Daphne2.0003

Osamu Tezuka, story of Daphne and Apollo told within Apollo's Song, manga, graphic novel 1970 and 2007 — originally serialized in Japanese as Aporo No Uta in Shukan Shonen Kingu, Shonen Gahosha, and translated by Camillia Nieh — New York, Vertical.

Hiromi is advised by her supervising Professor on p. 199 that the only way to avoid Shogo's infatuation with her — "... become a laurel tree.... Do[n't] you know the Greek myth about the girl Daphne?" The narrative then unfolds along the lines of Ovid's telling, but with subtle divergences worth exploring. (See MythMatters.)

Tezuka's greater narrative in this manga treats the emotional development of Shogo from sociopath to lover. That is framed by instruction for adolescent boys regarding sexual reproduction and responsible behavior in society. Although much is at work in Tezuka's highly original narrative, the whole stands very interestingly as an adaptation of the myth of Orpheus, with Shogo's love and loss of Hiromi never further than arm's reach from the plight of Eurydice and Orpheus. Yet, Tezuka's work is hardly a pastiche of the Eurydice narrative.

The montage at right is (above) a frame from p. 205 and (below) cover of Part 2 (of 2).