Gods and Heroes: Narcissus and Echo - Myths of Ancient Greece. Narcissus and echo Myths of ancient Greece narcissus summary

Narcissus looked around, not knowing where to go, and shouted loudly:
- Hey, who's here?
- Here! - Echo answered loudly.
- Come here! - Narcissus shouted.
- Here! - Echo answered.
The beautiful Narcissus looks around in amazement. There is no one. Surprised by this, he exclaimed loudly:
- Here, come to me quickly!
And Echo responded joyfully.
- To me!

Guy Head "Echo"

Stretching out her hands, a nymph from the forest hurries towards Narcissus, but the beautiful young man angrily pushes her away. He hastily left the nymph and disappeared into the dark forest. The rejected nymph also hid in the impenetrable thicket of the forest. She suffers from love for Narcissus, does not show herself to anyone and only sadly responds to every cry from the unfortunate Echo. But Narcissus remained proud and narcissistic. He rejected love
everyone. His pride made many nymphs unhappy. And once one of the nymphs rejected by him exclaimed:
- Love you too, Narcissus! And let the person not reciprocate your feelings,
which you will love!
The nymph's wish came true. The goddess of love Aphrodite was angry that Narcissus was rejecting her gifts and punished him.

John William Waterhouse "Narcissus and Echo"

One spring, while hunting, Narcissus came to a stream and wanted to drink the cold water. Neither a shepherd nor mountain goats had ever touched the waters of this stream, not once had a broken branch fallen into the stream, not even the wind had carried lush flower petals into the stream. Its water was clean and transparent. As in a mirror, everything around was reflected in it: the bushes,
growing along the shore, and slender cypress trees, and the blue sky. Narcissus bent down to the stream, resting his hands on a stone protruding from the water, and was reflected in the stream in all its glory. It was then that Aphrodite’s punishment befell him. He looks in amazement at his reflection in the water, and strong love takes possession of it. With eyes full of love, he looks at his image in the water, it beckons him, calls him, reaches out to him.
hands. Narcissus leans towards the mirror of the waters to kiss his reflection, but kisses only the cold, clear water of the stream. Narcissus has forgotten everything: he does not leave the stream; without stopping to admire himself. He doesn't eat, doesn't drink, doesn't sleep. Finally, full of despair, Narcissus exclaims, stretching out his hands to his reflection:
- 0, who suffered so cruelly! We are separated not by mountains, not by seas, but only by a strip of water, and yet we cannot be with you. Get out of the stream!
Narcissus thought, looking at his reflection in the water. Suddenly a terrible thought came to mind, and he quietly whispered to his reflection, leaning towards the water itself:
- Oh, grief! I'm afraid I've fallen in love with myself! After all, you are me! I love myself. I feel like I don't have much time left to live. Having barely blossomed, I will wither and descend into the dark kingdom of shadows. Death does not frighten me; death will bring an end to the torment of love.

Nicolas Poussin "Echo and Narcissus"

Narcissus' strength leaves, he turns pale and already feels the approach of death, but still cannot tear himself away from his reflection. Narcissus is crying. His tears fall into the clear waters of the stream. Circles appeared on the mirror surface of the water and the beautiful image disappeared. Narcissus exclaimed with fear:
- Oh, where are you! Come back! Stay! Don't leave me. After all, this is cruel. Oh, let me at least look at you!

A.J.Grass "Narcissus"

But then the water is calm again, a reflection has appeared again, and Narcissus is again looking at it without stopping. It melts like dew on flowers in the rays of the hot sun.

Karl Bryullov "Narcissus looking into the water"

The unfortunate nymph Echo also sees how Narcissus suffers. She still loves him; Narcissus's suffering squeezes her heart with pain.
- Oh, grief! - exclaims Narcissus.
- Oh, grief! - Echo answers.
Finally, exhausted, Narcissus exclaimed in a weakening voice, looking at his reflection:
- Goodbye!
And even more quietly, barely audible, the response of the nymph Echo sounded:
- Goodbye!
Narcissus's head bowed on the green coastal grass, and the darkness of death covered his eyes. Narcissus died. The young nymphs cried in the forest, and Echo cried. The nymphs prepared a grave for young Narcissus, but when they came for his body, they did not find it. In the place where Narcissus's head bowed on the grass, a white fragrant flower grew - the flower of death; His name is Narcissus.

D.W. Waterhouse "Narcissus"
The basis of the text is N.A. Kun. "Legends and Myths of Ancient Greece"

Poets at all times different countries sang of the flower wearing beautiful name- narcissist. In terms of magnificence, this plant is not inferior even to a rose. The elegance and beauty of the flower is amazing. It is possible that the myth of Narcissus, who was born to the ancient Greeks, also contributed.

Thanks to legend, the name of the plant has become a household name. Now the narcissist is compared to selfishness. In the world of botany, this flower is associated with selfishness, empty hopes and dreams.

So, the myth of Narcissus. Let's briefly summarize what it's about. The story is about a young man who fell in love with his own reflection and died. He couldn’t take his eyes off the reflection in the water for a second, admiring himself. At the site of the death of the handsome young man, a flower of unusual beauty grew, called a narcissus. The plant began to be considered a symbol of sleep or oblivion, from which you can get out in a different guise. This is a kind of symbol of resurrection. But everything is not so simple, because the myth of Narcissus is very complicated. A brief summary of it will not reveal the whole essence of the story.

A young man named Narcissus was handsome and narcissistic. He was born by the nymph Liriope from the river god Cephissus. After the birth of the boy, the parents heard Tiresias' prediction about the fate of Narcissus. The soothsayer promised the boy a happy fate and long life, unless he never sees his own reflection. There were no mirrors at that time, and the parents were not frightened by the prediction. The years passed, the boy grew up. He was stately and handsome, all the girls tried to win his love. Even grown men were amazed by the beauty of Narcissus. But the guy didn't pay attention to anyone.

Numerous fans were offended; they asked the gods of Olympus to punish the proud young man. The myth of Narcissus says that a goddess named Nemesis heard his cries for help, and soon Narcissus saw his own reflection in the water. The prophecy came true: the guy fell in love with his reflection and died, unable to move away from the water.

The fate of the nymph Echo

But this is not the end of the Ancient Greek myth about Narcissus. It is worth telling the sad story of Echo, a nymph madly in love with Narcissus. Her fate is very tragic. Echo was close friends with the goddess Hera, who was quite stern.

Zeus was the husband of Hera, and Echo learned about his secret adventures, but carefully hid it from her mistress. Hera was angry for this, she deprived Echo of her voice and drove her away. The girl repeated only the last phrases spoken by people, and her salvation should have been love.

Unhappy love

The myth of Narcissus is a tragic story of unrequited love. Handsome guy didn’t love anyone, refused everyone. Echo fell in love with him and followed him everywhere. The young man did not pay any attention to the nymph. All that was left of the girl was her voice. Echo cursed Narcissus, she wanted him to experience the same unrequited love.

Love in in this case did not unite two hearts. She did not make either Narcissus or Echo happy. All that was left of the girl was her voice - an echo. And the young man died from unrequited love, because the reflection is soulless.

Let's go deeper into philosophy

We told the difficult love story. This myth has hidden meaning, or condemnation. The handsome young man is essentially unhappy, and fate played a cruel joke on him. He fell in love external beauty, although she was only his own reflection, which Narcissus had no idea about. The reflection overshadowed the guy’s mind, and he forgot about everything. He didn’t want to get to the bottom of the inner beauty, the soul. If Narcissus knew what the soul is, then perhaps he would find “himself.” Indeed, the guy experienced the pangs of unrequited love, like hundreds of girls. But this did not stop him: the young man was weak-willed, he chose melancholy and sadness instead of a happy life.

A nymph named Echo is unhappy and exhausted. She tried to preserve someone else's happiness and doomed herself to suffering. A devoted friend punished the girl; she took Echo’s voice away. The nymph lost the meaning of life and still tried to find her other half in order to become happy. Only mutual love could create a miracle, but the young nymph was unlucky. Echo fell in love only with her appearance; she liked the bodily shell, but not the soul, which doomed her to death.

Hidden mythical meaning

A beautiful flower grew in the place where Narcissus died. Everyone who saw it instantly fell in love with its beauty and amazing aroma. The plant looked slightly sad, and this gave it charm. Narcissus became a symbol of death, the dark kingdom of Hades. It is closely associated with longing, sadness and oblivion.

In this myth, Narcissus was the personification of coldness and insensibility. In ancient Greece, a flower called narcissus was a symbol of death.

Initially, ancient Greek history described the fear of people of that time to face themselves in reflection, that is, to experience reality. A little later, the concept of “narcissism”, or selfishness and excessive narcissism, was coined. But no myths or beliefs can scare gardeners who love to grow this beautiful fragrant flower. Mentions of daffodils are often found in works of art, poets glorify flowers, and people collect them and present bouquets to their loved ones.

Narcissus and reflections. The myth of Narcissus.

The river god Kefessios desired the nymph Liopella. Since she did not reciprocate his feelings, Kefessios captivated her and imprisoned her in a spring. From their union, not by the will of Liopella, but by the will of Kefessius, a boy was born, named Narcissus. Simply put, Narcissus's dad raped his mom. The soothsayer Teressius told the boy's parents that Narcissus would live long only if he did not see himself; as soon as he saw his reflection, he would die.

Narcissus lived without seeing himself, his reflection, knowing that when he saw himself, he would die immediately. He accepted his fate. He was beautiful, but he didn’t know it, because he simply couldn’t compare himself to anyone. The forest nymph Echo fell madly in love with the beautiful young man. She secretly watched Narcissus, but could not open up to a mortal. But one day Narcissus and his friends found themselves in the forest where Echo lived. The friends left, leaving Narcissus alone. He began to call them: “Come to me!”, but instead of friends, Echo answered him: “Come to me!” and opened up to him. Narcissus was inexperienced with women, Echo with her passion took him by surprise, he was confused, did not know how to get out of the forest, did not know how to behave with Echo. She offered herself to him - he did not dare refuse. He took everything that Echo gave him, all of her, only he didn’t need Echo’s voice. And he left her voice. Echo disappeared, giving herself up to Narcissus, only her voice answered his call. Echo died from love for Narcissus, from non-reciprocal love, since he simply did not know how to treat girls, he could not fall in love. And when would he have time? It was Echo who had time to secretly watch him, to fall in love. And Narcissus saw Echo for the first time. And although he did not manage to fall in love with Echo, he needed her, because she became a reflection of his voice.

Narcissus called her, followed the voice, looked for Echo, and suddenly saw his reflection in the stream. He froze when he saw such a beautiful young man, admired him for a long time, and realized that he had fallen in love with him. And then he realized that this beautiful young man was himself, he realized that he was in love with himself. The whole world ceased to exist for Narcissus, he saw the most beautiful thing in the world - himself. So the prediction came true, and Narcissus turned into a flower.

illustration: Salvador Dali. Metamorphoses of Narcissus, 1937

Each of us needs reflections. We create, we create, we look at the fruits of our labor - this is our reflection. Our salary for performing duties according to the job description and staffing table is our reflection. Our children and their personalities are a reflection of our DNA and worldview. Our blogs and friends' comments are our reflections.

How did Narcissus live, not knowing his parents’ love for each other, not knowing anything about himself except the prediction of his own death?

If he did not see his reflections, does this mean that he was outside of society, limited in communication? And when he got into society, he got lost in this forest. His friends left him. And he faced the unknown, with Echo, with her love. Did he know how to handle it, did he know what to do with it?

Narcissist never saw himself, he did not know his personality, how it is “reflected” in the world, what are the dimensions - the boundaries of his reflection. He didn't know his limits. And therefore, he did not know the boundaries of strangers. If he had known, maybe he wouldn’t have taken everything that Echo offered him (by the way, what did she have with personal boundaries if she gave herself up so completely and completely?). If Narcissus had known about his boundaries, perhaps his friends would not have left him alone in the forest; they would have known that he could get lost.

Narcissus, the son of the river god Cephisus and the nymph Liriope, was a young man of wonderful beauty, but his heart was proud and cruel, he did not love anyone.
One day he was hunting on Mount Cithaeron and drove a young beautiful deer into a net.
The nymph Echo saw a slender young hunter, fell in love with him and secretly followed him, making her way through the mountains, forests and valleys.
But the nymph Echo was punished by Hera - she could not speak first and could not remain silent when others spoke. She now wanted to tell the young man sweet Nothing, but, doomed to silence, she began to wait for him to say something in order to respond to his words.
Walking through a dense mountain forest. Narcissus lost his way and fell behind his comrades. Looking around and seeing that there was no one around, he shouted:
- Is there anyone here?
- Here! - Echo answered.
The young man Narcissus stopped, looked around and shouted:
- To me!
- To me! - someone’s mysterious voice answered.
Narcissus looked around again and saw that no one was there.
- Why are you chasing me? - he said, and the voice answered him: - You are chasing me!
“Come to me, let’s be friends,” Narcissus shouted, and the voice gently answered:
- Let's be friends!
And then the nymph Echo appeared from the thicket of the forest and began to beckon him with her hand.
But Narcissus began to run away from her, and as he ran away he shouted;
I will never be friends with you!
And Echo answered:
- I’ll make friends with you!
Suddenly she disappeared into the dense forest and, in embarrassment, hid her face in the green branches of the trees. Since then, she has been hiding in deserted, remote caves and ravines, sad about the beautiful Narcissus. And from sadness her face became covered with wrinkles, she lost weight, and only her voice remained. But her voice remained the same as it was - young and sonorous, and her body little by little turned into rock.
Echo's voice is heard in forests, mountains and groves, and although it is impossible to see her, she is heard by everyone.
Other nymphs also fell in love with the cruel, heartless young man Narcissus, but he did not love anyone.
And they said then:
- Let no one love him either!
One day, on a sultry summer afternoon, Narcissus was hunting on Mount Helikon and, tired, approached a clear, quiet stream that flowed under the canopy of dense trees.
He lay down on the grass by the stream and, thirsty, bent down to drink water. And suddenly he saw a beautiful young man in the light mirror water - it was his reflection. And, as if chained by some miraculous force, he looked and could not get enough of beautiful face young man, not knowing that he fell in love with himself. His eyes could not stop admiring his reflection in the water, and his lips were kissed by cold streams; he stretched out his arms and embraced the bright waters of the stream. He did not eat, did not drink and did not sleep, turning to his reflection:
- Come out of the water, beautiful young man, I know you love me, you kiss and hug me when I hug you. I smile, you smile back at me.
I cry, you answer my crying with tears. But woe is me - it’s clear that I love my own image, I love myself.
Narcissus bent over the water; sits motionless and looks into the bright stream, and every day his strength weakens. He cries and says:
- Woe is me, woe!
And the nymph Echo, still loving the young man, repeats: “Woe! Woe!”
Narcissus sighs, and Echo sighs after him.
And so Narcissus bowed his weary head on the grass and died.
And, having learned about the death of Narcissus, the forest dryads wept bitterly and Echo began to cry.
They got ready to bury Narcissus and began to look for his body, but they could not find him anywhere.
Where the young man bowed his head on the grass, a beautiful, cold, slender flower with white petals grew, and people called it narcissus.

Myths and legends of ancient Greece. Illustrations.

According to the myth of Echo and Hera, Echo was one of the most beautiful nymphs, but this was not what attracted other nymphs, dryads and naiads to her. She had a magnificent, melodic voice, which had no equal in all of Ancient Greece, and besides, she knew how to tell stories so captivatingly that she was even a goddess. Aphrodite and Hera especially loved Echo's chatter. According to one of the myths, Aphrodite even promised Echo to give the nymph the love of any person of her choice, but Echo refused, citing the fact that she was not in love with anyone now, but asked not to forget about the promise and allow her to turn to the goddess of love then, when she needs it.

The story of Echo's request to Aphrodite continues in one of the versions of the myth about the nymph and Narcissus.

Hera listened to Echo with pleasure, until the nymph distracted her with conversations at the request of Zeus, who used this time for numerous infidelities on his wife. There is a version that Hera also discovered that Echo did not disdain gossip, retelling stories about the adventures of the Thunderer to other deities, but not bringing them to the ears of his wife. The angry goddess deprived the nymph of “freedom of speech”, ordering her to repeat only the last phrases of others uttered next to her.

Echo and Pan

The name of the nymph Echo also appears in some legends about Pan. According to one of them, the goat-footed god of wild nature fell in love with a sweet-voiced nymph, but she did not reciprocate his advances. Then Pan sowed unaccountable horror and panic among the shepherds, suggesting that the source of danger was the beautiful Echo. The shepherds, overwhelmed by the attack, tore the nymph into small pieces and scattered them across. Merciful Gaia accepted them and, taking the flesh, left the voice of Echo, which so captivated everyone around, to live.

There are myths in which Echo loves Pan and gives birth to two daughters - Iinga and Yamb. In honor of the latter, according to myths, the poetic measure of the same name was named.

Narcissus and Echo

Deprived of the right to her own speech, Echo met a beautiful young man, Narcissus, and fell in love with him. It took her a long time to repeat his words, starting a conversation with him in this way, and one day, when Narcissus was left alone, she succeeded. The young man heard a noise in the branches and shouted: “Who’s there?” “Here,” Echo answered him. “Come out to me,” said Narcissus. “Come to me,” Echo repeated. “Let’s go meet each other,” the young man suggested, and the nymph repeated the last words of his phrase and rushed to the young man. Seeing her, the handsome man not only did not become inflamed with feelings, but for some reason he was filled with disgust and forbade Echo to even come into his sight. The nymph in love followed on his heels, hiding in the foliage, until she faded away from unrequited love, leaving only a voice on the ground.

The story of Echo's love for Narcissus has inspired many writers, artists and composers. Among them are Ovid, Poussin, Gluck.

There is a version of the myth of Narcissus and Echo in which the nymph was not punished by Hero, but simply fell in love with the young man and was cruelly rejected by him. Suffering, she turned to Aphrodite and reminded her that she had promised not to refuse her request, but Echo did not want to make Narcissus fall in love with her, but to disappear, so that the feeling that was draining her would disappear with her. The Goddess disembodied Echo, leaving only her beautiful voice on earth, devoid of feelings and suffering, and decided to take revenge on Narcissus. She made the young man fall in love with his own reflection, which he saw in the surface of the water. Narcissus spent long hours begging a certain river nymph to respond to his love, for whom he took his reflected form and, in the end, also melted away from love, like the rejected Echo, turning into delicate flower, which received his name.