Daphne curse made by the god Cupid, son of Venus, on the god Apollo (Phoebus), she became the unwilling object of the infatuation of Apollo, who chased her against his wish. Just before being overtaken by him, Daphne pleaded to her rivergod father for help, who transformed her into a laurel tree, thus foiling Apollo. Thenceforth Apollo developed a special reverence for laurel. At the Pythian Games which were held every four years in Delphi in honour of Apollo, a wreath of laurel gathered from the Vale of Tempe in Thessaly was given as a prize. Hence it later became customary
The Wood Nymph the verses", has echoed Tawaststjerna in wondering what might have been had Sibelius returned in his maturity to "The Wood Nymph", as with "". Finnish composer Kalevi Aho's response has been similar, calling the ballade "an interesting work" in need of "more polishing". Finnish conductor Osmo Vänskä, however, has championed the ballad. "It's a tremendous piece," Vänskä has said in interview. "He [Sibelius] never managed to revise it, but nothing is wrong with the music. Sibelius never forbade performance of "The Wood Nymph"." Stylistically, scholars have detected in "The Wood Nymph" the influence of Richard Wagner. Murtomäki, for example, discerns