Long ago, Clytie, a water nymph, was in love with the sun god Apollo.
She gazed at him every day as he rode through the sky in his solar chariot.
Apollo didn't notice her love and shifted his attention to someone else.
Grief-stricken, Clytie remained in the same spot for days, her eyes fixed on the sun, without food or drink.
The gods took pity and turned her into a sunflower so she could gaze at her beloved sun forever.
Since then, the sunflower turns to the sun, a symbol of her eternal devotion.
This story explains heliotropism, in which sunflowers follow the sun to capture maximum light.
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