Mythology Book

ANCIENT GREECE 61

Daphne recoils from Apollo in this

mid-18th-century painting by Italian

artist Giovanni Battista Tiepolo. Eros

hides and Peneus watches on as the

nymph is transformed into a laurel tree.

See also: The Olympian gods 24–31 ■ Apollo and the Oracle of Delphi 58–59 ■

Venus and Adonis 88–89 ■ Cupid and Psyche 112–13

Peloponnese, in southern Greece.

Eros spotted Daphne, a beautiful,

virginal Naiad (a water nymph) and

daughter of the river god—named

by Ovid as Peneus—upon the

banks of her father’s stream. Eros

took aim and pierced Daphne with

a lead-tipped bolt. Spinning around,

he shot another arrow, this time

with a golden tip, which pierced

Apollo. The sun god hardly had

time to register the pain: seeing

Daphne, he was instantly smitten

with desire.

Daphne, however, had been

hit just as hard by Eros’s leaden

dart. Seeing Apollo, even in all

his beauty, she recoiled. As he

approached her with vows of eternal

love, she turned and fled. Pursued

by Apollo, she cried out to her father

as she ran, and just as Apollo

caught and grabbed Daphne and

held her in his arms, Peneus

answered her pleas and turned

his daughter into a laurel tree.

Apollo, his desire still burning,

declared that even though Daphne

could not be his bride, he would

claim the laurel as his own. From

then on, laurel leaves would always

adorn his hair, his lyre, and

quiver. Laurel wreaths would be

used to honor victorious generals in

triumphal processions and,

matching Apollo’s immortality and

ever-lustrous hair, laurel leaves

would never fade. The laurel tree

then inclined its branches as

if nodding in agreement. ■

Eros

Usually a relatively minor

character in the stories of

Greek mythology, Eros was

the son of Aphrodite, the

goddess of love. Eros also

represented love—but, more

specifically, he personified

“erotic,” sexual desire. Often

portrayed as a slender and

bratty boy, he could be touchy

and quick to take offense, as

he was when Apollo teased

him. He could also be

immature, thoughtless, and

capricious, even perverse; the

revenge he inflicts on Apollo

has the cruelest of

consequences for Daphne.

Eros was sometimes depicted

with a blindfold to show his

lack of discrimination—lust

typically does not exercise

much logic or judgment.

Eros is perhaps better

known today by his Roman

name, Cupid. Depictions of

the god gradually changed

from the slender youth of

Greek tradition to the pudgy,

cherubic toddler familiar from

Western classical art and

modern Valentine’s Day cards.

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