Echo and Narcissus
A tale of unrequited love and self-obsession.
Echo is a talkative nymph whose voice is admired by Venus, but she is cursed by Juno to only repeat others' words.[1] Narcissus is the son of the naiad Liriope and the river god Cephissus, and he wastes away after falling in love with his own reflection.[2][3]
Quick Facts
- Setting
- Mount Cithaeron and Thespiae in Boeotia
- Characters
- Echo (mountain nymph)
- Narcissus (hunter)
- Juno
- Jupiter
- Venus
- Liriope
- Cephissus
- Tiresias
- Prophecy
- Narcissus would live long so long as he never knows himself
Facts from the source article.
Making and release
Juno curses Echo so she can only finish sentences started by someone else.[1] Echo spies Narcissus hunting deer and falls in love with him.[4] When Narcissus shouts "This way, we must come together," Echo ecstatically repeats "We must come together!"[5] Echo rushes to embrace Narcissus, but he spurns her, saying "Hands off! May I die before you enjoy my body."[6]
Nemesis makes Narcissus fall in love with his own reflection in a pool, where he dies.[3] Juno was kept occupied by Echo's lengthy talks, which allowed Jupiter to pursue other nymphs.[1] While hunting, Narcissus got lost from his group and shouted; Echo then echoed his words back to him.[5] Echo's physical form disappeared, her skeletal remains hardened into rock, and only her vocal sound persisted.[7]
What the cited sources add
The prophet Tiresias told Liriope that Narcissus would live long "so long as he never knows himself."[2] Narcissus, looking into the pool one last time, says "Oh marvellous boy, I loved you in vain, farewell," and Echo repeats "Farewell."[3] When people come for Narcissus's funeral, they find no body.[3]
References
- Wikipedia, "Echo and Narcissus" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Ovid, Translated by David Raeburn (2004). Metamorphoses. Penguin Classics. 3. 361-369. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Echo and Narcissus" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Ovid, Metamorphoses, 3. 339-349 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Echo and Narcissus" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Ovid, Metamorphoses, 3. 493-501 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Echo and Narcissus" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Ovid, Metamorphoses, 3. 370-378 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Echo and Narcissus" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Ovid, Metamorphoses, 3. 379-386 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Echo and Narcissus" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Ovid, Metamorphoses, 3. 386-392 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Echo and Narcissus" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Ovid, Metamorphoses, 3. 395-397 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Echo and Narcissus (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.
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