La Dafne prominent figure throughout the composition, at times adding to the action of the story and at other times, providing reflective commentary. The prologue is delivered by the poet Ovid as he sings the text: When the opera proper begins, the god Apollo slays the Python, a monster which has been terrifying the Greek island of Delos. Cupid and Venus are unimpressed by Apollo’s boasting and about his conquest and his feelings of being invincible. Because of this, they plot revenge on Apollo. Cupid shoots two arrows, the first of which makes Apollo fall in love with the nymph Daphne, daughter
Daphnis Daphnis In Greek mythology, Daphnis (; , from , "daphne", "Bay Laurel") was a Sicilian shepherd who was said to be the inventor of pastoral poetry. According to tradition, he was the son of Hermes and a nymph, despite which Daphnis himself was mortal. Daphnis is also described and shown as an eromenos. His mother was said to have exposed him under a laurel tree, where he was found by shepherds and named after the tree under which he was found. He was also sometimes said to be Hermes' favourite or beloved rather than his son. A naiad (possibly Echenais