Apollo and Daphne: The T4T Myth

This morning I was talking to my beautiful Grace while driving to a certain area where I like to do my writing. I love this area because Apollo's presence is extremely strong there. As I was coming through with my car, it occurred to me that I would like to write a short retelling of the Daphne myth as an entry point to a novel.

My impressions of the myth were thus: Apollo sees Daphne and falls in love. Daphne goes NOPE NO THANKS and flees. Apollo pursues. Daphne turns into a laurel tree. Apollo breaks down and cries, his muse gone, but he can at least make it into his tree (the laurel was associated with him long before this, but it's fine). A bunch of ancient Greeks sitting around a community hearth nod solemnly, another oral storytelling that will survive the ages well done.

Then I did my research and WOW OH NO, IT'S BETTER THAN THAT?

The Apollo and Daphne myth is actually a T4T ("trans for trans") DREAM!

So the most famous and best distributed of the Daphne myth, like many originally Greek myths, is from Ovid. Having read this version, I don't know how I could possibly retell it because it is still gorgeous.

with hope pursued, the other fled in fear;

and he who followed, borne on wings of love,

permitted her no rest and gained on her,

until his warm breath mingled in her hair.

Maybe I really am a Roman polytheist between the planetary worship and the Apollo worship because, like... Reading this induces in me the same religious fervor I experienced when reading The Aeneid for the first time earlier this year. There are no modern texts that understand my polytheism like the Romans.

Anyway! The T4T part is in Apollo's reaction to Daphne turning into the laurel tree. He is not distressed at all by her transformation! In fact, quite the opposite:

And thus the God;
“Although thou canst not be my bride, thou shalt
be called my chosen tree, and thy green leaves,
O Laurel! shall forever crown my brows,
be wreathed around my quiver and my lyre;
the Roman heroes shall be crowned with thee,
as long processions climb the Capitol
and chanting throngs proclaim their victories;
and as a faithful warden thou shalt guard
the civic crown of oak leaves fixed between
thy branches, and before Augustan gates.
And as my youthful head is never shorn,
so, also, shalt thou ever bear thy leaves
unchanging to thy glory.,”

Here the God,
Phoebus Apollo, ended his lament,
and unto him the Laurel bent her boughs,
so lately fashioned; and it seemed to him
her graceful nod gave answer to his love.

This myth reminds me so much of me and Grace coming out to each other. The first time we talked regularly, we both identified as cis. When we got back together, she knew I was going through a gender journey, but I felt the need to clarify just how masculine I was since at the time she thought she only liked women. You know how Clark Kent pulls back his shirt to reveal the Superman costume? That's kind of literally what I did energetically to show her just how much of a dude I was.

This went over well! Later on, we did the process again in reverse and I then invoked my inner Pansexual King because my life really is just a low key Apollo theurgy all the time. This involved throwing away every presumption I had about Grace and our relationship and going cool, my soulmate's a woman!!! We then went about entirely rebuilding our dynamic and y'all, it is so cool being the man in a relationship. I always wanted to pursue and provide for the other person in my previous dating history in a way that's masculine*, but wasn't able to fully enact it until now.

There is nothing like T4T love because you get to love the actual person, their gender, and how they want to express that gender. Neither of you are restricted by stereotypes and traditional roles of what a man or woman are, even if you may find some enjoyable to imitate. I can tell you from experience that my relationship blossomed as soon as I could love Grace for the woman that she truly is.

I don't want to be loved as a woman, Daphne said, but upon hearing Apollo's declaration, Yes... It feels more correct to be loved as a tree.

And now we all get to love the laurel and what she represents!

*For the cis feminists who may ask, do you want to fully cover and carry the other person with your larger body? Do you want to build a whole ass house for your partner? Do you want them to lean back and not let them even lift their little finger (at least on occasion) as you pamper them them with expensive luxury? Masculinity is fucking real.