Ovid's Metamorphoses

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To start, the first ancient example of Apollo and Daphne story appears in a literary text written by an author named Ovid in the year 8 A.D. The book as a whole is called Metamorphoses and within it contains the myth of the young sun god Apollo and the virgin nymph Daphne. The passage begins with the hubris of Apollo after he defeated Python. When he stumbles upon Cupid, the sun god starts to boast and mock the love god, saying that he is the better archer and that Cupid shouldn’t being playing with a “man’s” weapon. Cupid, in response to this, decides to take revenge by shooting Apollo with a golden arrow which will make him fall deeply in love and then also shoot a follower of Diana named Daphne with a lead arrow to make her reject love. …show more content…

mosaic located in the House of Dionysus in Paphos, Cyprus. Based off of its date, this mosaic is one of the oldest known visual works to depict this myth. The creator is unfortunately unknown, but was certainly influenced by this myth from Ovid’s text. The artwork itself, titled The River God Peneus, Daphne, and Apollo, is made out of thousands of tiny pieces called tesserae. Illustrated is the part where Apollo catches up to Daphne who has just gotten to her father Peneus in hopes of seeking protection from the sun god. Her wish is granted by her father indicated by the branches that are starting to transform her. The viewer can conclude that the young man on the right is Apollo for he is carrying a bow, signifying his archery skills. Lastly, the older man on the ground conclusively is Daphne’s father Peneus. To prove that he is the river god, he is depicted with various plants and a cornucopia which is a symbol abundance due to fertile soil from local water …show more content…

The statue, Apollo and Daphne, was constructed during the Baroque period as is evident through the movement and the intense emotions of the figures. Bernini shapes the medium, which in this case is marble, to depict the exact moment of when Daphne starts to transform into the bay laurel tree. To elaborate, the bark growing out of the ground begins to wrap around her legs and up to her waist where Apollo just barely rests his hand in an attempt to grab her. In addition, her toes and fingers start to stretch and sprout the roots and branches of the tree. Continuing on, having a sense of movement was typical of Baroque artwork as can be seen in this piece by Bernini. Apollo and Daphne are set in motion with both of them only resting on one leg, mimicking the action of running. Also, her hair flows in a sweeping arc along with the drapery wrapped around her and Apollo to additionally show movement in this sculpture. The story’s vigorous chase along with the use of movement in art at the time is a probable reason as to why Bernini chose to sculpt this myth. Zooming in, vivid facial expressions among the figures are apparent to help explain the story of Apollo and Daphne even further. For the female character, her face contains a mixture of horror, for she knows she’s about to be captured, and surprise, since she all of a sudden starts to

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