Story Story?
Once upon a Greek mythology, a young hunter by the name Narcissus was known all around, not by his hunting prowess but for his beauty. It is written that he was so beautiful that both men and women chased, literally, after him. However, he rejected them all. The common version has it that a nymph named Echo fell for him but she couldn’t talk to him apart from repeating his words so one time she decided to hold/hug him. Narcissus refused to be held and Echo went to hide in embarrassment. She withered away in time. She asked Nemesis, the goddess of revenge, to teach him a lesson and this is when he was cursed- he will never be loved by the one he loved.
(Another version has a young lad falling for him and ended up ‘un-aliving’ himself and that this is what prompted a lesson from the gods) Anyway, the point stands that he rejected all advances.
As he went on hunting, he became thirsty and came across a pool/spring/lake of water that no thing approached. When he bent down to drink, he saw his reflection, and did not realize it was himself. He falls deeply in love 😇. He was entranced. Neither moving nor eating. He eventually realized that this love could not be reciprocated and in the end melted away into a gold and white flower; the Narcissus flower- named after him. (Some version has it that he lost his will to live and ‘un-alived’ himself). All versions agree the Narcissus flower was all that remained in his place.
I found this conversation between the goddess and the lake intriguing: After Narcissus’ tragedy.
(this conversation also appears as Paulo Coelho’s prologue in the Alchemist, and here was my first interaction with the story)
“Why do you weep?” The lake asked.
“I weep for Narcissus.” The lake replied
…”it’s no surprise that you weep for him, for though we always pursued him in the forest, only you could contemplate his beauty close at hand.” The goddess replied.
The lake as if surprised, “… was Narcissus beautiful? … i weep for him but i never noticed his beauty, i weep because, every time he knelt beside my banks, i could see, in the depths of his eyes, my own beauty reflected.”
Having read many many versions of the story, I honestly fail to see how this story warns us about the dangers of obsessive self-love. And, how the term Narcissism was derived from this Narcissus.
I do understand the dangers of obsessive self love, how it could lead people even to their death. The story in my opinion does not reflect Narcissus as a self-absorbed snob who rejected advances because of his selfish will to love himself only. He didn’t even recognize his own reflection!
What do you guys think about the story of Narcissus, the origin of the term Narcissism?
I like it. Poor Narcissus, though a mythical being, he founded a whole personality disorder!
I feel some empathy for him from reading the story.
First time hearing about Narcissus, what a story!
Good to hear. Stick around for more first times!