I f Eros had laid off the tricks and Peneus I had stopped with the meddling, then perhaps Apollo would have wooed Daphne in his own good time. Instead, the fair nymph was turned into a laurel tree before Apollo could make his move. As you might expect, Apollo was gutted, but it was the god's own fault. He mocked a young Eros for attempting to wield the bow and arrow. Outraged, Eros took out two arrows - one tipped with gold that induced love and lust, the other tipped with lead, which created an abhorrence for love. Apollo was pinged with the gold-tipped arrow and Daphne the lead. Thus the pair were doomed. Apollo pursued Daphne with great fervour, only to be rejected time and again. In an act of desperation, Daphne called on her father, the river god Peneus, to help her escape, and he turned her into a laurel tree (aka bay tree or bay laurel, Laurus nobilis).
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