The river god Peneus was father to the nymph Daphne, who appealed to him for help when Apollo pursued her. He transformed her into a laurel tree.
Apollo pursued the nymph Daphne, who prayed to her father Peneus for deliverance and was transformed into a laurel tree. Apollo made the laurel his sacred plant.
Daphne's transformation into the laurel tree established the plant as sacred to Apollo and central to his sanctuary at Delphi. Laurel wreaths crowned Pythian victors and the Pythia chewed laurel before delivering oracles.
Eros struck Daphne with a leaden arrow of aversion while shooting Apollo with gold, making the nymph the unwilling object of Apollo's pursuit until she transformed into a laurel tree.
Daphne called upon Gaia for rescue from Apollo's pursuit, and the earth goddess answered by absorbing the nymph into the ground and raising a laurel tree in her place.
⚠ Ovid (Metamorphoses I.546-567) attributes Daphne's transformation to her father Peneus rather than Gaia. Pausanias preserves the Arcadian tradition with Gaia.
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