Flower Myths: The Creation of Narcissus

In Greece, there are the loveliest of wild flowers. They would be beautiful anywhere, but Greece is not a rich and fertile country of wide meadows and fruitful fields where flowers seem at home. The story is about the creation of the narcissuss.

In Greek mythology, Narcissus, the son of the River God, was distinguished for his beauty. This is not the only story about the narcissus. There is another one, just as magical but quite different. The hero of this myth was a beautiful lad, whose name was Narcissus. His beauty was so great, all the girls who saw him longed to be his, but he would have none of them. Among those captivated by Narcissus was the nymph Echo. She was cursed by Hera to only repeat the words of others, which made her unable to express her love for him. One fateful day, as Narcissus hunted in the woods, Echo followed him, filled with longing. When she finally revealed herself, her love was met with harsh rejection.

He was calling to his companions, "Is anyone here?" and she called back in rapture, "Here-Here." She was still hidden by the trees so that he did not see her, and he shouted, "Come!"-just what she longed to say to him. She answered joyfully, "Come!" and stepped forth from the woods with her arms outstreched. But he turned away in angry disgust. She hid her blushes and her shame in a lonely cave.

As Narcissus bent over a clear pool for a drink, and saw his own reflection, at that moment he fell in love with it.

"Now I know," he cried, "what others have suffered from me, for I burn with love of my own self- and yet can I reach that loneliness I see mirrored in the water? But I cannot leave it. Only death can set me free."

And so it happened. He pined away, leaning perpetually over the pool, fixed in only one gaze. Echo was near him, but she could do nothing; only when, dying, he called to his image, "Farewell- farewell," she could only repeat the words as a last goodbye to him.
Narcissus's self love is actually the result of a curse from the great goddess Nemesis.

The nymphs he had scorned were kind to him in death, and sought his body to give it a burial, but could not find it. Where it had lain, there was blooming a new lovely flower, and they called it Narcissus after him.

In psychiatry and psychoanalysis, the term narcissism denotes an excessive degree of self-esteem or self-involvement. So the term narcissism came from the mythological character Narcissus. According to the myth, Narcissus is still admiring himself in the underworld, looking at the waters of Styx. Also, the story of Echo reminds us that when we shout through the mountains, we hear our voices repeatedly.