The Greek Myth as retold by Marie Pope Osborne from her book "Favorite Greek Myth"

one day, when Apollo,

the god of light and truth, was a young man

he came upon Cupid, the God of Love, playing with one of his bows.

"What are you doing with my bow ?"

Apollo asked angrily.

"Don't try to steal my glory, Cupid."

"I've slain a great serpent with that weapon"

"play with your own little bow and arrows"

"Your arrow may slice serpents Apollo", said the God of Love

"but my arrows can do worse harm"

"even you could be wounded by them"

with that ominous threat

Cupid flew into the sky and landed on top of the high mountain

then he pulled two arrows from his quiver

one had a blunt tip filled with lead

whom ever was hit with this arrow would run from anyone professing love

the second arrow was a sharp tip and made of gold

whoever was hit with this arrow would instantly fall in love

Cupid aimed his first arrow at Daphne, a beautiful nymph, hunting deep in the woods

Daphne was a follower of Diana

Apollo's twin sister and a Goddess of wild things

like Diana, Daphne loved her freedom

as she roamed in the woods and fields

with her hair in wild-disarrayed and her limbs bare to the sun and rain

Cupid pulled the bowstring back and shot the blunt-tipped arrow at Daphne

when the arrow flew through the air, it became invisible

and when it pierced Daphne's heart

she felt a sharp pain but knew not why

holding her hands over her wound

Daphne rushed to the river god, her father

"father", she shouted

"you must make me a promise"

"what is it?" called the Gods who stood in the river surrounded by water nymphs

"promise I will never have to get married", Daphne cried

but the river God confused by his daughter's frantic request

called back "but I wish to have a grandchildren"

"No, father, no. I never want to get married."

"Please let me always be as free as Diana"

"But I want you to marry", cried the God

"No", screamed Daphne

she beat the water with her fists

then rocked back and forth and sobbed

"Alright", shouted the river God

"Do not grieve so, Daphne"

"I promise I'll never make you marry"

"And proimise you'll help me excape my suitors" cried the huntress

"I promise I will", cried the river God

after Daphne secured this promise from her father

Cupid aimed his second arrow

the sharp gold-tipped one at Apollo, who was wandering in the woods

just as the young guy came upon Daphne

Cupid pulled back the tight string of his bow

and shot the golden narrow into Apollo's heart

the God instantly fell in love with Daphne

even though the huntress's hair was wild

she wore only rough animal skins

Apollo thought that she was the most beautiful girl he'd ever seen

"Hello", he cried

but Daphne gave him a startled look

then bolted into the woods like a deer

Apollo ran after her, shouting "stay, stay"

but Daphne fled as fast as the wind

"Don't run, please", cried Apollo

"You flee like a dog, flees an eagle"

"but I'm not your enemy, don't run from me"

Daphne continued to run

"Stop", Apollo cried

Daphne did not slow down

"Do you know who I am?" said the God

"I am not a farm-boy or a shepherd

"I am Lord of Delphi, son of Jupiter"

"I've slain a great serpent with my arrow"

"but alas, I felt Cupid's weapon has wounded me worse"

Daphne continued to run

her bare limbs lit by the sun and her soft hair wild in the wind

Apollo grew tired of begging her to stop

so he began to pick up speed on the wings of love

running more swiftly than he'd ever run before

the God of light and truth gave the girl no rest

until soon, he was close upon her

her strenth gone. Daphne could feel Apollo's breath on her hair

"Help me, father", she cried to the river God."Help me"

No sooner had she spoken these words

then her arms and legs grew heavy and turned to wood

then her hair became leaves, and her feet became roots, growing deep into the ground

she had become a laurel tree and nothing was left in her

but her exquisite loveliness

Apollo embraced the tree's branches as if they were Daphne's arms

he kissed her wooden flesh

and he pressed his hand against the tree's trunk and wept

"I feel your heart beating beneath this bark", Apollo said

tears running down his face

"Since you can't be my wife, you'll be my sacred tree"

"I'll use your wood for my harp and for my arrows"

"I'll weave your branches into a wreath for my head"

"heroes and scholars will be crowned with your leaves"

"You'll always be young and green, my first love, Daphne"

Now, let's look some of the literary element of the the Myth

We will discuss the elements of the plot, characterization, and language

First, let's discuss the elements of the plot

This is the shape of a typical plot line

it is made of three major parts

The first is the rising action

the rising action is the series of events,leading up to the high part of the story

which is called the climax

the climax is the point of highest tension and is often the turning point of story

the last part is the following action

which deals with the affects of the climax

and the impact it has on the characters

let's relate these ideas to the plot of Apollo's tree

a few events in the rising action are Apollo and Cupid argue

Dephne's father promises to protect her from suitors

and Apollo falls in love with Daphne

the climax is when Daphne turns into a laurel tree

in the following action, Apollo promises to use the tree for building arrows

and that heroes and scholars will wear laurel wreaths

let's talk about characterization

there are two basic roles in every fictional story

the first is the protagonist

this usually is the main character of the story

the second is the antagonised

who opposes the protagonist and usually starts conflict

In Apollo's tree, our protagonist is Apollo.

our antagonist, was looking for trouble, is Cupid.

now, we'll discuss the language of Apollo's tree

we'll focus on one element of language, which is called a simile.

a simile, is a figure of speech which compares two unlike things using the words "like" or "as"

can you remember an example of a simile from the myth

here's one

you flee like a dove flees an eagle

this quote, spoken by Apollo, compares Daphne to a dove and himself to an eagle

we've discussed the elements of the plot

characterization and the language of the Greek myth "Apollo's Tree"

I hope you learned a lot and enjoyed "Apollo's Tree"