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
Daphne at the Pythian Games. The name Daphne, in greek Δάφνη, means "laurel. While the story of Daphne is traditionally connected with the bay laurel ("Laurus nobilis"), almost 90 species of evergreen shrubs noted for their scented flowers and poisonous berries are grouped under the genus Daphne—including the garland flower ("Daphne cneorum"); the February Daphne or mezereon ("Daphne mezereum"); and spurge laurel or wood laurel ("Daphne laureola"). These genera are categorized in the family Thymelaeaceae and are native to Asia, Europe and North Africa Artemis Daphnaia, who had her temple among the Lacedemonians, at a place called Hypsoi in antiquity, on