Narcissus mythology: Encyclopedia - Narcissus mythology

Narcissus (mythology)

In Greek mythology, Narcissus or Narkissos (Greek Νάρκισσος), was a hero of the territory of Thespiae in Boeotia who was renowned for his beauty and his pride. Several versions of his myth have survived: Ovid's, from his Metamorphoses; Pausanias', from his Guide to Greece, (9.31.7); and one found among the Oxyrinchus papyri.

Pausanias locates the spring of Narcissus at Donacon 'Reed-bed' in the territory of the Thespians. Pausianias finds it incredible that someone could not distinguish a reflection from a real person, and cites a less known variant in which Narcissus had a twin sister. Both dressed the same and wore the same kind of clothes and hunted together. Narcissus fell in love with her. When she died, Narcissus pined after her and pretended that the reflection he saw in the water was his sister.

As Pausanias also notes, yet another tale is that the narcissus flower was created to entice Demeter's daughter Core away from her companions to enable Hades to abduct her.

Narcissus mythology - Ovid's version

Ovid, from his Metamorphoses, (3.341–510) is probably the best known teller of the myth of Narcissus. According to Ovid, Narcissus was the son of the Boeotian river Cephissus and the nymph Liriope (otherwise unknown). Narcissus, who had "just reached his sixteenth year" (had reached the age of fifteen), spurned the love of both male youths and girls. A nymph, Echo, loved him, but she could never get his attention. He was riveted to the water's edge, entranced by the beautiful boy he thought he glimpsed within, and she eventually pined away longing for him... until nothing was left of Echo but her sad, pleading voice. Narcissus thought the image in the water was real and pined away with desire, eventually transforming into the flower that bears his name.

Narcissus mythology - Archaic version

This, a more archaic version than the one related by Ovid in his Metamorphoses, is a moral tale in which the proud and unfeeling Narcissus is punished by the gods for having spurned all his male suitors. It is thought to have been meant as a cautionary tale addressed to adolescent boys. Until recently, the only source for this version was a segment in Pausanias (9.31.7), about 150 years after Ovid. However, a very similar account was discovered among the Oxyrinchus papyri in 2004, an account that predates Ovid's version by at least fifty years.

In this story, Ameinias, a young man, loved Narcissus but was scorned. To tell Ameinias off, Narcissus gave him a sword as a present. Ameinias used the sword to kill himself on Narcissus' doorstep and prayed to Nemesis that Narcissus would one day know the pain of unrequited love. This curse was fulfilled when Narcissus became entranced by his reflection in the pool and tried to seduce the beautiful boy, not realizing it was himself he was looking at. Completing the symmetry of the tale, Narcissus takes his sword and kills himself from sorrow.[1]

Narcissus mythology - Narcissism

Narcissism is named after Narcissus, and both derive from the Greek word narke "numb" from which we also get the word narcotic. Thus for the Greeks Narcissus stood for callousness and insensitivity, as he was emotionally numb to the entreaties of those who fell in love with his beauty.

Narcissus mythology - The myth's influences

The parable of Narcissus has been a rich vein for artists to mine for at least two thousand years, beginning with the Roman poet Ovid (book III of Metamorphoses). This was followed in more recent centuries by other poets (Keats), and painters (Caravaggio, Poussin, Turner, Dalí, and Waterhouse). In Stendhal's novel Le Rouge et le Noir (1830), there is a classic narcissist in the character of Mathilde. Says Prince Korasoff to Julien Sorel, the protagonist, with respect to his beloved:

She looks at herself instead of looking at you, and so doesn't know you. During the two or three little outbursts of passion she has allowed herself in your favor, she has, by a great effort of imagination, seen in you the hero of her dreams, and not yourself as you really are. (Page 401, 1953 Penguin Edition, trans. Margaret R.B. Shaw)

The myth had a decided influence of English Victorian homoerotic culture, via the influence of Andre Gide's study of the myth Traite du Narcisse ('The Treatise of the Narcissus', 1891), and the influence of Oscar Wilde.

Narcissus mythology - The narcissus flower

The Narcissus flower blooms early in the spring and is often found in damp soil near to a pond. It is a self-sufficient, fertile but stagnant environment. The flower is usually of six white vesica-shaped radiating petals with a central yellow funnel containing the stamen and the stigma. It has a firm and upright stalk. In Islam the Hadith of Bukhari associates the flower with the upright and righteous man. The symbol has also been likened to the transformation of vanity and self-centeredness into the humility of a more individuated and spiritual self.

Narcissus mythology - Further reading & listening

• Louise Vinge. (1967). The Narcissus Theme in Western Literature up to the Nineteenth Century. (The classic in-depth study).

See also:

• Narcotic
• Narcissism
• Pygmalion

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