Echo and Narcissus, a tale of the many different forms of love, love for another and love for
one’s self.
Both unrequited and self-obsessed, both equally dangerous.
Inspiring great art and creative endeavours, even influencing the very language we use
today, the story of Echo and Narcissus is a fascinating one with roots in both Greek
and Roman mythology.
So who were Echo and Narcissus, and what can we learn from their legend?
Let’s find out together, right now.
Echo was a mountain nymph from Mount Cithaeron in Boeotia.
Her parents are unclear, but she was educated in music by the Younger Muses.
Beautiful in her own right, Echo was chased by both the Gods Apollo and Pan, but she shunned
their advances.
Although Zeus himself did not chase after Echo romantically, he made good use of the
mountain nymph in other ways.
Not known for his fidelity, Zeus enlisted the help of Echo in covering up his affairs
and keeping his wife Hera in the dark.
Whilst Zeus would have his way with other nymphs, Echo would talk for hours with Hera,
distracting the goddess from Zeus’ indiscretions.
Hera eventually discovered the role Echo was playing in enabling her husband’s affairs,
and so she cursed Echo to never be able to speak her own mind.
Echo was from that moment forward, only able to repeat the last words spoken by others.
Narcissus was a handsome young man from the city of Thespiae in Boeotia, and was generally
considered to be the son of Cephissus and the Oceanid Liriope, although occasionally
Narcissus was named as the son of Endymion and Selene.
When still a child, the blind seer Tiresias made a prophecy that Narcissus would lead
a long life only providing he did not “discover himself”, the meaning of which could be
interpreted in several ways.
It might be translated to mean that Narcissus should not look upon himself, which as we
will learn shortly was actually pretty good advice, but equally it may be taken to mean
that Narcissus had to remain humble.
Narcissus would grow up to be amongst the most beautiful of all mortals, with a magnificence
on par with that of even Adonis.
Narcissus would become a deer hunter, and his beauty brought forth many admirers both
male and female, mortal and immortal.
Before long, our two characters were destined to meet, and it would not be a positive development
for either of them.
One day, whilst wandering through the woods, Echo spied a young man out hunting deer with
his companions.
Narcissus.
Such was his beauty, that she immediately fell in love with him and, infatuated, followed
him quietly.
The more she looked at the young man, the more she longed for him.
Though she wished with all her heart to call out to Narcissus, the curse of Hera prevented
her.
During the hunt, Narcissus became separated from his companions and called out, ‘is
anyone there?’
He immediately heard the voice of Echo repeat the words back to him from the woods.
Startled, Narcissus answered the voice, ‘come here,’ only to hear his words repeated once
more.
When Narcissus saw that nobody had emerged from the glade, he concluded that the owner
of the voice must be running away from him and called out again.
Finally, he shouted, "This way, we must come together."
Taking this to be a reciprocation of her love, Echo concurred ecstatically, "We must come
together!"
In her delight, Echo rushed to Narcissus ready to throw her arms around her beloved.
Narcissus, however, upon seeing the origin of the voice, was appalled and spurned her,
exclaiming ‘Hands off!
May I die before you enjoy my body.’
All Echo could whisper in reply was, ‘enjoy my body’ and having done so she fled, scorned,
humiliated, and shamed.
Despite the harshness of his rejection, Echo's love for Narcissus only grew.
It was too strong, too powerful for her to contain, and it eventually consumed her.
Laying alone in her cave, she gradually withered away, her being fading until all that was
left was her voice, the lonely sound of an echo that remains today.
Echo was just one of a number of spurned lovers, for a tale is also told about the rejection
of Ameinias, a fragile youth who had also fallen in love with Narcissus and was also
spurned.
Ameinias would take the rejection as badly as it could be taken, and the youth would
commit suicide in the doorway of Narcissus’ home, killing himself with a sword that had
been given to him by Narcissus.
Some say it was Ameinias who called down the vengeance of the gods upon Narcissus, whilst
others say it was one of the multitudes of rejected nymphs who prayed to them, or even
the many creatures of the forest who loved Echo dearly and were devastated by her passing.
Either way, the pleas for vengeance would not go unanswered.
Nemesis, the goddess of Retribution, heard the calls for revenge, observing for herself
the callous rejection of others by Narcissus, and decided to intervene.
Nemesis attracted Narcissus to a spring with crystal clear and calm waters.
Narcissus, tired of hunting, decided to take a break and drink some water.
As he drank from the spring, he began noticing the calmness of the water.
In the natural mirror, he saw his face clearer than ever before.
The more water he drank, the more he stared at his own image.
Surprise turned into marvel, marvel into love, and love into an obsession.
Narcissus was unable to move.
His image had completely neutralized him as he found himself burning with desire for the
person he saw in the water of the spring.
In vain, he tried to embrace the figure only to realize that the reflection in the calm
water was none other than himself.
If he left, he would lose sight of his only love, and so he began to panic at the realization
that love may be out of his reach for good.
He was frozen, trapped by his own hubris and consigned to a fate that he had consigned
so many others to with his callous rejections.
Narcissus would die of sorrow by the pool, unable to move, despite the pleadings of the
Naiads and Dryads who had observed Narcissus wasting away.
A funeral pyre was built for Narcissus by the nymphs, but when they came to place the
body of the handsome youth upon it, they could not find it, as all that was left was a flower
with white petals and a yellow core, the Narcissus flower.
An alternative version of the death of Narcissus tells of him recognising the unrequited love
that he had for his own reflection, and suddenly brutally aware of the pain and suffering that
he had caused to so many, Narcissus falls upon his own sword, just as Ameinias had done.
Some suggests that, now in the Underworld, Narcissus still looks at his reflection in
the waters of Hades.
An ultimately tragic story then, in which both Echo and Narcissus chose death or, rather,
nothingness after being seriously heart-broken.
However, whilst Echo lost the will to live after being turned down by someone she loved,
Narcissus chose to abandon life after realizing that he was unable to love anyone other than
himself.
If you think about it, the myth of Narcissus is as much about a selfish boy who loved his
own image too much, as it is about a lonely boy’s inability to love anyone else, a much
more sombre thought.
Above all, the transformation stories of both Echo and Narcissus could be interpreted as
a warning that the line between love and obsession is often much smaller than we think.