#004799 Daphne Tree, available—
This is my first drawing inspired by the Apollo & Daphne myth, the origin story for bay leaves—
I first came across this myth standing in front of this statue, where you can see her fingertips are turning into branches and leaves. The story goes Daphne, unable to escape Apollo, gets turned into a Laurel Tree—
Allegedly cupid shot Apollo with the love arrow & shot Daphne with the disgust arrow and laughed as he pursued and she fled. Realizing that there is nowhere on earth that is safe for her, her father turns her into a Laurel Tree —
This myth is attributed to why Romans wore laurels of bay leaf layrels into battle, still a symbol today at academic, medical, & governmental institutions—
This is as close to an original translation as I could find—
There are some fairly comical depictions of this myth—
Have you ever noticed that every recipe only calls for one bay leaf? —