Paradise of Daphne

Built in Antioch, the 'Paradise of Daphne' was a series of pleasure gardens and parks. In a dry, desert country, any garden would be a welcome place to relax. Never ones to be backward in publically condemning the vice and immorality of others, the Romans saw the place as a sink of depravity and debauchery. It was just the sort of place Romans would never be interested in, not even a little bit. Oddly, given the Roman attitude, Daphne was not a wanton or lewd figure in myth, rather the reverse. The story of Daphne and Apollo is not a particularly happy one. The god Apollo, who liked to think of himself as something of an archer, offended Eros, who then took two of his arrows and shot them at Apollo. The gold-tipped arrow caused almost-insatiable lust in whoever it struck, in this case Apollo. The lead-tipped arrow caused a horror of all acts of love or intimacy, and this struck Daphne. Apollo pursued Daphne to slake his appetites, while the poor nymph did her best to get away. As she wearied of the chase, Daphne appealed to the river gods for help. Her father transformed her into a laurel tree; Apollo, still desperately in lust, claimed the laurel as his special tree, so accounting for the use of laurel leaves in the worship of Apollo.