Daphnis in Greek tradition
Daphnis was raised by nymphs and shepherds in the Sicilian countryside after his birth to Hermes and a Sicilian nymph, and he became known as the inventor of pastoral poetry. He was a shepherd, singer, and musician associated with the syrinx, bucolic song, and contests among herdsmen. After Daphnis became drunk, his rival Chimaera seduced him, angering Nomia, who fulfilled her warning that she would blind him; the supplied account records no later outcome.
The quick answers
Who is Daphnis?
Daphnis is a Greek being associated with shepherding, bucolic poetry, pastoral music, Sicilian pastoral life, pastoral song contests.Source
Source
- Classical Mythology a to Z
- Greek Myths & Tales
What is Daphnis associated with?
shepherding, bucolic poetry, pastoral music, Sicilian pastoral life, pastoral song contestsSource
Source
- Classical Mythology a to Z
- Greek Myths & Tales
What family links are recorded for Daphnis?
Father: Hermes.
Daphnis’s family, at a glance
Parents above, children below, and the figure’s consorts named in between, the same family data as the fact box, laid out as a chart instead of a field list.
The names Daphnis answers to
Daphnis of Sicily
The Sicilian pastoral hero
SourceClassical Mythology a to Z
Daphnis the Shepherd
The herdsman and singer of pastoral tradition
SourceClassical Mythology a to Z
Son of Hermes
His traditional divine parentage
SourceClassical Mythology a to Z
The myths of Daphnis
2 myths, each traced to its primary text and corpus sources.
The Birth and Upbringing of Daphnis
Hermes and a Sicilian nymph had a son named Daphnis. After his birth, the child was left in the countryside. In one telling, he was deliberately exposed there. In another, he was simply left among the fields and flocks. The place of his birth remained unnamed, and no further event marked his arrival in the world.
Nymphs and shepherds found Daphnis and took him into their care. They raised him in the countryside, among the people who tended flocks and the nymphs who lived beside them. No named foster parent took charge of him, and no separate rescue marked his upbringing. His childhood passed in the rural world, where the care of nymphs and shepherds shaped the setting of his early life.
Hermes belonged closely to this setting. He spent much of his time among shepherds, for whom he was the patron god, and he visited nymphs and shepherdesses. Daphnis was counted among the children Hermes had by these relationships. He later became known as the inventor of pastoral poetry, and his work remained linked with the shepherds and countryside among whom he had been raised.
In the modern world
No modern rework confirmed yet.
2 sources· checked 2026-08-19
- 1The Greek MythsT1
- 2Apollodorus, The LibraryT1
Quote
“Hermes and a Sicilian nymph were the parents of Daphnis, who was exposed and then raised by nymphs and shepherds.”
Apollodorus, The Library
The Blinding and Death of Daphnis
While Daphnis was drunk, Chimaera approached him and seduced him. Chimaera was Daphnis’s rival. The account gives no further detail about the seduction, and it does not describe what Daphnis understood or intended while he was drunk. Its sequence is clear: Chimaera succeeded, and the event angered Nomia, the nymph connected with Daphnis in this account. Before this happened, Nomia had warned Daphnis that she would blind him. Her warning established the consequence that followed, although the reason for it is stated only as her offence at Chimaera’s act.
After Chimaera’s success, Nomia carried out the threat. She blinded Daphnis, and he lost his sight. The account does not say whether Nomia blinded him herself by a particular means, nor does it give a separate punishment for Chimaera. It assigns the loss of Daphnis’s sight to Nomia’s response to the seduction. The events therefore follow a direct order: Daphnis was drunk; Chimaera, his rival, seduced him; Nomia, offended by what had happened, acted on her earlier warning; and Daphnis became blind. No other outcome is recorded in this version. The narrative ends with Daphnis’s loss of sight, after Nomia’s threat has been fulfilled.
In the modern world
No modern rework confirmed yet.
2 sources· checked 2026-08-19
- 1The Greek MythsT1
- 2the ancient sourcesT1
Quote
“While Daphnis was drunk, Chimaera, his rival, seduced him, and Nomia, offended by this, blinded him after warning that she would do so.”
the ancient sources
Also appears in
The myths across MythSource where Daphnis features, each on that figure’s page.
- Hippodamia Chooses Pelops · on Hippodamia
- The Chariot Race for Hippodamia · on Hippodamia
- Myrtilus Sabotages Oenomaus’s Chariot · on Myrtilus
- Pelops Kills Myrtilus · on Myrtilus
- The Birth of Pan · on Pan
- Pelops and the Death of Myrtilus · on Pelops
- Pelops Conquers the Peloponnese · on Pelops
- Pelops Marries Hippodamia · on Pelops
- The Chariot Race for Hippodamia · on Pelops
- Pan Born from Penelope and the Suitors · on Penelope
- Penelope's Alleged Affair with Antinous · on Penelope
- Phoebe's Gift of Delphi · on Phoebe
7 works catalogued
This is the candidate catalogue for Daphnis: candidate reworks first, then references, then names used as atmosphere. Nothing here has been checked against a source yet. Only reviewed myth-to-work links are promoted in Overview.
Showing 7 of 7 works.
Film7
- Daphnis and ChloeRework
- Daphnis and Chloe: The Royal BalletRework
- Daphnis and Chloe: The Young LoversRework
- Daphnis et ChloéRework
- Daphnis et Chloé 66Rework
- Daphnis und ChloeRework
- Herbert Von Karajan - Berliner Philarmoniker - Debussy: La Mer, Prélude A L'après-midi D'un Faune - Ravel: Daphnis Et Chloé Suite No. 2Reference
These are catalogue candidates, not proof that every work retells this figure. Reviewed myth-to-work links appear in Overview.
What this page is built from
About this page
Written and maintained by MythSource. Last reviewed not yet recorded. How a page gets built.
3 sources are cited on this page, primary texts and corpus scholarship, listed below.
Cite this page
MythSource. (n.d.). Daphnis. https://www.mythsource.com/figures/daphnis
"Daphnis." MythSource, n.d., www.mythsource.com/figures/daphnis.
"Daphnis." MythSource. n.d. https://www.mythsource.com/figures/daphnis.
The mythology summaries and identity fields on this page are grounded in the primary texts and scholarship above. The appearance table records candidates separately; only reviewed joins are presented as modern reworks in Overview.
The film
The Underdrawing video on Daphnis embeds here once it publishes.