Once the god of light - the irresistible Apollo - quarreled with the young god of love and Aphrodite's inseparable companion Eros. Apollo showed his disdain for the arrows of Eros and emphasized his superiority over him, believing that only his arrows could truly hit the enemy.
Offended, Eros replied to Apollo that his arrow is capable of hitting anyone, even Apollo himself, and as proof of this, he soared to the high mountain Parnassus. He took out an arrow of love and fired it into the heart of Apollo, then he took out a second arrow - love that kills, and pierced the heart of the beautiful nymph Daphne - the daughter of the river god Peneus.
After some time, Apollo met Daphne and immediately fell in love with her, because the arrow of love fired from the bow of Eros hit his heart. Daphne, as she saw Apollo, rushed to run away from him, injuring her legs on the sharp thorns of the blackthorn, because the arrow that kills love hit right on target - in her heart.
Apollo was bewildered by the fact that Daphne began to run away from him. He ran after her and asked to stop, appealing to the fact that he was not a mere mortal. But Daphne ran and, exhausted, begged her father for help. She asked him that her father turn her into something else, so as not to suffer from hisreal shape. Immediately Daphne froze with her hands raised up, her body was covered with bark, her raised hands turned into branches, and her hair turned into leaves, and Apollo saw a laurel tree in front of him.
Standing in front of him, the wounded Apollo cast a spell on him. He wished that the bay leaves would remain evergreen and adorn his head. According to legend, this is how the laurel tree appeared, and the laurel wreath became a symbol of the winner and glory.
Among ancient peoples, laurel was of great importance. The Romans and Greeks believed that the laurel wreath could protect against disease and lightning strikes. He served as a symbol of purification and could cleanse the soul of the killer. According to legend, it was the laurel wreath that helped Apollo remove sin from his soul after killing Python, the dragon that guarded the entrance to the soothsaying temple of Apollo.
In ancient Greece, laurel wreaths served as a reward for the winners of the Olympic Games. And the Romans awarded them to their soldiers who defeated their enemies. So, at all official ceremonies, Julius Caesar was present with a laurel wreath on his head. Many kings minted their own image on the coins of their country, where their head was decorated with a laurel wreath. By doing so, they indicated their superiority over everyone else.
As a symbol of immortality, the laurel grove covers Mount Parnassus, where, according to legend, the Muses, the daughter of the god Zeus and the goddess Harmony, found their refuge. The laurel wreath served as an inspiration in poetry, painting or fine arts, and outstandingrepresentatives of the arts were awarded wreaths of laurel. This is where the term "laureate" came from - the owner of the laurel wreath
In Rome and Ancient Greece, the main distinguishing sign was a laurel wreath. They were awarded to the winners in competitions or battles. After the award, the person who was awarded the award relaxed, calmed down, lost his vigilance, bathed in the rays of his glory. This is where the expression "rest on our laurels" comes from.
