February 14, 2008
Apollo and Daphne
By: Ovid from book 1 of the Metamorphoses[1]Now Daphne[2]—daughter of the river-god,
Peneus—was the first of Phoebus’ loves.[3]
This love was not the fruit of random chance:
what fostered it was Cupid’s cruel wrath.[4]
For now, while Phoebus still was taking pride 5
in his defeat of Python,[5] he caught sight
of Cupid as he bent his bow to tie
the string at the two ends. He said: “Lewd boy,
what are you doing with that heavy bow?[6]
My shoulders surely are more fit for it; 10
for I can strike wild beasts—I never miss.
I can fell enemies; j ust recently
I even hit—my shafts were infinite—
that swollen serpent, Python, sprawled across
whole acres with his pestilential paunch. 15
Be glad your torch can spark a bit of love:
don’t try to vie with me for praise and wreaths!”
And Venus’ son replied: “Your shafts may pierce
all things, o Phoebus, but you'll be transfixed
by mine; and even as all earthly things 20
can never equal any deity,
so shall your glory be no match for mine.”
That said, he hurried off; he beat his wings
until he reached Parnassus’ shady peak;
there, from his quiver, Cupid drew two shafts 25
of opposite effect: the first rejects,
the second kindles love. This last is golden,
its tip is sharp and glittering; the first
is blunt, its tip is leaden—and with this
blunt shaft the god pierced Daphne. With the tip 30
of gold he hit Apollo; and the arrow
pierced to the bones and marrow.[7]
And at once
the god of Delos is aflame with love;
but Daphne hates its very name; she wants
deep woods and spoils of animals she hunts; 35
it is Diana, Phoebus’ virgin sister,
whom she would emulate. Around her hair—
in disarray—she wears a simple band.[8]
Though many suitors seek her, she spurns all;
she wants to roam uncurbed; she needs no man; 40
she pays no heed to marriage, love, or husbands.
. . .
notes
- ↑ Ovid (1993) [8]. The Metamorphoses of Ovid. Translated by Mandelbaum, Allen. New York: A Harvest Book. pp. 20–25.
- ↑ Δάφνη, meaning “laurel” in Greek.
- ↑ Phoebus is Apollo, but Ovid’s use of this name aligns the god with the sun in particular, more so here, then, with its heat, rather than its light. Sometimes, Plato suggests, the light, or understanding, can follow the heat, or passion, in the ladder of love. Since Daphne is the “first of [his] loves,” the suggestion is that he is all desire. This suggestion, along with Cupid’s arrow (see below) will be unfortunate for Daphne.
- ↑ Eros is his Greek counterpart. Both of these gods are very Ovidian, in that their form of love is lust or desire—usually what Ovid means when he uses the word “love.”
- ↑ Beginning here with Python, the snake that Apollo had to kill in order to found his oracle at Delphi, notice the phallic imagery throughout this verse paragraph.
- ↑ The bow is associated traditionally with Apollo.
- ↑ It seems that these arrows are just more phallic images that weren’t really necessary, or they just amplified the desires already there in both.
- ↑ Daphne’s hair becomes a symbol of her uncurbed nature that Apollo wished to tame. AS is evident by the preceding lines, Daphne does not desire traditional roles, wishing instead to remain free.
