Narcissus

Nationality/Culture

Greek

Pronunciation

nar-SIS-us

Alternate Names

None

Appears In

Ovid's Metamorphoses, Pausanias's Description of Greece

Lineage

Son of Cephissus and Leiriope

Character Overview

Narcissus was the son of the river god Cephissus (pronounced seh-FYE-suhs) and the nymph (female nature deity) Liriope (pronounced luh-RYE-uh-pee). He was a handsome Greek youth whose beauty ultimately led to his death. A prophet named Tiresias (pronounced ty-REE-see-uhs), who could see the plans of the gods, told Liriope that her son would enjoy a long life as long as he never knew himself or saw his reflection. Although Liriope did not understand the prediction at the time, its meaning eventually became clear.

Narcissus was so handsome that both women and men fell in love with him, but he rejected all of them. One of his admirers was the nymph Echo (pronounced EK-oh), who had been cursed by Hera (pronounced HAIR-uh) to repeat only the last words spoken to her. Ameinias (pronounced uh-MYE-nee-uhs), another admirer, was so devastated when Narcissus rejected him that he killed himself. Before doing so, however, Ameinias called on the gods to punish Narcissus. They caused the beautiful youth to gaze into a pond at his reflection. He fell in love with his own image and drowned trying to touch it. In other accounts of the story, Narcissus killed himself out of sorrow and frustration. The gods then changed him into the flower that bears his name.

Narcissus in Context

The earliest forms of the myth of Narcissus focus on his rejection of an older male admirer. It has been suggested that this myth was meant to warn young boys about the dangers of rejecting male companions. In ancient Greece, relationships between adolescent boys and older men were common among the wealthy classes, and were considered normal, healthy, and masculine. Men and boys often exercised and performed athletics in the nude together, and soldiers fighting together often formed bonds as couples. These relationships existed in addition to traditional male-female marriages.

Key Themes and Symbols

An important theme in the myth of Narcissus is vanity. Narcissus is aware of his own beauty and rejects everyone who wishes to become his partner, considering them unsuitable. This vanity leads to a punishment that matches his personality: only a vain person could fall in love with his own reflection as Narcissus does. Narcissus can be seen as a symbol of beauty that cannot be possessed; no one is ever worthy of his love, except himself.

Narcissus in Art, Literature, and Everyday Life

As a symbol of beauty, Narcissus has long been a popular figure in art and literature. Some artists who have painted depictions of Narcissus include Caravaggio, Nicolas Poussin, and John William Waterhouse. Salvador Dali's painting The Metamorphosis of Narcissus (1937) is a clever double-image that shows a water-gazing Narcissus becoming transformed into a hand holding a flower.

The name of Narcissus appears in contemporary life. The term “narcissist” refers to someone who is vain or overly self-absorbed, as was Narcissus. Narcissus is also the name of a genus of flowering plants known also as daffodils.

Read, Write, Think, Discuss

Some critics of modern society proclaim that people are becoming increasingly narcissistic, or concerned only with themselves, especially with their physical appearance. Using your library, the Internet, or other available resources, research sites that seem to speak to people's concern with their physical appearance. What are some of the “ideal beauty” images these sites try to project? Are these ideal images attainable by most people? What effect do you think a narcissistic attitude has on society as a whole?

SEE ALSO Echo; Greek Mythology

Narcissus Narcissus, from whose myth narcissism has been named, was the son of the river god Cephissus and the nymph Liriope. He fell in love with his own image reflected in water, pined away, and was transformed into the flower which bears his name. According to the Roman poet Ovid, the metamorphosis of Narcissus was a punishment for having rejected the nymph Echo, who fell in love with Narcissus but who was unable to speak except by repeating his words. The geographer Pausanias gives another version in which Narcissus fell in love with his twin sister; when she died, he thought he had found her again in his reflection.

Perhaps because of its contribution to debates about the nature of representation and the relationship between what is seen and what is real, the myth has been very popular as a subject in art, both during and since the classical period. About fifty murals depicting Narcissus survive from Pompeii alone. The best-known work from the modern period representing the myth is probably Salvador Dali's Metamorphosis of Narcissus. It is also a significant myth in psychological work. Narcissus' love for his own reflection is the origin of Freud's idea of narcissism as a stage in the development of the ego. Lacan saw primary narcissism as concerned with the creation of awareness of the body as body; he also drew attention to the fragmentation of the body in this myth, with Echo as voice alone, and Narcissus as the gaze. Derrida suggested that Freud was himself Narcissus, the man fascinated by his own image.

Helen King

Narcissus

Narcissus, the son of the river god Cephissus and the nymph Leiriope, was an extremely good-looking Greek youth. His beauty ultimately led to his death. A prophet named Tiresias told Leiriope that her son would enjoy a long life as long as he never knew himself or saw his reflection. Although Leiriope did not understand the prophecy at the time, its meaning eventually became clear.

nymph minor goddess of nature, usually represented as young and beautiful

prophet one who claims to have received divine messages or insights prophecy foretelling of what is to come; also something that is predicted

Narcissus was so handsome that many women and men fell in love with him. He rejected all of them. One of his admirers was the nymph Echo, who had been cursed by Hera* to repeat only the last words spoken to her. Ameinias, another admirer, was so devastated by Narcissus's indifference toward him that he killed himself. Before doing so, however, Ameinias called on the gods to punish Narcissus. They caused the beautiful youth to gaze into a pond at his reflection. He fell in love with his own image and drowned trying to touch it. In other accounts of the story, Narcissus killed himself out of sorrow and frustration. The gods then changed him into the flower that bears his name.

See also Echo; Greek Mythology; Tiresias.

Narcissus (daffodils; family Amaryllidaceae) A genus of bulbous herbs whose regular flowers are borne singly or in groups on the tip of a leafless stem, and which have a papery spathe around the flower or flower group. The flowers have 6 similar perianth segments and also a cup or trumpet-shaped corona surrounding the stamens. Narcissus species are much cultivated (as wild species and as hybrids or cultivars) for the fine flowers. There are 27 species, occuring in Europe, western Asia, and N. Africa.

nar·cis·sus / närˈsisəs/ • n. (pl. same, -cis·si / -ˈsisī; -sē/ , or -cissuses ) a bulbous Eurasian plant of a genus that includes the daffodil, esp. (in gardening) one with flowers that have white or pale outer petals and a shallow orange or yellow cup in the center. • Genus Narcissus, family Liliaceae (or Amaryllidaceae): many species and varieties, in particular N. poeticus.