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| Narcissus
Other names: Cephisius Biographical Narcissus was renowned for his striking beauty but remained completely indifferent to love. Many admired him, yet none could reach him emotionally. Among those who loved him was the nymph Echo, whose affection went unanswered. Consumed by sorrow, she gradually faded away until nothing remained of her but her voice. One of Narcissus’s rejected admirers appealed to Nemesis, asking that he be punished for his cold-heartedness. In response, Nemesis caused Narcissus to encounter his own reflection in a well. Unaware that he was gazing at himself, he became utterly captivated by the image. Unable to approach or possess what he loved, he slowly wasted away, overcome by longing. After his death, his body was transformed into the flower that bears his name, the narcissus. Ovid recounts this version of the story in detail. Other traditions offer different accounts of his fate. In one, Narcissus sent a sword to a lover named Ameinius, who used it to kill himself at the doorway of Narcissus’s house, calling upon the gods to take revenge. Overcome by desire for himself and by remorse, Narcissus later took his own life, and from his blood the narcissus flower grew. Another version claims that he dissolved entirely into the waters of the well where he had first seen his reflection. Yet another tells of a twin sister whom Narcissus dearly loved and who closely resembled him. When she died, he returned again and again to the well, staring at his reflected likeness as a way of easing his yearning for her. A final account states that Narcissus drowned in the well itself. Son of Cephissus and Liriope. |
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