The Myth of Narcissus

Narcissus myth

The myth tells the story of Narcissus (Νάρκισσος, in Greek), a young Thespian, son of the nymph Lyriope and the river-god Cephysus. His mother, fearful of the future, took him at birth to the seer Tiresias, who predicted to the nymph that the child would live a long life, as long as he "never knew himself."

It was thus that Narcissus grew up and became a man whose physical beauty was the delight of all who saw him. Both men and women fell in love with him. But Narcissus was vain and proud, and rejected his admirers in the most contemptuous way possible, reason for which he was punished by the gods, who sentenced him to fall madly in love with his own reflection of it.

Tired of suffering from his rudeness, the one in love with him begged the goddess Nemesis, the one who provides the deserved punishment to mortals, to make Narcissus feel the same suffering. And it was so, being in the ForestOne day Narcissus contemplated his reflection on the water and fell madly in love with himself. So much so, that he was unable to separate himself from the banks of the river, and remained there, clinging to the image of him, until he died of decline, hunger and abandonment. And so, from the blood shed by Narcissus when he died, the flowers that even today bear his name, the daffodils (

Narcisseae).

On the myth of Narcissus

The myth of Narcissus is one of the most popular stories that we have inherited from Greco-Roman antiquity, that is, from Greek and Roman mythology. And as with many other Greek and Roman myths, there are different versions and explanations about it: the versions of the Greek Conón (1st century BC) are known. C.), of the Roman poet Ovid (43 a. C. - 17 d. C.) and of the traveler and geographer Pausanias (c. 110 - 180 d. C.), as well as ancient versions discovered among the famous Oxyrhynus Papyri, found in Egypt in 1897. It is thought that it could be a moralizing story with which the youth of ancient Greece were educated.

Narcissus's lovers vary in the different versions of the myth, ranging from deities like the nymph Echo, to men and women who suffered immensely from his contempt and indifference. Among them, according to some Greek versions, was the young Aminias, who in spite of spite went to commit suicide with his own sword at the doors of Narcissus's house, and moments before he died he asked the goddess Nemesis, goddess of vengeance, to punish Narcissus in a appropriate. In other versions it is Aphrodite who exercises the punishment.

There are also different versions of Narcissus's death. In some cases Narcissus drowns when trying to kiss his own lips on the surface of the water, while in others die with his own dagger, unable to live with the spite of not being able to be forever with his reflection of it.

The myth of Echo and Narcissus

The Greek myth of Narcissus is closely in touch with that of Echo, one of the mountain nymphs (oréades) who, according to the account of her, she had been brought up as a young woman by the muses, in such a way that from her mouth came the most beautiful words of the world. Taking advantage of that talentZeus, the father god of Olympus, tasked him with distracting his wife, Hera, so that he could escape to tend to his numerous lovers. Until the irate goddess realized the plan, and she punished Echo by removing her voice and forcing her to say only the last words that others said to her, that is, making her the echo of other people's voices.

Eco returned to the country, to live the rest of his unfortunate existence, until the beautiful young Narcissus crossed his path. The nymph, like so many others, fell madly in love with him. But she had no words to express her love, so she remained hidden, until the day she stepped on a dry branch and revealed her presence.

"Who is there?" Asked the young man. "There," Eco replied. "Come this way!" Narcissus insisted, and the strange voice answered more or less the same. Believing, then, that it was someone lost in the forest, the young man exclaimed "Follow my voice to reunite us!", Which Eco interpreted as a declaration of mutual love, and he left his hiding place in search of the arms of his beloved, but found only the disdain and rejection of Narcissus.

Humiliated and unable to express what she felt, Eco went back into hiding forever. As time passed, he withered to death, but his voice, the most beautiful thing he had ever had in his his life, remained on earth and gave rise to the acoustic phenomenon that we know today by his name: the echo.

This version of the myth of Echo and Narcissus comes from the inventiveness of the Roman poet Ovid, who wrote it in his work Metamorphosis (8th century AD) C.).

What is a myth?

Myths are stories or narrations ancestral, belonging to the mystical, religious, cosmological or traditional imaginary of a people, in the which addresses a series of prodigious or fantastic events that seek to respond to various issues inexplicable.

It is about the stories with which ancient peoples gave an account of the world around them and the particular way of understanding it that they possessed.

Myths are part of the cultural legacy of all human civilizations, and together they make up a mythology, that is, a set of fictional stories, notions and concepts that express and contain the world view of each of these civilizations. Thus, there are Sumerian, Greek, Egyptian mythology, and so on.

Each mythology tells the story of its gods and the creation of the world, as well as the founding of its cities and the adventures of its great heroes and kings.

In general, they were stories transmitted orally, but which were later collected in different versions and traditions, many of them different from each other, and were inspiration for later works, since in many cases, such as the of Greek mythology, his myths are still remembered in the West and are a central part of our legacy classic.

References:

• "Myth" in Wikipedia.
• "Narcissus (mythology)" on Wikipedia.
• "Eco (mythology)" in Wikipedia.
• "Narcissus" in the Board of Galicia (Spain).
• "Narcissus" in World History Encyclopedia.
• "Narcissus (greek mythology)" in The Encyclopaedia Britannica.

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