Narcissus: The Story Of An Incurable Selfish
During the height of the Greek empire, there was a young man named Narcissus ; he was handsome, lively and above all charming, which literally drove the young Greeks of that time crazy. However, Narcissus was able to love only himself. No matter how beautiful or rich the girls were, he rejected them all; his ego and vanity kept him from loving anyone other than himself.
We can see a clear example of this when Echo, a nymph from Mount Helicon, tried to seduce the young man with her beautiful and innocent voice. Indeed, ancient myths and legends said that the voice of these female deities could articulate the most beautiful and sweet words ever heard. On Eco, however, a terrible curse had fallen: Hera, jealous of the nymph, did not want her to shine in the eyes of her husband Zeus and, therefore, cursed her by taking away her voice and making sure that the only word she could pronounce was the repetition of the last word of the sentence of the person who spoke to her.
Eco’s unconditional love for Narcissus
Eco did not want to lose Narciso, because, as we all know, love is a very strong feeling. One day she stalked him through the woods to reveal her deep and sincere feelings to him. But, of course, this was impossible due to the hideous curse. So what did Eco do? She made use of her harmony with nature and with animals, so that they would tell Narcissus that she loved him deeply.
Narcissus weighed the Nymph’s statement and made fun of her. How was it possible that he fell in love with a dumb girl? HE who was the most beautiful and fascinating of the whole Peloponnese peninsula; HE who could possess all the most beautiful and elegant young women of all Athens, Sparta and Corinth; HE who had no rivals on the face of the earth … In short, Narcissus was indignant.
A terrible curse on Narcissus
After Narciso’s mocking reaction, Eco went to a cave to spend the rest of his life alone, sad and heartbroken. However, before dying, the muse begged Nemesis, goddess of vengeance and divine justice, to curse Narcissus by making him fall in love only with her reflection.
The curse took effect, and how. When Narcissus one day went to the river to cool off a bit, he came closer, saw himself reflected in the water and thought: “How beautiful I am. I’ll get a little closer, to better savor my beauty ”. Narcissus leaned so far over the edge that he ended up falling into the water and drowning. The curse proposed by Eco worked perfectly and Narcissus remained for eternity in the Underworld, tormented by his pride and his vanity. It was said that, over the centuries, a very special flower was born in that place, characterized above all by its incredible beauty and the color of its petals. The name Narciso was attributed to him .
Bringing this tale from Greek mythology to the present day , we want to suggest that you avoid vain and narcissistic people. They will only give you annoying headaches, since they are subjects who almost always think only of themselves. Their ego and pride will prevent them from empathizing with others. This fact, if you have paid attention, had already been suffered by Eco, the protagonist of this sad story with which many of you will surely have felt identified.
