Description
Apollo and Daphne
engraving
7 x 9" SHEET
Engraving of Eros tormenting Apollo, the Greek god of the sun and the arts, Eros, the god of love, shoots him with one of his golden-tipped arrows, filling Apollo with unbridled passion for the nymph Daphne. Eros also struck Daphne but with a lead-tipped arrow which made her spurn Apollos advances. Daphne, in the midst of being hotly pursued by Apollo, begs her father, a river god, Open the earth to enclose me, or change my form, which has brought me into this danger! Hearing her plea, Daphnes father transforms her into a laurel tree as Apollo looks on in surprise. Knowing he can never Daphne as his wife, Apollo adopts the laurel as his sacred tree.