In Greek mythology, Peneus was a Thessalian river god, one of the three thousand Rivers, a child of Oceanus and Tethys.
Peneus averts his gaze as Apollo, pierced by Cupid's arrow of desire, pursues Daphne, transforming into the laurel (Apollo and Daphne, 1625, by Poussin)
River gods consoling Peneus for the Loss of his Daughter, Daphne
Daphne, a figure in Greek mythology, was in various retellings a mortal woman or a nymph, daughter of a river god. The god Apollo fell in love with Daphne and chased her against her wishes, but before
Peneus
…and Tethys. The nymph Creusa bore him one son, Hypseus, who was King of the Lapiths, and three daughters, Menippe (mother of Phrastor by Pelasgus), Daphne and Stilbe. Some sources state that he was the father of Cyrene, alternately known as his granddaughter through Hypseus. Daphne, in an Arcadian version…
Antique fresco of Apollo and Daphne from Pompeii, 1st century
Apollo and Daphne, a 1625 sculpture by Bernini, inspired by Ovid's Metamorphoses, depicting the initial stage of Daphne's transformation
Apollo (already wearing a laurel wreath) and Daphne, Antakya Archaeological Museum