The legend of laurel
According to legend, Daphne, the daughter of the river god Peneas, is very elegant and gorgeous. Apollo, the sun god, was fascinated by her beauty and pursued her enthusiastically, while Daphne had her own love and always avoided the pursuit of the powerful sun god. One day, they met by the river. As soon as Daphne saw Apollo, she started to run. Apollo followed, and Daphne was exhausted. In desperation, I had to beg her father to turn her into a laurel tree. Apollo was very sad and said with infinite affection, "May your branches and leaves last forever, decorate my head and my piano, and make you a symbol of the highest honor." He carefully transplanted the laurel tree into his temple, lived together day and night, and put its branches and leaves on his head to show his respect and nostalgia for Daphne.
Therefore, the ancient Greeks regarded the laurel as the sacred tree of Apollo and called it "the laurel of Apollo". At first, they made laurel branches and leaves into crowns and presented them to the winners of the sun god worship program competition. Later, in the sports competition held in Olympia, they presented the winners with laurels. Generation after generation, later generations of Europeans take "laurel" as the glorious title.