DAPHNE

(Yunanca köken — orijinale bakınız.) In Grecian Mji;hology, a nymph of Diana, the daughter of the river god Peneus. She was beloved by Apollo; but, she resisted all his attempts to excite in her a mutual' attachment, and at last betook herself to flight. On being hotly pursued by the god, she invoked the earth to swallow her up, when her prayer was granted, and she was immediately changed into a laurel tree, which was ever after sacred to Apollo, and regarded as the symbol of fame and glory. {Ovidi. Met. 1. X.) [s. 327]