Daphne in the ancient sources

Ancient Sources / Figures / Daphne

9 passages from 4 ancient authors that tell of Daphne, in the original with English translation, author by author in the order the Greeks read them. Daphne was a Naiad nymph in Greek mythology; naiads were minor goddesses associated with fountains, wells, springs, and other types of freshwater bodi... For the story in one place, read our article on Daphne.

Ovid (2)

Ovid, Metamorphoses 1.452–567Apollo and DaphneApollo ('Phoebus' in More's translation), proud of his victory over the Python, mocks Eros (Cupid) and his little bow, and Eros shoots him with a golden arrow that makes him love, and the nymph Daphne with a leaden arrow that makes her flee from love. Apollo chases her, pleading, and as he catches her she prays to her father, the river Peneus, and begins to change into a laurel. Apollo embraces the tree and says that it shall always be his, and that its leaves shall crown victors and stand at the gates of Augustus' house.
Ovid, Metamorphoses 1.568–688Io and ArgusThe river gods come to console Peneus for the loss of Daphne, except Inachus, who is mourning his daughter Io. Zeus (Jupiter, 'Jove' in More's translation) takes Io under a cloud, and when Hera (Juno) comes down to look he turns Io into a white heifer. Hera asks for the heifer as a gift and sets the hundred-eyed Argus to watch her, and Io writes her name in the dust with her hoof to tell her father Inachus who she is. Zeus sends Hermes (Mercury), disguised as a shepherd, who plays on his pipe and begins to tell the story of Syrinx.

Pausanias (1)

Pausanias, Description of Greece 8.19.1–8.20.4Cynaethae and the Ladon: the Dionysus bull rite, the spring Alyssus and DaphnePausanias describes the Arcadian people of Cynaethae, with their winter festival of Dionysus, at which men grease their bodies and carry a chosen bull to the sanctuary, and the spring Alyssus that heals those bitten by mad dogs. He then follows the road from Pheneus to Clitor, beside the channel of Hercules, to the springs of the Ladon. He recounts the Arcadian and Elean story of Daphne, in which Leucippus disguised himself as a girl to win her, and was discovered and killed by her and her companions at the Ladon.

Nonnus of Panopolis (5)

Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 15.207–311Book 15: Hymnos falls in love with NicaiaThe oxherd Hymnos falls in love with Nicaia and follows her about the hills, envying her bow and her nets. He steals her gear and begs her for her love, and she mocks him.
Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 2.0–108Book 2: Typhon rages through the land; the Hamadryads' fearWhile Cadmos goes on piping, Zeus slips back to the cave and arms himself again under cover of a cloud. Typhoeus finds the cave empty and rages through Cilicia, devouring beasts and drinking rivers dry. Shepherds and ploughmen flee, the gods lament their lost plants, and two Hamadryads leap from their trees.
Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 33.195–279Book 33: Morrheus lovesick; the Indian camp by nightMorrheus, struck by love, follows Chalcomede about while she deceives him with a pretence of favour. That night he laments his state, renouncing war and wishing to become a Lydian servant of Dionysos, while the Indian city sleeps.
Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 40.96–194Book 40: The women of Deriades' house lamentWith the long Indian war ended, the gods return to Olympos while the Bacchants cheer around Dionysos. Deriades' wife Orsiboe and his daughters Cheirobie and Protonoe mourn him on the battlements, tearing their hair and clothes. Protonoe bitterly reproaches the traitor Morrheus, who is bound for Lydia as a servant of Dionysos because of Chalcomede.
Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 48.182–327Book 48: Dionysos kills Sithon and weds Pallene; the huntress AuraDionysos kills Sithon with his thyrsus and gives the weapon to Pallene as a love-gift. The Nereids and the sea-gods sing at the wedding, and Dionysos consoles the bride. The poet then introduces Aura, daughter of the Titan Lelantos, a manlike huntress who knows nothing of love, and who drives Artemis's car to the river Sangarios on a hot noon.

Parthenius of Nicaea (1)

Parthenius of Nicaea, Love Romances 14.1–15.5Cleoboea and Antheus; Daphne, Leucippus and ApolloCleoboea, wife of Phobius of Miletus, falls in love with the young hostage Antheus; when he refuses her she has him go down a well after a partridge, pushes a stone on him, and hangs herself, and Alexander Aetolus tells the tale in verse. Daphne, a huntress dear to Artemis, is loved by Leucippus, who joins her hunt dressed as a girl. Apollo, who also loves her, has the maidens expose him and they kill him with their spears, and as Apollo pursues her she prays to Zeus and becomes the bay-tree.