Apollo & Daphne
Everyone thinks they know the story of Apollo and Daphne. Of course it is about the lusty god and the pure nymph, the story of perhaps a humorous rejection of a great god and the triumph of me, Cupid or Eros (personally I prefer Cupid, makes me sound a lot younger than I really am)
What people don't realize is that what happened between them is not the story of lust but love, not of an infatuation but of an eternal love. The devil is in the details and those story tellers often miss out on them. Since I am technically the source of all the trouble, I ought to clear up the misunderstanding and stand up for true love (after all, I am the god of love)
The story begins incorrectly with Apollo's boast of his own bow and arrow that has smote down enemies and is thus more powerful than mine; then I supposedly out of some childish need for vengeance began the whole affair. The truth is, Apollo and I were indeed having a conversation about arrows and bow, and there was a comparison. What you mortals all missed was the fact that Apollo is the god of TRUTH and REASON, among his other attributes. Does he really sound like a tactless, prideful idiot to challenge another god? No.
What Apollo did say was that despite all of his achievements (hence the references to all the enemies including some big snake or something like that) he hasn't experience the rush of first love. For all those of you not familiar to the different degrees of love -yes there are different degrees- there is infatuation or a crush, and then there is companion love and finally eternal love. What Apollo was asking for is an infatuation. Anyone who has had a crush know what it feels like: that rush of adrenaline, the shivers and the embarrassing tongue tied feeling and above all, that sense of euphoria that only ever occurs during the infatuation stage.
Between you and me, that kind of high feeling is rare even among the gods. I heard you mortals have pills for that nowadays but anyway, back in the day, I was the only source of such a feeling.
Now, the thing about my arrows is that there is an expiry date. Obviously you would get over your crush, eventually; if you haven't then rest assured that day will come. It was the same deal with Apollo and Daphne. Didn't consider that, did you? I obliged Apollo after that conversation –he is a pretty decent guy and all that – so that was when he had the whole crush on Daphne. The point was that it was supposed to fade away in a week or two.
On the other hand, in order to be fair to Daphne I shot her with the lead arrow to prevent her from falling for Apollo in the same period of time. After all, she originally wanted to remain single all her life and having some really good looking god woo you is a definite kink in her plan. Besides, Apollo was not really looking for some steady relationship or anything beyond the enjoyment of first love so Daphne would be in a sense protected from his advances by the lead arrow in the meantime. (I am totally in support of free will)
For the first 2 weeks everything went according to plan, Apollo was pretty happy chasing Daphne, and she was doing a great job of ignoring him. (Okay I admit it was pretty funny) There was this time when Apollo got the muses to serenade to her in the morning and she stuffed cotton in her ears and went about her business as usual while everyone else were swooning over the music. You should have seen the muses' and Apollo's face! They were playing and singing till their faces were red and Daphne had her poker face on. -chuckles- Anyway, back on with the story…
After 2 weeks, as expected, Apollo returned to normal more or less, but Daphne had a hiccup. Alright... I might have overlooked a detail or two in Daphne's history. Remembered I originally said that she had always intended to stay single all her life? Well, there is a reason for that. At her birth, Daphne's mother upon seeing her daughter's beauty (I have no idea how you tell from a bloody squirming new born how beautiful she will be but I think it's a mother's thing) prayed to Artemis, the goddess of chastity and virginity. She hoped that her daughter's interest in love would be curbed; for fear that her daughter's beauty may result in suitors flocking around to trick or enchant her daughter away from the safety of her family and devour her if she had a weakness for romance (pfftttt).
Why is this important? Because with my lead arrow, it became a double dose and so Daphne now have about no chance of ever falling in love. (A really bad case of lead poisoning if you ask me) Apollo upon learning of this, felt guilty or so that was what he told me. He in an attempt to make up for his part in pushing Daphne to spending eternity alone, make sure he soothed her father's ire when she refused all eligible suitors. He also protected her from the anger of spurred suitors and kept her company with or without her knowledge so that she would never be alone. The never ending chases that story tellers often speak about? It was more like a never ending walk with Apollo 2 steps behind to accompany Daphne and look after her while she was frolicking around the woods or whatever it is that nymphs do. Sounds a lot like true love if you ask me.
I never really found out if Daphne ever accepted him or if she actually even spoke to Apollo. All I know was that one day, she did find out about her… affliction for lack of a better word, her inability to fall in love. She came to look for me and asked why Apollo would still do everything he does, even knowing that she would never do anything for him close to what he has done for her. Why would anyone be willing to give when there is no possibility of return? Only one reason I told her, and that is what she cannot feel, love.
Something like sorrow, like the loss of something you never had, and yet also like the feeling of being moved beyond words, crossed her face. In her form, she would most likely never be able to feel what Apollo feels for her, I confessed. After this, she merely thanked me and left. It wasn't until I heard Apollo's anguish cries later and saw that she had turned herself into the bay laurel that I understood. Perhaps it was mercy on her part to spare Apollo from giving any more than he already has, but I think and will always believe that despite all the odds, she did deep down fall in love with the god who was always there for her. So, the only way she could ever truly love him, was to give up her form, and as an eternal evergreen symbol, return his love and accompany him. Apollo fashioned his crown and his throne with the laurel for so they could eternally represent the triumph of love over reason.
And that is the true story of Apollo and Daphne.