Daphne
A nymph who prayed to be transformed rather than submit to Apollo's pursuit. She became the laurel tree, forever sacred to the god who could not have her.
The Legend of Daphne
A naiad nymph devoted to Artemis, Daphne had sworn to remain a virgin. When Apollo mocked Eros for playing with a warrior's weapon, the love god shot Apollo with a golden arrow of desire and Daphne with a lead arrow of repulsion. Apollo pursued her through the forests. As he caught her, Daphne cried out to her father, the river god Peneus (or to Gaia), and was transformed into a laurel tree. Apollo claimed the laurel as his sacred tree and wore its leaves at Delphi. Her story parallels the fates of Io, Callisto, and Syrinx — nymphs undone by divine obsession.
Parents
Peneus (river god)
Symbols
Words We Inherited
English words and phrases that trace back to this myth. See our full guide to English words from Greek mythology.
Explore Further
Daphne and Apollo
💭 conceptpursuit, transformation
The nymph who escaped Apollo's pursuit by transforming into a laurel tree, which became sacred to the god and the symbol of poetic and athletic victory.
Apollo and Daphne
💭 conceptNarrative
The god's relentless pursuit of a nymph who chose transformation into a laurel tree over submission
Lotis
🌿 nymphtrees, escape
A nymph who fled the god Priapus and was transformed into the lotus tree to escape his assault.
Narcissus
🗡 heroYouth who fell in love with his own reflection
A beautiful youth who rejected all lovers and fell in love with his own reflection in a pool. Unable to embrace the image, he wasted away and became a flower.
Peneus
⚡ godriver, Thessaly
River god of the Peneus in Thessaly, father of Daphne.
Leuce
🌿 nymphthe underworld, trees
A sea nymph abducted by Hades and transformed into a white poplar tree in the Underworld after her death.
Dryads
🌿 nymphTree nymphs
Dryads were nymphs bound to individual trees — when the tree died, so did its dryad.
Myrrha
🗡 herotransgression, transformation
A princess cursed by Aphrodite to desire her own father, whose tears of shame became myrrh resin after the gods transformed her into a tree.
Philomela
🗡 herotransformation
Athenian princess whose tongue was cut out by her rapist Tereus, who wove her story into a tapestry to reveal the crime.
Arethusa
🌿 nymphNymph who became a freshwater spring
Arethusa was a nymph of Artemis who was pursued by the river god Alpheus and transformed into a freshwater spring on the island of Ortygia in Syracuse.
Pitys
🌿 nymphtrees, wind
A nymph pursued by Pan who was transformed into a pine tree — the reason pine trees moan in the wind.
Galatea
🌿 nymphSea nymph loved by a Cyclops
Galatea was a Nereid loved by the Cyclops Polyphemus — but she loved the mortal Acis.