Apollo and Daphne the forest. Due to her identity as an “aemula Phoebes” (female rival or emulator of Artemis), she had dedicated herself to perpetual virginity. Her father, the river god Peneus, demanded that she get married and give him grandchildren. She, however, begged her father to let her remain unmarried; he eventually complied. Apollo continually followed her, begging her to stay, but the nymph continued to reject him. They were evenly matched in the race until Eros intervened, helping Apollo catch up to Daphne. Seeing that Apollo was bound to reach her, she called upon her father, "Help me, Peneus! Open the
Nymph at the peak of sexual attractiveness, contrasting with "parthenos" () "a virgin (of any age)", and generic "kore" ( < ) "maiden, girl". The term is used by (human) women to address each other, so Iris addressing Helen, or Eurycleia addressing Penelope as "dear "nymph"" ("Il." 3.130, "Od." 4.743). Reduced to , the word remains the regular Modern Greek term for "bride". In Katharevousa, it is still , as in the refrain of the Marian hymn "Agni Parthene" (c. 1880), "hail, unwedded bride". The Doric and Aeolic (Homeric) form is . The "Iliad" (6.420) refers to "mountain nymphs, maidens of