THE SILENCE OF SCULPTURE: / Daphne turned into tree bark /

Suddenly, her skin turned into tree bark (a laurel), her hair into leaves and branches. She stopped running as his feet rooted in the ground. Apollo hugged the branches, but even they shrank and contracted. Since he could no longer take her as his wife, he promised her that he would love her eternally as his tree and that its branches would crown the heads of the heroes and champions of the Olympic Games.