Apollo Chasing Daphne by Carlo Maratti,1681
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Daphne was a beautiful Nymph who loved to hunt . She was created by the titaness Gaea(the Mother Earth in Ancient Greece) and the god of the Rivers, Peneus.
Daphne was Greek god Apollo's first love. When Apollo saw Daphne for the first time, he got struck by the arrows of Cupid and madly fell in love with her. However, Daphne hadn’t been struck by the same arrows, so she was rather indifferent to Apollo and tried to flee. As Apollo didn’t want to give up, he set up in pursuit of her, until finally he caught her and folded her in his arms.
Full of despair, Daphne prayed to her mother Gaea for her aid to make her disappear. Gaea followed her wish and, all at once, Daphne exterminated off the face of the earth.
On the spot Daphne was seen for the last time, a fragrant plant, the sacred laurel tree, grew in Daphne’s honor. From then on, the laurel tree became the symbol of Apollo and he was often depicted adorned with laurel leaves on his golden hair.
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German Version