Chastity Vs. Lust
The myth of Apollo and Daphne has been examined as a battle between chastity (Daphne) and sexual desires (Apollo). As Apollo lustfully pursues Daphne, she is saved through her metamorphosis and confinement into the laurel tree which can be seen as an act of eternal chastity. Daphne is forced to sacrifice her body and become the laurel tree as her only form of escape from the pressures of Apollo’s constant sexual desires. Apollo takes Daphne’s eternal chastity and crafts himself a wreath out of her laurel branches turning her symbol of chastity into a cultural symbol for him and other poets and musicians.
Read more about this topic: Apollo And Daphne
Famous quotes containing the words chastity and/or lust:
“A woman’s chastity consists, like an onion, of a series of coats.”
—Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804–1864)
“When I heard the Earth-song,
I was no longer brave;
My avarice cooled
Like lust in the chill of the grave.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)