Myth of Ekho and Narcissus

You have probably heard the words "echo" and "narcissist," they both come from characters in Greek mythology, Ekho and Narcissus.
If you see someone who puts themselves first or has a strong sense of self-importance, you may call them narcissistic.
When you stand in front of a mountain and shout, you hear the reflection of your voice, that is an echo.
There is an interesting myth behind these words and you are about to hear it.

Ekho was an Oread or mountain nymph who resided on Mount Cithaeron, the mount of destiny.
Zeus was attracted to nymphs and often visited them for ... carnal relations.
Hera, Zeus' wife, was suspicious of what her husband was up to with all these nymphs, and followed him one day to spy on him.
Zeus ordered Echo to distract Hera by engaging her in a long conversation (which gave Zeus the opportunity to escape back home to Mount Olympus).
Echo did so, but when Hera found out that she had been protecting Zeus, she punished Echo by depriving her of all speech of her own:
From now on, Echo could only repeat the words of others.

Sometime after being cursed, a young man named Narcissus came near the mountain with his friends. Narcissus was a beautiful young man. She immediately fell in love with him, so she followed him quietly. The more she looked at the young man, the more she longed for him. Although she wished with all her heart to call Narcissus, Hera's curse kept her from doing so.
During the hunt, Narcissus was separated from his companions and called out, "Is someone there?" and heard the nymph repeat his words. Frightened Narcissus answered the voice, "Come here," again nymph answered him the same. When Narcissus saw that no one had emerged from the woods, he concluded that the owner of the voice must be running away from him and called out again "This way, we must come together." Ekho took this as a reciprocation of her love and ecstatically agreed, "We must come together!"
In her joy, Echo rushed to Narcissus, ready to throw her arms around her beloved Narcissus, however, He was appalled and spurning her, exclaimed, "Hands off! May I die before you enjoy my body. All Echo could say in reply was, 'Enjoy my body,' and having done so she fled, scorned, humiliated and ashamed.
Despite the harshness of his rejection, Echo's love for Narcissus only grew. Poor Echo. She never stopped loving him.
Narcissus did not care. He was too obsessed with himself.
One day, tired of hunting, he stopped to drink at a clear, pristine pond to drink. As he leaned over, he saw the reflection of a beautiful young man and was filled with desire.
As he leaned forward with his lips pursed, the one he loved raised his lips to him. When Narcissus smiled, he smiled. When Narcissus cried, he cried. And when Narcissus tried to embrace him, by dipping his arms in the water, the reflection broke apart.
Finally Narcissus realized that he was burning with love for no one but himself, but he still could not tear himself away. He cried and tore his clothes and beat his bare chest. He knew he was growing weak, and yet he remained at the edge of the pool with his beloved reflection, waiting for death.
Echo watched him the whole time. When Narcissus looked into the pond one last time and said, "Oh marvellous boy, I have loved you in vain, farewell," Echo also cried out in chorus, "Farewell."

After his death, the inhabitants of the House of Shadows left his body as they prepared his funeral pyre. When they returned, he was gone, leaving in his place a flower which named after him narcissus flower or adaffodil .
Echo mourned him,and eventually she too began to waste away. Her beauty faded, her skin shriveled, and her bones turned to stone. Today, all that is left of Echo is the sound of her voice.
If you go up a mountain now and shout anything, you will hear Echo's voice.



Today we use this couple’s names to describe physical and psychological phenomena. Echo for describing a sound created by the reflection of sound waves from a surface back to the listener.
Narcissus has become synonymous with self-love, with the adjective ‘narcissistic’ and the noun ‘narcissism’ being coined to describe the sort of behaviour which he himself exhibited. Psychology defines Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD) as a mental condition in which people have an exaggerated sense of their own importance, a deep need for excessive attention and admiration, dysfunctional relationships, and a lack of empathy for others.




the story of Echo and Narcissus strikes us as quintessential Greek myth, but
in the original greek version of narcicus myth there is no mention of Ekho, anctually introduction of Echo into the story of Narcissus is the invention of a Roman poet, Ovid, in his book "Metamorphoses".
The tragic death of Narcissus made him a recurring figure in art and literature.
The novel The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde is in many ways a modern retelling of Narcissus myth. Dorian Gray and Narcissus both were too self involved with themselves and fell in love with their beauty and youth , which lead them to death of their own and those who loved them.

The myth of narcicuss was also a source of inspiration for many painters from Caravaggio to Dally.

Ekho and Narcicus represent two extremes of human attitude towards their individuality. And as always the golden rule is defined in opposition to the extremes: To live happily, you must define your identity, your self, as an individual, not being obsessed with it to the degree of narcissism , nor denying yourself completely , echoing the thoughts and words of others.