Apollo fell in love with Daphne and followed her. But as soon as Daphne saw him, she fled from there.
Apollo pleaded with her to stop. But Daphne did not heed to him and kept running.
Finally Daphne realized that she could not outrun Apollo and she prayed to her father. “Father, open the earth and enclose me in it. Or at least change my form so that I will not have to face this kind of danger anymore.”
Even as Daphne had spoken, she changed. Her skin became like the bark of a tree and her limbs became stiff. Her hair became leaves and her arms became branches.
Daphne turned into a tree with her feet rooted into the ground.
Apollo looked at the tree and was stunned.
“You cannot be my wife anymore. But you will always be known as my tree. Your leaves shall always be green and will not decay. I will wear your leaves as my crown.”
This was the laurel and is called ‘daphne’ in Greek.
After that day, the laurel was always considered as the symbol of Apollo.
Adapted from Greek Mythology
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