Apollo and Daphne is transformed into a laurel tree. The myth of Apollo and Daphne has been examined as a battle between chastity (Daphne) and sexual desire (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 crafts himself a wreath out of her laurel branches and turning her symbol of chastity into a cultural symbol for him
Acanthis (mythology) Acanthis (mythology) In Greek mythology, Acanthis (Ancient Greek: Ἀκανθίς, "thornette") or Acanthyllis (Ancient Greek: Ἀκανθυλλίς) was the daughter of Hippodamia and Autonous and sister to Anthus, Erodius, Schoeneus and Acanthus. When their father's horses attacked Anthus out of hunger and ate him, Zeus and Apollo, out of pity for the grieving family, transformed them into birds. Acanthis thus became a thistle finch. In Antoninus Liberalis, "Metamorphoses", 7 recounts the whole story of Acanthis and her family's unfortunate fate:Autonous, son of Melaneus and Hippodamia, had as sons Erodius, Anthus, Schoeneus and Acanthus, with a daughter Acanthis to whom the gods granted