Symbolism in Apollo and Daphne Myth Essay Sample

In the myth, “Apollo and Daphne”, Apollo forces Cupid to give him his arrows as he’s worthier of them, and as revenge, Cupid gives him an arrow of love & an arrow to repel love. Apollo hits Daphne with the arrow of repelling & hits himself with the arrow of love, which causes him to desire Daphne as his own due to her beauty. Daphne wants to be free from him & get out of his grasp, which leads to a race where Apollo had the final win. At the end, when Daphne asks the river god for help, she turns into a laurel tree & becomes Apollos’. A significant symbol found in “Apollo and Daphne” is that Apollo’s feelings to catch Daphne in the race symbolize the passion & longing that he felt for Daphne’s love. This contributes to the theme of how far passionate men would go just for a woman to fall in love with him. 

The symbolic element that comes from the story of Apollo & Daphne,  Apollo’s strong feelings to have Daphne as his own is a symbol of the longing that he felt for her love. After Apollo saw Daphne’s beauty, he wanted to have her as his own wife. So, he tried as much as he could to persuade her, but Daphne wanted to be left alone by herself without Apollo’s love.“The god grew impatient to find his wooings thrown away, and, sped by Cupid, gained upon her in the race. '' Apollo was annoyed & mad that Daphne rejected his offer of love. His passion drove him in the race and began to catch up with her quickly. The tone found in this quote is impatient because he decided that instead of taking so much time to convince Daphne that he’s worthy of her love, Apollo would then have to force her to love him. He was so impatient & fell in love with Daphne because Cupid’s arrow of love hit him. Daphne’s characterized as a woman who doesn’t want Apollo’s love and wants to be free of him. The mood of this quote is hurtful because since Apollo wants Daphne so badly to be his, he’s reaching far lengths just to get one little thing he wants which he shouldn’t have done. He should have respected Daphne’s choice & looked for another woman, who wants his love. However, instead, he decided that he would race Daphne & make sure that in the end, Daphne would only be his wife. Apollo believed that beauty was the only thing he wanted in a wife, and thought that Daphne was the perfect one for his love. Although, Daphne had no desire for any man in her life & wanted to live freely amongst the world, which was why Daphne ran from Apollo as quickly as possible, causing a race. 

In conclusion, the story of Apollo & Daphne have many significant symbols, but Apollo's passion to have Daphne as his wife is a significant symbol for the longing he felt for Daphne’s love. Many men would go far & beyond just to get a woman to love them back as Apollo did for Daphne because of Cupid’s love arrow. The arrow made him believe that the only thing he needed was the perfect woman, who was Daphne. It made him recognize her beauty & how badly he wants her to be his. Apollo was willing to run after her due to his impatience from her rejections.