AMosquera reading on DAPHNE (WITHOUT APOLLO) RECONSIDERED

 Another reading I have chosen to write about is for my research for our thesis paper. In this article, it talks about how rape was something in the Renaissance era forward that was not considered strange, and in fact, men were encouraged to take what was theirs or what was owed to them. Daphne’s story is different when compared to Europe and Persephone, who could not escape their rape, instead in Daphne’s case, it was an attempted rape. Of course, the story focuses on the point of view of Apollo, so we the reader never get to experience her side of the story. The article points out how ignored Daphne was, as the story fails to mention how much pain she must have endured during her metamorphosis. They also make it seem like she flowers to his touch instead of fleeing away in horror. It does not suggest the humiliation and appropriation she felt becoming a tree from her unwanted suitor, being bound to one place, and leaving everything and everybody dear to her behind. It is horrible how the story is seen as Apollo’s misfortune, poor him who could not be with one he chose to love. Apollo overshadows Daphne. Even though he did not win the love of Daphne, he did achieve some measure of satisfaction, as he decided to make the laurel tree his, maintaining some aspect of his all-but-shattered ego. Many depictions show Daphne contributing to the glamorized sexual gaze of men, naked and sexualized. Unfortunately, I do not know how I can use this in my paper, however, I am glad I got to read this article, as I do agree that most of these ancient Roman stories do ignore the female's point of view, acting like it does not exist or is not as important as the male heroes.