaimed the laurel as his sacred tree (despite the fact that she despised him). That is where it ends.

Well, actually, I lie. There is more to the story than I have given here - but I am trying to make the other pages workable right now - so after I've updated everything else I'll be back.

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Last Updated January 28, 2004


 
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