DAPHNE

(Yunanca köken — orijinale bakınız.) In Grecian Mythology, 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 fl;ght. 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. 'Oxidi. Met. 1. x.) [s. 330]