Echo and Narcissus, a romantic myth and much more

Greek mythology has been characterized as one of the most prominent in much of the world and with it its characters. Among these are Echo and Narcissus, who star in a myth that reflects the vain and also the name of some known elements.

Echo and Narcissus

Echo and Narcissus

Among the most interesting myths of this civilization is that of Echo and Narcissus, in which many of the gods belonging to Greek mythology, such as Zeus, Hera and Nemesis, are also described.

Get to know the myth of Eco and Narcissus, where in addition to an incredible story being present, they also derive the definitions of terms that are used today. Such as the Narcissus flower and the echo related to sound.

Eco

Before talking about the myth of Echo and Narcissus, it is essential to know about each of these characters from Greek mythology. Eco, is a mountain nymph from Mount Helicon, known for loving her voice and who was raised by the nymphs (minor female deities associated with a specific natural place) and the muses (inspiring deities of the arts, where each of them is associated with artistic branches and knowledge).

Apart from the myth of Echo and Narcissus, the one that describes what caused her to only repeat words when speaking also stands out. Eco was a very beautiful young woman with a beautiful voice. In addition to her, she pronounced very beautiful words that had never been heard, which caused whoever listened to her to be delighted with her.

Echo and Narcissus

As her voice was very beautiful, the goddess of War, Hera feared that her husband Zeus, god of Olympus, would fall in love with the nymph when he heard her beautiful voice. So one day, Zeus was in the forest playing with the nymphs but Hera appeared who was very upset. Eco tried to help her friends, distracting the war goddess with a pleasant conversation so that Zeus could escape from her.

Hera's curse

However, the goddess realized that she was being deceived and condemned Echo, saying the following: You tried to deceive me, so you deserve a punishment, from this moment on you are going to lose control of your voice. Also, since you really like to have the last word, your sentence will be to respond with the last word you hear, forever.

Echo upon receiving Hera's curse, fled and hid in a cave, away from everyone and repeating the last word anyone said. In this way, the echo is said to have arisen. It is an acoustic physical phenomenon generated when sound waves bounce off a surface and return again to the person or object that caused it.

Likewise, it is very common to find an echo inside a cave or among the mountains. In fact, one of the curiosities of this is that sailors use it to know if they are close to an iceberg on foggy days. Learn more about the demigod perseus.

Echo and Narcissus

There are animals that use it to navigate. One of them is the dolphins who move in the depths of the sea due to the echo, since the bottom is very dark. In turn, bats also use it to fly at night and avoid colliding with objects.

Other myths where Eco is present

This nymph is found in various legends, one of them is in which she appears as the beloved of Pan, the god of shepherds and flocks. However, that love is not reciprocated and she suffers from the contempt of a faun with whom she is in love. Pan, jealous of her, takes revenge on her and causes her to be torn apart by some shepherds, for which her crying is associated with the echo.

Narcissus

This character from Greek mythology was a very beautiful young hunter who attracted the attention of those who looked at him, so many were in love with him, but he rejected them all.

Versions of the myth of Narcissus

There is a Greco-Latin version of this character that describes that Narcissus is punished by the gods due to the rejection he made of his suitors. According to Hellenic history, the young Aminias loved him but he too was cruelly rejected. To mock him, Narcissus gave him a sword and Aminias used it to commit suicide at the gates of Narcissus's house, beseeching Nemesis, goddess of justice, that Narcissus know the pain of unrequited love.

Which generated that Narcissus, seeing his image reflected in the pond, fell in love with himself and trying to seduce the beautiful young man, who was actually his own reflection, tries to kiss him, but saddened with pain, he ends up committing suicide with his sword and his body turned into a flower.

Narcissus and its transcendence

There is another version that describes that Narcissus was tormented in the Underworld contemplating a reflection that did not correspond to his love.

In fact, from this character also arises the term called narcissism, which means the love that a subject has with himself. Although there are times when it alludes to a series of normal personality traits, it can manifest itself as an extreme pathology of personality disorders.

Among them is narcissistic personality disorder, where the person overestimates their abilities and has high admiration and affirmation. What is commonly described as being in love with himself or being very vain about his image or even ego.

There are even types of narcissism, which are:

  • The Dependent of affection and admiration, who is afraid of being abandoned and rejected. So self-esteem is low.
  • Who loves exaggeratedly, because he idealizes love and who he loves.
  • The one who believes he is powerful and superior in all aspects, humiliating people.
  • Who gives a lot of importance to their image, which is related to their self-esteem.
  • One who scams and uses people with his personal charm.
  • The one who invents, since he likes to escape from reality and therefore is very fanciful.

Myth of Echo and Narcissus

Eco was a Wood Nymph known for talking and playing a lot, which caused her to distract the goddess Hera, while her husband Zeus took the opportunity to go with his lovers. However, Hero was aware of the infidelities of her husband, Zeus, and gave Eco a sentence, which was that she would not be able to speak for herself, since she would only repeat the last words of what she said. she will listen

Eco, who was cursed and therefore very scared, left the woods where she was permanently moving and hid in a cave located near a stream.

Echo and Narcissus

On the other hand, there is the story of the young Narcissus, who was very beautiful from birth and to whom the fortune teller Tiresias predicted that if he were to see his own image in a mirror he would be lost. That is why the mother avoided any mirror that was close to him, as well as objects where the reflection could be seen.

The love story of Eco and Narciso

He grew up not knowing how beautiful he was and he was also a very introverted young man. However, he liked to walk a lot while he thought. Once when passing near the cave where Eco was, she saw him without him noticing her, she was deeply admired by his beauty.

Narciso, who many times walked near Eco's cave, did not realize that she was waiting for him and followed from afar to admire how beautiful it was. However, one day the nymph while she was looking at Narcissus, she stepped on a dry twig and this made a noise that caused Narcissus to discover Echo.

So he asked her why she was there and also following him, but she could only repeat the last words. He kept talking and the nymph repeated her without being able to express what she wanted.

Echo and Narcissus

With the support of the forest animals, Eco confessed his love to Narciso. She was very hopeful of what he was going to answer her, but what she made of her was that she teased the nymph and caused her to break her heart and hide back in the cave as she cried.

She was in the cave without moving and only repeating the last words that Narcissus had said to her: what a silly, silly That caused him to be consumed and transformed into part of the cave, so only his voice remained in the air. Also know the Apollo and Daphne myth.

Other versions of the myth

It should be noted that, like many Greek myths, that of Eco and Narcissus also has other versions. One of these is that she was a water nymph and that she was able to speak by the time she met him. However, he spent many hours looking at her reflection in the pond. Therefore, the nymph asked Aphrodite for help, because Narcissus ignored her.

The goddess Aphrodite told her that she was going to help her so that the young man would pay attention to her for a few minutes and during that time the nymph had to make him fall in love.

If that didn't happen, Eco was going to be condemned to repeat the last words, but the nymph didn't make it. However, Narcissus also received his condemnation, since apparently the goddess Nemesis witnessed what happened and caused him to be very thirsty while he was taking one of his walks.

Feeling like drinking a lot of water, he remembered that there was a stream, near Echo's cave, he drank there and immediately saw his image in the reflection of the water. So as described in Tiresias's prediction, his very image brought about his doom, as he marveled at his beauty and died of weakness.

Darker versions of the myth

Another version of the Echo and Narcissus myth describes that he drowned because he wanted to be with his beloved reflection in the water. So in the place where he died, he generated a flower that is named after him and that is characterized by growing in the water and reflecting in it.

Also, another story of the myth of Eco and Narcissus and that integrates aspects of the versions mentioned above, is that the young Narcissus, being very beautiful, attracted the attention of all the girls who saw him and ended up completely in love with him, but this always he rejected them.

Among his lovers, there was a nymph named Eco, who had received a punishment from Hera, that was that she could only repeat the last word of what they said to her, so she couldn't talk. One day the young Narcissus was hunting and she chased him, but he realized that they were following him and asked: anyone here?, to which Echo replied: here here. As he did not see her, he shouted: come!

She came out of the trees with open arms, but he rejected her in a very cruel way. So the nymph went very sad to the cave where she hid until she was consumed and left alone as a voice.

However, because of what Narcissus, the goddess of revenge, had done, Nemesis made him fall in love with his own image. So when he saw his reflection in the pond he couldn't separate himself from the image of him and he ended up throwing himself into the water to try to get what he saw. Also from that moment, a beautiful flower that has his name grows in that area.

Daffodil Flower Meaning

As described in some of the aforementioned versions of the Echo and Narcissus myth, the flower that bears the young man's name has various symbolisms. One of them is selfishness, while another is based on the fact that giving this type of flower expresses inner beauty and love for oneself.

In turn, there are currents that assimilate it with rebirth, new beginnings and eternal life. Some also consider it to symbolize unrequited love, due to the story of Eco and Narcissus.

Therefore, there are those who consider that whoever gives a single flower of this type is predicting a misfortune for the person. But who gives a bouquet, means joy and happiness.

If you were interested in the information in this article, you may also be interested in knowing about the Helen of Troy summary.


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