As in so many of Greek myths, Daphne’s is the story of a woman victimised by a man and ultimately punished by the patriarchy. Essentially poor Daphne was used by Eros to curse Apollo, one of Cupid’s arrows having created his obsessive infatuation with the naiad Daphne. An arrow fired at her ensured that she would always flee Apollo. Therefore, poor Daphne was basically stalked by Apollo, which effectively means she was being punished for no reason. In order to escape Apollo’s sexual violence, Daphne pleaded with her father, a river god, and his solution was to transform her into a laurel tree. Daphne, treated like an object by these male gods, was therefore rendered completely and utterly passive – so much so, in fact, the Apollo ended up possessing the laurel as his special tree. Ugh.
Anyway, still plodding on through the green section of my Rainbow Art Journal, I decided to illustrate Daphne’s tragic story. I wanted to communicate something of the violence of her situation and of her transformation while also suggesting something of the fact she was forced to become even more passive.
A Pict in PA 
There is a certain violence to this picture. Poor Daphne. And a victim in all kinds of ways. This story makes me angry.
One of my kids is really into Greek Mythology which means I now know it quite a lot of detail. A lot of it is enraging and, of course, there’s a great deal of rampant misogyny and violence against women.
As was so much of the ancient world. Human attitudes really have changed (over millennia, so maybe that is not so good, but it’s something…)
You never cease to amaze me.
Thank you! That’s such a lovely comment. 😊