Outed and Executed: The Tragic tale of Daphne and Leucippos, Pausanias VIII.xx.1-4

 TRIGGER WARNING: transphobia, murder

Unlike the neutral version of this story by Parthenius of Nicaea, the author's bias is evident in this version of the myth.

Ladon quidem ipse aquae pulchritudine omnibus Graeciae fluminibus antecellit: celebratur vero maxime Daphnes causa, & ob ea quae de illa poeta decantarunt. Ego sane de Daphne quae commemorant Syri Orontis accolae, praetereo. nam longe diversa ab Arcadibus & Eleis tradita sunt. Oenomao narrant Pisae regi filium fuisse Leucippum nomine, qui puellae amore captus, quum eam si uxorem sibi palam peteret, operam se lusurum pro  certo haberet, quod illa omnino a marum consuetudine abhorrebat, ad ea fallenda huiusmodi excogitasse astum dicitur. Alebat adolescens Alpheo comam: eam ille quum, quo virgines more solent, religassent, cum muliebri veste ad Daphnen venit, filiam se Oenomai simulans, quae socia venationis esse cuperet. quum itaque virgo esse ex corporis habitu facile crederetur, anteiret vero ceteras comites generis dignitate, ac venandi peritia, & in primis obsequentem se illis maxime praeberet, miro sibi Daphnen amore devinxit. At qui de Apollinis amore fabulam vulgarunt, hoc amplius addunt: Apollinem graviter ferentem Leucippi in amore felicitatem, effecisse ut Daphne cum suo comitatu virginum natandi causa in Ladonem descendens, ipsum etiam Leucippum recusantem & invitum illuc pertraheret: ac mox veste detracta, quum virginis ementitum habitum deprehendissent, impetu facto ipsae Daphnes comites illu iaculis & pugiunculis transfixum interemerint. Haec in vulgus de Daphne prodita.

ὁ δὲ Λάδων ποταμῶν τῶν ἐν Ἑλλάδι ὕδωρ παρέχεται κάλλιστον, ἔχει δὲ καὶ ἄλλως ἐς ἀνθρώπους φήμην Δάφνης τε εἵνεκα καὶ †τὰ ᾀδόμενα ἐς τὴν Δάφνην. [2] τοῦ λόγου δὲ τοῦ ἐς Δάφνην τὰ μὲν Σύροις τοῖς οἰκοῦσιν ἐπὶ Ὀρόντῃ ποταμῷ παρίημι, λέγεται δὲ καὶ ἄλλα τοιάδε ὑπὸ Ἀρκάδων καὶ Ἠλείων. Οἰνομάῳ τῷ δυναστεύσαντι ἐν Πίσῃ Λεύκιππος ἦν υἱός. οὗτος ἐρασθεὶς Δάφνης ὁ Λεύκιππος ἐκ μὲν τοῦ εὐθέος μνώμενος γυναῖκα ἕξειν ἀπεγίνωσκεν αὐτὴν ἅτε ἅπαν τὸ ἄρσεν γένος φεύγουσαν: παρέστη δέ οἱ τοιόνδε ἐς αὐτὴν σόφισμα. [3] ἔτρεφεν ὁ Λεύκιππος κόμην τῷ Ἀλφειῷ: ταύτην οἷα δὴ παρθένος πλεξάμενος τὴν κόμην καὶ ἐσθῆτα ἐνδὺς γυναικείαν ἀφίκετο ὡς τὴν Δάφνην, ἐλθὼν δὲ Οἰνομάου τε ἔλεγεν εἶναι θυγάτηρ καὶ ὡς συνθηρᾶν ἐθέλοι τῇ Δάφνῃ. ἅτε δὲ εἶναι παρθένος νομιζόμενος, καὶ τὰς ἄλλας ὑπερβεβλημένος παρθένους γένους τε ἀξιώματι καὶ σοφίᾳ τῇ ἐς τὰ κυνηγέσια, πρὸς δὲ καὶ τῇ θεραπείᾳ περισσῇ χρώμενος, ἐς φιλίαν ἰσχυρὰν ἐπάγεται τὴν Δάφνην. [4] οἱ δὲ τὸν Ἀπόλλωνος ἔρωτα ἐς αὐτὴν ᾁδοντες καὶ τάδε ἐπιλέγουσιν, Ἀπόλλωνα Λευκίππῳ νεμεσῆσαι τῆς ἐς τὸν ἔρωτα εὐδαιμονίας. αὐτίκα δὲ ἐπεθύμησεν ἐν τῷ Λάδωνι ἡ Δάφνη καὶ αἱ λοιπαὶ παρθένοι νήχεσθαι, καὶ τὸν Λεύκιππον ἀποδύουσιν ἄκοντα: ἰδοῦσαι δὲ οὐ παρθένον τοῖς τε ἀκοντίοις αὐτὸν καὶ ἐγχειριδίοις τύπτουσαι διέφθειραν.

--Pausanias,Descriptio Graeciae VIII.xx.1-4; Translated into Latin by Romulus Amaseus (1696) 

The Ladon River is the foremost in beauty of all the rivers in Greece, and it is famous because of the myth of Daphne. I won’t mention the version that the Syrians inhabitants of the Orontes River tell, but instead I’ll stick to the Arcadian and Elian version of the myth. They say that Oenomaus, the prince of Pisa, had a son named Leucippus. Leucippus was in love with Daphne, but could not woo her outright, as she avoided men, so he constructed a plan.  Leucippus was growing his hair long in order to sacrifice it to the river god Alpheus, so he styled it like a girl would, put on women’s clothes, and introduced herself to Daphne. She told her she was Oenomaus’ daughter, and that she wished to accompany Daphne on a hunt. Leucippus was accepted as a girl, and surpassed Daphne’s other companions in nobility and hunting skill, was the most caring of her friends, and so she shared a deep friendship (φιλία) with Daphne.

Those who tell the story of Apollo’s love for Daphne add this to the tale: that Apollo grew jealous of Leucippus’ love for Daphne and their happiness together. He plotted to make Daphne and her companions come to the Ladon to bathe, and forced Leucippus to take off her clothes and join them. When her clothes were taken from her, they saw that she was not a girl, so they killed her with javelins and daggers.

PAUSANIAS	MAP:
Name:  Pausanias Date:  110 – 180 CE Works:  Description of Greece	REGION  5
BIO:	Timeline:
Pausanias was a Greek writer who lived during the era of the “Five Good Emperors.” His work, the Description of Greece, is an important source for geographical, historical, archaeological, and cultural information about ancient Greece.	ROMAN GREEK