Mythology
Apollo and Daphne: the embrace that became laurel
Apollo, after killing the serpent Python, mocks Eros and his weapons. The god of love, seeking revenge, strikes Apollo with a golden arrow that makes him fall hopelessly in love with Daphne, and strikes the nymph with a leaden arrow that fills her with total rejection. Apollo chases Daphne as she flees in terror. Just as he is about to catch her, she calls upon her father, the river god Peneus, who transforms her into a laurel tree. Apollo declares the laurel sacred, a symbol of poetry and eternal glory. Ovid turns the myth into a reflection on desire, freedom, and the art that makes immortal.
