greek mythology stories

The story of Narcissus

Painting: Narcissus by Caravaggio

Narcissus was the son of water nymph Liriope. His mother became anxious about her son's well-being after he turned fifteen because his beauty attracted a lot of unwanted attention. In ancient Greece, it was better to stay clear of the glances of gods and kings.

Liriope consulted Tiresias, the oracle in Thebes, to find out how Narcissus could protect himself from any harm. Tiresias saw the boy's future and proclaimed that as long Narcissus wouldn't recognize himself, he would live a happy life.

Liriope, puzzled by the oracle's response, assumed her son was safe. Because who in the world could ever physically recognize themselves?

Narcissus became older, and one day, he went hunting in a forest. After the hunt, he went for a swim in a secluded stream and fell asleep naked. This attracted the attention of Echo, a nymph who lived in the forest by herself.

Echo had been punished by the marriage goddess Hera because she had caught the nymph lying about the whereabouts of her cheating husband, the god of heaven and earth Zeus. Hera knew how much Echo loved to talk and gossip and had made it impossible for the nymph to ever speak again, except when she repeated others. And because Echo annoyed and insulted everyone by continually repeating them, she became forced to live by herself.

Narcissus woke up when Echo crawled closer to him. He didn't believe in love because nobody had ever taken any serious interest in him. People only admired him for his looks and didn't care about anything else.

Disgusted by Echo's creepy staring, Narcissus started yelling at her. Of course, Echo only repeated his yelling, which pissed him off even more. He started throwing rocks at the nymph until she left him alone.

Embarrassed by the encounter, Echo ran into a cave and prayed to Aphrodite to release her from her human form. The love goddess granted her wish. All that was left of Echo was her voice that we can still hear today when we entered caves, canyons, or some other places.

After scaring Echo away, Narcissus drank from the stream, only to discover his reflection for the first time. He became obsessed with the beautiful man he saw in the water and failed to realize that it was his image. After laying by the stream for days and trying to make love to the water, the gods felt so sorry for the delusional Narcissus that they turned him into a flower.

Today, the daffodil that's named after Narcissus still bows his head to try and look at himself in puddles and streams.