Ancient Greek mythology is rich in curious characters. In addition to the gods and their offspring, legends describe the fate of mere mortals and those whose lives were connected with divine creatures.
Origin story
According to legend, Daphne is a mountain nymph, born in the union of the goddess of the earth Gaia and the river god Peneus. In Metamorphoses, he explains that Daphne was born to the nymph Creusa after a romantic relationship with Peneus.
This author held to the myth that he fell in love with a pretty girl after being pierced by an arrow from Eros. The beauty did not reciprocate, as the other end of the arrow made her indifferent to love. Hiding from the persecution of God, Daphne turned to her parent for help, who turned her into a laurel tree.
According to another writer, Pausanias, the daughter of Gaia and the god of the rivers Ladon, was transferred by her mother to the island of Crete, and a laurel appeared in the place where she was. Tormented by unrequited love, Apollo wove himself a wreath from the branches of a tree.
Greek mythology is famous for its variability of interpretations, so modern readers also know the third myth, according to which Apollo and Leucippus, the son of the ruler Enomai, were in love with the girl. The prince, dressed in a woman's dress, pursued the girl. Apollo bewitched him, and the young man went to bathe with the girls. For the deceit, the nymphs killed the prince.
Due to the fact that Daphne is associated with a plant, her independent destiny in mythology is limited. It is not known whether the girl subsequently became a human. In most references, she is associated with the attribute that accompanies Apollo everywhere. The origin of the name is rooted in the depths of history. From Hebrew, the meaning of the name was translated as "laurel".
The myth of Apollo and Daphne
The patron of the arts, music and poetry, Apollo was the son of the goddess Latona and. Jealous, the wife of the Thunderer did not give the woman the opportunity to find shelter. sent a dragon named Python after her, who chased Latona until she settled on Delos. It was a harsh uninhabited island that blossomed with the birth of Apollo and his sister. Plants appeared on the deserted shores and around the rocks, the island was lit up with sunlight.
Armed with a silver bow, the young man decided to take revenge on Python, who did not give his mother peace. He flew across the sky to the gloomy gorge where the dragon was located. A furious terrible beast was ready to devour Apollo, but the god hit him with arrows. The young man buried his rival and erected an oracle and a temple on the burial site. According to legend, today Delphi is located on this place.
Not far from the place of the battle, the prankster Eros flew by. The mischievous man played with golden arrows. One end of the arrow was adorned with a gold tip, and the other with lead. Boasting before the hooligan of his victory, Apollo invoked the wrath of Eros. The boy shot an arrow into the heart of God, whose golden tip evoked love. The second arrow with a stone tip hit the heart of the lovely nymph Daphne, depriving her of the ability to fall in love.
Seeing the beautiful girl, Apollo fell in love with her with all his heart. Daphne is on the run. God pursued her for a long time, but could not catch up. When Apollo came close, so that she began to feel his breath, Daphne prayed to her father for help. To save her daughter from torment, Peneus turned her body into a laurel tree, her hands into branches, and her hair into foliage.
Seeing what his love had led to, the inconsolable Apollo hugged the tree for a long time. He decided that a laurel wreath would always accompany him in memory of his beloved.
In culture
"Daphne and Apollo" is a myth that inspired artists of different centuries. He is one of the popular legends of the Hellenistic era. In ancient times, the plot was depicted in sculptures describing the moment of the transformation of a girl. There were mosaics that confirmed the popularity of the myth. Later painters and sculptors were guided by Ovid's exposition.
During the Renaissance, antiquity again received great attention. In the 15th century, the popular myth of a god and a nymph resonated in the paintings of the painters Pollaiolo, Bernini, Tiepolo, Brueghel and. Sculpture by Bernini in 1625 was placed in the cardinal residence of Borghese.
In literature, the images of Apollo and Daphne are repeatedly mentioned thanks to. In the 16th century, the works "Princess" by Sax and "D." authorship of Beccari, which are based on mythological motifs. In the 16th century, Rinuccini's play Daphne was set to music and, like the works of Opitz and, became an opera libretto. Inspired by the story of non-reciprocal love, musical works were written by Schutz, Scarlatti, Handel, Fuchs and.
Laurels of Apollo. - Daphne's transformation. - Despair of the nymph Clitia. - Lyre and flute. - Silenus Marsyas. - Marcia's punishment. - Ears of King Midas.
Apollo Laurels
Daphne's transformation
The laurels with which poets and winners are crowned owe their origin to the transformation of the nymph Daphne into a laurel tree. The following ancient Greek myth was formed about this.
Proud of the just won victory over Python, Apollo meets the son of Venus - Eros (Cupid, Cupid), pulling the string of his bow, and laughs at him and his arrows. Then Eros decides to take revenge on Apollo.
In the quiver of Eros are various arrows: some inspire love and passionate desire in the wounded by them, while others - disgust. The God of love knows that the lovely nymph Daphne lives in the neighboring forest; Eros also knows that Apollo must pass through this forest, and he wounds the mocker with an arrow of love, and Daphne with an arrow of disgust.
As soon as Apollo saw the beautiful nymph, he immediately burned with love for her and went up to her to tell Daphne about his victory, hoping in this way to win her heart. Seeing that Daphne did not listen to him, Apollo, wanting to seduce her at all costs, began to tell Daphne that he was the god of the sun, revered by all of Greece, the powerful son of Zeus, the healer and benefactor of the entire human race.
But the nymph Daphne, disgusted by him, quickly runs away from Apollo. Daphne makes her way through the thicket of forests, jumps over stones and rocks. Apollo follows Daphne, begging to listen to him. Finally, Daphne reaches the Penea River. Daphne asks the river god, her father, to deprive her of her beauty and thereby save her from the persecution of Apollo, who she hates.
The river god Peneus heeded her requests: Daphne begins to feel her limbs go numb, her body becomes covered with bark, her hair turns into leaves, her legs grow to the ground: Daphne has turned into a laurel tree. Apollo comes running and touches the tree and hears Daphne's heartbeat. From the branches of the laurel tree, Apollo weaves a wreath and decorates his golden lyre (cithara) with it.
In ancient Greek, the word Daphne(δάφνη) just means laurel.
In Herculaneum, several picturesque images of the transformation of Daphne have been preserved.
Of the latest artists, the sculptor Kustu carved two beautiful statues depicting Daphne running and Apollo pursuing her. Both of these statues are in the Tuileries Garden.
Of the painters, Rubens, Poussin and Carlo Maratte painted pictures on this subject.
Modern scholars of ancient myths believe that Daphne personified the dawn; therefore, the ancient Greeks, wishing to express that the dawn hides (extinguishes), as soon as the sun appears, poetically say: the beautiful Daphne runs away, as soon as Apollo wants to approach her.
Despair of the nymph Clytia
Apollo, in turn, rejected the love of the nymph Clytia.
The unfortunate Clytia, suffering from the indifference of Apollo, spent her days and nights in tears, taking no food but the dew of heaven.
Clitia's eyes were constantly fixed on the sun and followed it until sunset. Little by little, Clitia's legs turned into roots, and her face into a sunflower, which still continues to turn towards the sun.
Even in the form of a sunflower, the nymph Clytia does not cease to love the radiant Apollo.
Lyre (cithara) and flute
Lyra (kifara) is the constant companion of Apollo, the god of harmony and poetic inspiration, and, as such, he bears the name of Apollo Musagete (leader of the Muses) and is depicted by artists crowned with laurels in long Ionic clothes and with a lyre in his hands.
The lyre (kifara), just like the quiver and arrows, are the hallmarks of the god Apollo.
For the ancient Greeks, the lyre (kithara) was an instrument that personified national music, as opposed to the flute, which personified Phrygian music.
ancient greek word cithara(κιθάρα) lives in European languages in its descendant - the word guitar. Yes, and the musical instrument itself, the guitar, is nothing more than the ancient Greek cithara that has changed over the centuries - belonging to Apollo Musagete.
Silenus Marsyas
Marcia's Punishment
Phrygian strong (satyr) Marsyas found a flute that the goddess Athena threw, once seeing how her face was distorted when she played it.
Marsyas brought the art of playing the flute to a high level of perfection. Proud of his talent, Marsyas dared to challenge the god Apollo to a contest, and it was decided that the vanquished would be completely at the mercy of the winner. The Muses were chosen as the judges of this contest; they decided in favor of Apollo, who thus won the victory. Apollo tied the defeated Marsyas to a tree and tore off his skin.
The satyrs and nymphs shed so many tears for the unfortunate Phrygian musician that a river was formed from these tears, later named Marsyas.
Apollo ordered the skin of Marsyas to be hung in a cave in the city of Kelenah. Ancient Greek tradition tells that Marsyas's skin trembled as if with joy when the sounds of a flute were heard in the cave, and remained motionless when the lyre was played.
The execution of Marsyas was very often reproduced by artists. In the Louvre there is a beautiful antique statue depicting Marsyas tied by his outstretched arms to a tree; Under Marsyas' feet is the head of a goat.
The contest of Apollo with Marsyas also served as a plot for many paintings; of the newest paintings by Rubens are famous.
The rivalry between the West and the East manifested itself in ancient Greek myths in a wide variety of forms, but most often in the form of a musical competition. The myth of Marsyas ends very cruelly, which fully corresponds to the wild customs of primitive peoples. However, subsequent ancient poets do not seem to be amazed at the cruelty shown by the god of music.
Comic poets very often bring out the satire of Marsyas in their works. Marsyas is in them the type of presumptuous ignoramus.
The Romans gave this myth a completely different meaning: it was recognized as an allegory of implacable but just justice, and this is why the myth of Marsyas is so often reproduced on the monuments of Roman art. Statues of Marsyas were placed in all squares where judgments took place, and in all Roman colonies - in courthouses.
Ears of King Midas
A similar contest, but ending in a lighter and more ingenious punishment, took place between Apollo and the god Pan. All those present at it spoke in favor of the game of Apollo and recognized him as the winner, only Midas disputed this decision. Midas was the same king whom the gods had once punished for his exorbitant greed for gold.
Now, the angry Apollo turned Midas's ears into donkey's long ones for unsolicited criticism.
Midas carefully hid donkey ears under a Phrygian cap. Only the barber of Midas knew about this, and he was forbidden under pain of death to speak of it to anyone.
But this secret terribly burdened the soul of the talkative barber, he went to the river bank, dug a hole and said several times, bending over it: "King Midas has donkey ears." Then, having carefully dug the hole, he went home relieved. But reeds grew in that place, and they, swayed by the wind, whispered: “King Midas has donkey ears,” and this secret became known to the whole country.
The Madrid Museum houses a painting by Rubens depicting The Judgment of Midas.
ZAUMNIK.RU, Egor A. Polikarpov - scientific editing, scientific proofreading, design, selection of illustrations, additions, explanations, translations from Latin and ancient Greek; all rights reserved.
daphne, Greek ("laurel") - the daughter of the river god Peneus or Ladon, one of the most beautiful nymphs.
He fell in love with Daphne, but not because of beauty, but as a result of Eros' malicious joke. Apollo had the imprudence to laugh at the golden bow of the god of love, and Eros decided to demonstrate to him the effectiveness of his weapon. At Apollo, he shot an arrow that evokes love, and at Daphne, who happened to be nearby, he shot an arrow that kills love. Therefore, the love of the most beautiful of the gods did not find reciprocity. Pursued by God, Daphne began to beg her father to change her appearance, she was ready to die rather than become Apollo's lover. Daphne's wish came true: her body was covered with bark, her hands turned into branches, her hair into foliage. She turned into an evergreen laurel tree, while Apollo, in memory of his first love, began to wear a decoration in the form of a laurel wreath.
Apparently, the first poetic story about the tragic fate of Daphne belongs to Ovid (the first book of Metamorphoses). He inspired Bernini to create the famous sculptural group "Apollo and Daphne" (1622-1624), as well as Pollaiolo, Poussin, Veronese and many other artists - authors of paintings of the same name. Perhaps the very first of all operas, written by J. Peri to the text of the poet O. Rinuccini in 1592, was called Daphne. A number of further musical incarnations of this plot (Gagliano - 1608, Schutz - 1627, Handel - 1708) are closed by the opera "Daphne" by R. Strauss (1937).
As tradition testifies, the myth of Daphne existed long before Ovid (although, perhaps, in a slightly different version). At the place where, according to legend, Daphne turned into a tree, the temple of Apollo was built, which in 395 AD. e. was destroyed by order of Emperor Theodosius I, an opponent of paganism. Since pilgrims continued to visit the local laurel grove, in the 5th-6th centuries. n. e. a monastery was founded there with a temple of the Virgin Mary; the mosaic decorations of the temple, created in the 11th century, are one of the pinnacles of the "second golden age" of Byzantine art. This temple stands to this day in a green laurel grove ten kilometers west of Athens and is called "Daphni".
Many mythical characters of antiquity were reflected in works of art - paintings, sculptures, frescoes. Apollo and Daphne are no exception, they are depicted in many paintings, and the great sculptor Giovanni Lorenzo Bernini even created a sculpture that is known throughout the world. The story of a god unrequitedly in love is striking in its tragedy and remains relevant to this day.
Legend of Apollo and Daphne
Apollo was the god of art, music and poetry. According to legend, once he angered the young god Eros, for which he shot an arrow of love at him. And the second arrow - antipathy - was launched by Eros in the heart of the nymph Daphne, who was the daughter of the river god Peneus. And when Apollo saw Daphne, at first sight love for this young and beautiful girl ignited in him. He fell in love and could not take his eyes off her extraordinary beauty.
Struck in the heart by the arrow of Eros, Daphne felt fear at first sight and inflamed with hatred for Apollo. Not sharing his feelings, she rushed to run away. But the faster Daphne tried to escape from her pursuer, the more insistent was Apollo in love. At that moment, when he almost overtook his beloved, the girl pleaded, turning to her father and asking for help. The moment she screamed in despair, her legs began to stiffen, rooted to the ground, her hands turned into branches, and her hair became leaves of a laurel tree. Disappointed Apollo could not come to his senses for a long time, trying to accept the inevitable.
History embodied in art
Apollo and Daphne, whose history strikes with despair and tragedy, inspired many great artists, poets, sculptors throughout history. Artists tried to depict running on their canvases, sculptors tried to convey the power of love and awareness of their own impotence of the young god Apollo.
A well-known work that reliably reflects the tragedy of this story was the canvas of A. Pollaiolo, who in 1470 painted a picture with the same name “Apollo and Daphne”. Today, it hangs in the London National Gallery, drawing the eyes of visitors with the realism of the characters depicted. Relief is read on the girl's face, while Apollo is saddened and annoyed.
A prominent representative of the Rococo style, Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, even depicted in his painting “Apollo and Daphne” the girl’s father, who helps her avoid the pursuer. However, despair is read on his face, because the price of such deliverance is too high - his daughter will no longer be among the living.
But the most successful work of art based on the myth can be considered the sculpture of Giovanni Lorenzo Bernini "Apollo and Daphne". Its description and history deserve special attention.
Sculpture by Giovanni Bernini
The great Italian sculptor and architect is deservedly considered the genius of the Baroque, his sculptures live and breathe. One of the greatest achievements of G. Bernini, "Apollo and Daphne", is the early work of the sculptor, when he was still working under the auspices of Cardinal Borghese. He created it in 1622-1625.
Bernini managed to capture the moment of despair and the way Apollo and Daphne move. The sculpture fascinates with its realism, the runners are in unison. Only in a young man is a desire to take possession of a girl, and she seeks to slip out of his hands at any cost. The sculpture is made of Carrara marble, its height is 2.43 m. The talent and dedication of Giovanni Bernini allowed him to complete a masterpiece of art in a relatively short time. Today the sculpture is in the Borghese Gallery, in Rome.
The history of the sculpture
Like many other sculptures, the sculpture "Apollo and Daphne" by Giovanni Bernini was commissioned by the Italian Cardinal Borghese. The sculptor began working on it in 1622, but he had to stop for a more urgent assignment from the cardinal. Leaving the statue unfinished, Bernini set to work on David, and then returned to his interrupted work. The statue was completed 3 years later, in 1625.
To justify the presence of a sculpture with a pagan bias in the cardinal's collection, a couplet was invented to describe the moral of the depicted scene between the characters. Its meaning was that the one who runs after the ghostly beauty will be left with only branches and leaves in his hands. Today, a sculpture depicting the final scene of the brief relationship between Apollo and Daphne stands in the middle of one of the gallery's halls and is its thematic center.
Features of the created masterpiece
Many visitors to the Borghese Gallery in Rome note that the sculpture causes an ambiguous attitude towards itself. You can look at it many times, and each time find something new in the features of the depicted gods, in their frozen movement, in the general concept.
Depending on the mood, some see love and a willingness to give everything for the opportunity to have a beloved girl, others note what relief is depicted in the eyes of a young nymph when her body turns into a tree.
The perception of sculpture also changes depending on the angle from which it is viewed. No wonder it was placed in the center of the gallery hall. This gives each visitor the opportunity to find their own point of view and form their own vision of the great masterpiece.