Unrequited Love in Ovid’s “Apollo and Daphne” Dina Rabie College

“Daphne, the daughter of the river god / Peneus, was the first love of Apollo” (Ovid 1032). Thus begins Ovid’s recitation of the famous story of Apollo and Daphne in Book I of his 8 A.D. collection of stories, Metamorphoses, his most celebrated work. The publication of Metamorphoses solidifies Ovid’s position as a transformer of classic tales in the canon of world literature, as the text includes many familiar stories retold in a totally unfamiliar way. One such story is that of “Apollo and Daphne,” the god of truth and the water nymph. Ovid’s “Apollo and Daphne” embodies the idea of transformation in its every aspect, representing the overarching theme of Metamorphoses, but it also epitomizes a central theme of literature throughout all time: unrequited love. As a chase unfolds between the two characters, Apollo delivers a speech that reframes his characterization and reshapes the theme of the narrative from Daphne’s lucky escape to Apollo’s plight of unrequited love.

The story, based off of a known myth, presumably occurs soon after Apollo (“Phoebus”) slays the Python with his arrows and founds the Pythian Games. Later, he observes Cupid handling his bow and mockingly compares the functions of their respective weapons. Aiming...