The words Phoebus uses to describe his beloved Daphne also added to the idea of more love than rape. Contrasting to the story of Io and Juno, where no instances of the word “love” can be found; Phoebus uses the noun and verb versions of love multiple times throughout his speeches. Some examples included: “the first of Phoebus’ loves,” (Book I, 20) and “it is love for which I seek you now” (Book I, 23). This is no possible rape; it is a victimized melancholic lover pursuing what he can never achieve.
Like the standard form used in a tale of unrequited love, Daphne and Phoebus’ tale begins with “love at first sight” followed by a personal speech of the other’s heightened characteristics. The minute that Phoebus saw Daphne, he was “lovestruck” (Book I, 22). Immediately the god began to praise Daphne’s wondrous features:
…He looks at Daphne’s hair
as, unadorned, it hangs down her fair neck,
and says: "Just think, if she should comb her locks!”
He sees her lips and never tires of them;
her finders, hands, and wrists are unsurpassed;
her arms—more than half-bare—cannot be matched;
whatever he can’t see he can imagine;
he conjures then more inviting. (Book I, 22)
Anything and everything about Daphne is perfect, she can do no wrong in the eyes of Phoebus. He claims that anything she executes will only enhance her loveliness. Phoebus uses numerous and excessive compliments to describe his beloved. Daphne’s hair already fascinates Phoebus, but envisioning is up would basically take his breath away. Ovid illustrates a god who is genuinely in love. Using Phoebus’ standards, every part of Daphne merits praise. Not only does he lavish praise on the parts that he can see, he even lets his imagination go wild. He fantasizes that the parts that he cannot see must be even better than the parts that he can see. Although this seems more lustful than loveable, the beloved has to be beautiful. If men and women in modern times need to be attracted to each other in order to feel love, why must it be different for the people in the past? With true love, the lover sincerely believes that the beloved is beautiful, but to the lustful, the opposite sex can only be seen as an object of pleasure. Undeniably, when Juno saw Io for the first time, he never commented on her beauty, he only said “O virgin, you indeed would merit Jove and make any man you wed—whoever he may be—most glad” (Book I, 26). Unlike Phoebus, Juno only lusts after Io and uses her for self-pleasure.
Another trait that sets Phoebus apart from the protagonists in love stories is his loss of rational control, a universal attribute associated with people in love. During Daphne’s flight, Phoebus cries:
I fear you’ll stumble, fall, be scratched by brambles
And harm your faultless legs—and I’m to blame.
You’re crossing trackless places. Slow your pace;
I pray you, stay your flight. I’ll slow down, too. (Book I, 23)
Phoebus pleads with the focus of his affection and insensibly bargains with Daphne in hopes that she will surrender. He believes that she will slow down if he also slows down. Phoebus is so overtaken by eros that reason fails him, he willing uses all manners of speech, whether rational or irrational, to try and convince Daphne to relent. He still does not understand that she is running away from him because she does not love him.
Another aspect that sets Phoebus and Daphne’s story apart from the others is due to the fact that the female actually has a voice and some freedom of choice. Although it is true that Cupid caused Daphne to hate Phoebus, she was the one who made the choice to remain a virgin:
Though many suitors seek her, she spurns all;
she wants to roman uncurbed; she needs no man;
she pays no heed to marriage, love, or husbands…
Allow me to enjoy
Perpetual virginity… (Book I, 22)
Not only does Daphne voice her claim to remain a virgin, she supports her claim with a divine example: Phoebus’ own sister, Diana. Since Daphne made the decision to say “no,” she is not totally without blame for her metamorphosis. Despite the fact that she is dehumanized when she is transformed into a laurel tree, it was still her decision.
Finally, this tale can be interpreted as an example of love conquering all. Cupid defeats Phoebus by taking away his powers of shooting, prophecy, and medical healing. Using Phoebus’ favorite choice of weapon, the arrow, Cupid showed the superiority of an arrow of love over an arrow of violence. The oracles tell Phoebus that he has no future, but he still hopes that he read the oracle incorrectly (Book I, 22). Cupid defeats Phoebus even further by making him doubt his own power of seeing the future, a power that has never been wrong.
In conclusion, although Daphne and Phoebus’ tale appears like the rest of the rape/lust narratives, upon closer examination it is actually quite different. Here the male protagonist actually loves instead of just lusts after the female virgin. Unlike the other stories, where either the male or the female is in control, here an outside force overrules. Neither Daphne or Phoebus dominate over the other, instead they are dominated by the power of love. As a result, Ovid’s first account of love illustrates that love is not just a complex, and invincible force; it is also an impartial employer, affecting both men and women.
Work Cited
Ovid. The Metamorphoses of Ovid. Trans. Allen Mandelbaum. New York: A Harvest
Book, 1993. 3-34.
