Written by: Calli DeManiro
Issue: #006
Hello all and welcome to Out of the Ruins, We Go! 's sixth post. This blog is all about ancient Greek minor and major gods/goddesses, heroes, myths, and more! I'll be sharing some facts about their backgrounds, and then other fun facts about them!
We're going to change it up a little bit this week. Now instead of a hero or a god/dess, we're going to be focusing on a greek tradegdy! So please help me in introducing the mirror-lover himself,... Narcissus!
Our myth goes way back to when the river god Cephissus got a nymph named Liriope pregnant. Liriope gave birth to a very handsome son, named Narcissus. He had many lovers, however, he only showed them disdain and contempt.
One day while Narcissus was hunting in the woods, and Oread nymph under the name of Echo spotted him and immediately fell head over heels for him, as many girls did.
However, Narcissus felt a pair of eyes staring at him, and looked around until he saw Echo.
When Echo revealed herself to Narcissus, she tried to hug him.
Narcissus pushed her off, "Don't disturb me while I'm hunting! Ugh." What a jerk, right? He could've been kind about it...
Echo ran off, very embarassed. She roamed those woods for the rest of her life, searching for Narcissus until all that was left of her was her echo, hence, her name.
Nemesis, the goddess of revenge, eventually saw what Narcissus had done. Feeling pity for Echo, she decided to punish the boy for his actions.
As the saying goes, actions speak louder than words!
https://worldofolympians.com/l
ibrary/a7df33e0-d7e1-452b-b188-93e7772a2691
Nemesis lead Narcissus to a pool, where he saw his reflection and immediately fell in love with it. (Was Aphrodite involved in this too?)
At the beginning, he did not think that it was his reflection, instead a real man. When Narcissus realized it was himself, he fell into dispair that he couldn't love anyone but himself. Out of self-pity, the man was never seen again. Who knows where he is right now?
Although he may not of been a good person, that's still a sad ending.
Now, let's get onto the intresting part.
Did you know that Narcissus had a flower named after him? Yup! It's called the narcissus, or more commonly known as a daffodil.
And that is all I have for you guys today. I hope to see you soon!
Sources:
- https://www.greekmytholog
y.com/Myths/Mortals/Narciss
us/narcissus.html
