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Information about Narcissus (mythology)

This page is about the mythological figure; for other uses of the term, please see Narcissus (disambiguation).


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Narcissus
A Boeotian hero whose archaic myth was a cautionary tale warning boys against being cruel to their lovers.
In Greek mythology, Narcissus or Narkissos (Greek: Νάρκισσος), was a hero of the territory of Thespiae in Boeotia who was renowned for his beauty. Several versions of his myth have survived: Ovid's, from his Metamorphoses; Pausanias', from his Guide to Greece, (9.31.7); and one found among the Oxyrhynchus papyri.

Pausanias locates the spring of Narcissus at Donacon 'Reed-bed' in the territory of the Thespians. Pausanias finds it incredible that someone could not distinguish a reflection from a real person, and cites a less known variant in which Narcissus had a twin sister. Both dressed similarly and hunted together. Narcissus fell in love with her. When she died, Narcissus pined after her and pretended that the reflection he saw in the water was his sister. (See genetic sexual attraction for an explanation and examples of the phenomenon of relatives falling in love.)

As Pausanias also notes, yet another tale is that the Narcissus flower was created to entice Demeter's daughter Persephone away from her companions to enable Hades to abduct her.

Other story

There is another tale that tells the story of the beautiful nymph Echo. She was a woman who loved gossip and could not keep her mouth shut, and this was a dangerous combination with the employment of her as distraction for Hera while Zeus cheated on her. Having found out about his affairs, Hera was thoroughly distraught and punished Echo by only allowing her to repeat the last words of whatever sentence someone spoke.

Upon meeting the beautiful Narcissus, she fell in love with him and did everything she could to show her love for him. However she failed, for he was more than enough admired and lusted for and annoyedly he told her off, which sent her running back into the woods. Narcissus then came into the woods asking if anyone was there. He said, "Is anyone here?" then Echo said, "Here, here!" Then Narcissus said," Come show yourself!" then Echo said, "Come!" to Narcissus and Narcissus said, "I give you no power over me!" and turned around. Echo said, " I give you power over me." but Narcissus was already gone. Echo prayed a prayer, "May he who loves no one love himself." Narcissus went to go find water and when knelt over the lake he saw his reflection and realized all the pain he had put these women through because he had finally realized how beautiful he was. So he knelt over the water and dove in, purposfully killing himself and as he was falling he said, "Farewell, farewell." It was only then that Echo could say farewell. Then when the nymphs were looking for his body they just found a beautiful flower where his body should have been and named the flower Narcissus after him (Edith Hamilton, Mythology).

Influence

The myth of Narcissus has been a rich vein for artists to mine for at least two thousand years, beginning with the Roman poet Ovid (book III of Metamorphoses). This was followed in more recent centuries by other poets (e.g. Keats) and painters (Caravaggio, Poussin, Turner, Dalí, and Waterhouse). Russian writer Fyodor Dostoevsky used lonely Narcissus-type characters in his poems and novels, such as Yakov Petrovich Golyadkin in "" (1846).In Stendhal's novel Le Rouge et le Noir(1830), there is a classic narcissist in the character of Mathilde. Says Prince Korasoff to Julien Sorel, the protagonist, with respect to his beloved:

She looks at herself instead of looking at you, and so doesn't know you. During the two or three little outbursts of passion she has allowed herself in your favor, she has, by a great effort of imagination, seen in you the hero of her dreams, and not yourself as you really are. (Page 401, 1953 Penguin Edition, trans. Margaret R.B. Shaw).


The myth had a decided influence on English Victorian homoerotic culture, via the influence of Andre Gide's study of the myth, Traite du Narcisse ('The Treatise of the Narcissus', 1891), and the influence of Oscar Wilde.

In 20th century pop culture, Bob Dylan's song "License to Kill" refers indirectly to Narcissus: "Now he worships at an altar of a stagnant pool /And when he sees his reflection, he's fulfilled."!

"Supper's Ready" by Genesis (ca. 1972), a near-23-minute epic song laden with religious and mythological imagery, refers to the myth of Narcissus as follows: "A young figure sits still by a pool / He's been stamped "Human Bacon" by some butchery tool / (He is you) / Social Security took care of this lad. / We watch in reverence, as Narcissus is turned to a flower. / A flower?" The movement is titled "How Dare I Be So Beautiful."

The Narcissus flower

The Narcissus flower is named after Narcissus. [1]

Further reading, and listening

  • Louise Vinge. (1967). The Narcissus Theme in Western Literature up to the Nineteenth Century. (The classic in-depth study).
The Narcissus myth as told by story tellers:
. (.ogg file)
Bibliography of reconstruction: Ovid, Metamorphoses III.340 - 350, 415 - 510 (AD 8); Pausanias, Description of Greece 9.31.7 (AD 143–176)

See also

External links

Narcissus may refer to:
  • Narcissus (mythology), a figure in Greek mythology
  • Narcissus (flower), a type of plant
  • Tiberius Claudius Narcissus, freedman and secretary to the Roman emperor Claudius
  • Narcissus (murderer), murderer of the Roman emperor Commodus

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Greek mythology is the body of stories belonging to the Ancient Greeks concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices.
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Greek}}} 
Writing system: Greek alphabet 
Official status
Official language of:  Greece
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 European Union
recognised as minority language in parts of:
 European Union
 Italy
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Regulated by:
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Hero (Greek ἥρως), in Greek mythology and folklore, was originally a demi-god, the offspring of a mortal and a deity.
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Thespiae (Greek Θεσπιαι, Thespiai) was an ancient Greek city in Boeotia. It stood on level ground commanded by the low range of hills which runs eastward from the foot of Mount Helicon to Thebes.
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Boeotia, Beotia, or Bœotia (Greek: Βοιωτία - English IPA: /biːˈoʊʃiə/
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Ovid

Ovid as imagined in the Nuremberg Chronicle, 1493.
Born: March 20, 43 BC
Sulmo
Died: 17 AD
Tomis
Occupation: Poet
Influences: Dante Alighieri, Geoffrey Chaucer, John Milton, William Shakespeare

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Metamorphoses by the Roman poet Ovid is a narrative poem in fifteen books that describes the creation and history of the world, drawing from Greek and Roman mythological traditions.
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Pausanias (Greek: Παυσανίας) was a Greek traveller and geographer of the 2nd century A.D., who lived in the times of Hadrian, Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius.
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Oxyrhynchus (Greek: Οξύρρυγχος; "sharp-snouted or sharp-nosed"; ancient Egyptian Pr-Medjed; Coptic Pemdje; modern Egyptian Arabic el-Bahnasa
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Papyrus is an early form of thick paper-like material produced from the pith of the papyrus plant, Cyperus papyrus, a wetland sedge that was once abundant in the Nile Delta of Egypt.
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Genetic sexual attraction (GSA) is sexual attraction between close relatives, such as brother and sister, who first meet as adults. The effect is also seen between cousins, see cousin couple.
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Narcissus
L.

Subgenera, Species, Subspecies

See text.
Narcissus is the botanic name for a genus of mainly hardy, mostly spring-flowering, bulbs in the Amaryllis family native to Europe, North Africa and Asia.
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Dêmêtêr /də'miː.tɚ/ (Greek: Δημήτηρ
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Persephone was the Queen of the Underworld, consort of Hades, the Kore or young maiden, and the daughter of Demeter— and Zeus, in the Olympian version.

Persephone (Greek: Περσεφόνη,
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Hades (from Greek Άδης, Hadēs, originally Άιδης, Haidēs or Άΐδης
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See Echo for other meanings.


In Greek mythology, Echo (Greek Ἠχώ) was an Oread (a mountain nymph) who loved her own voice. Zeus loved consorting with beautiful nymphs and visited them on Earth often.
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In the Olympian pantheon of classical Greek Mythology, Hera, (Greek Ήρα, IPA pronunciation [ˈhiːrə]; or Here (
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Zeus (in Greek: nominative: Ζεύς Zeús, genitive: Διός Diós
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Ancient Rome was a civilization that grew from a small agricultural community founded on the Italian Peninsula circa the 9th century BC to a massive empire straddling the Mediterranean Sea.
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Ovid

Ovid as imagined in the Nuremberg Chronicle, 1493.
Born: March 20, 43 BC
Sulmo
Died: 17 AD
Tomis
Occupation: Poet
Influences: Dante Alighieri, Geoffrey Chaucer, John Milton, William Shakespeare

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Metamorphoses by the Roman poet Ovid is a narrative poem in fifteen books that describes the creation and history of the world, drawing from Greek and Roman mythological traditions.
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John Keats

Born: September 31 1795(1795--)
London, England
Died: January 23 1821 (aged 27)
Rome, Papal States
Occupation: Poet
Literary movement: Romanticism

John Keats
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Caravaggio

Chalk portrait of Caravaggio by Ottavio Leoni, c. 1621.
Birth name Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio
28 September 1571(1571--)
Milan
18 July 1610 (aged 40) (Aged 38)
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Nicolas Poussin (15 June 1594 – 19 November 1665) was a French painter in the Classical style. His work predominantly features clarity, logic, and order, and favors line over color.
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Joseph Mallord William Turner (23 April 1775[1] – 19 December 1851) was an English Romantic landscape painter, watercolourist and printmaker, whose style can be said to have laid the foundation for Impressionism.
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Salvador Dalí

Birth name Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dalí i Domènech
May 11 1904(1904--)
Figueres, Catalonia, Spain
January 23 1989 (aged 86)
Figueres, Catalonia, Spain
Spanish
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John William Waterhouse

John William Waterhouse
1849-04-06
Rome, Italy
1917-02-10
London, England
British
Painter
Royal Academy
Pre-Raphaelite
Hylas and the Nymphs
The Lady of Shalott
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Fyodor Dostoevsky

Born: November 11 1821(1821--)
Moscow, Russian Empire
Died: January 9 1881 (aged 61)
Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire
Occupation: Novelist
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Marie-Henri Beyle (January 23, 1783 – March 23, 1842), better known by his penname Stendhal, was a 19th-century French writer. Known for his acute analysis of his characters' psychology, he is considered one of the earliest and foremost practitioners of realism in his
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