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
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