Origin of the myth of Narcissus.
If we look for the origin of the Narcissus myth, we find that it was created in Greek mythology, the story told about the life of a very particular young man, whose physical appearance was the envy of all, tall, attractive and striking, all men and women were unable to resist her charms. Unfortunately, Narciso had a very big defect, his love for himself.
For years, she rejected every one of her suitors. Sadly, among them was a beautiful nymph named Echo, who, unbeknownst to her, would be the one to end Narcissus's life as revenge. If you're interested in learning more about Echo, you can visit our article on Echo and Narcissus. It's also important to highlight the role of nymphs in mythology , as their story is full of symbolism and lessons.
Greco-Latin version.
If there is something that we must take into account, it is that myths are a way of understanding cultures, that is, we can observe how myths are created to portray the beliefs of a population, that even when it evolves and changes, it continues to leave the same. original essence.
The Greco-Latin version of the Narcissus myth speaks of a vain and insensitive young man, who was punished by the gods, because during his life he dedicated himself to rejecting his suitors. His creation has a very clear purpose, to moralize the young Greeks of that time so that they would not behave in the same way. Two fragments have been found that refer to this story.
On the other hand, the Hellenic story portrays how the young Ameinias is in love with Narcissus until he rejects him, curiously, he gives Ameinias a sword, who uses it to commit suicide in Narcissus's house, while he dies he begs the Goddess Nemesis who punishes her beloved so that he knows the pain of unrequited love.
Nemesis curses Narcissus, causing him to fall in love with his own reflection. Unaware that it was his own reflection, he tries to woo it until he realizes that he is his own reflection. In pain, he uses the sword he gave Ameinias to commit suicide. From his death, a beautiful flower grows in its place.
You can read more articles like this one about the myth of Narcissus on our blog; in fact, you can read Roman myths in the myths and legends category.
Roman version.
The Roman version of the myth of Narcissus is considered the classic version, widely spread and known throughout the world. Ovid recounts a young man named Narcissus, the son of a nymph and a god, whose vanity and beauty were well-known. The seer Tiresias claimed that Narcissus would live to a ripe old age as long as he did not see his reflection.
The nymph Eco falls in love with Narcissus and he rejects her, Eco then decides to live her life in solitude, when she dies, she asks Nemesis to punish Narcissus. She, influenced by her pain, makes Narciso fall in love with her reflection. There are several endings to this story, the first is that Narcissus commits suicide by not being able to get his reflection, the second talks about how he drowns when he sees his reflection in the water and the last one explains that Narcissus is in the underworld, suffering in a life sentence observing only his own reflection.
The complete history.
The great Greek empire was something to be admired, its streets, full of people, only demonstrated the energy of a town. Among the crowd, there is a young man named Narcissus, his beauty was popular among the men and women who lived there.
A heartthrob, Narciso conquered even the most broken heart. What no one knew about him is that behind his beautiful facade, one of the biggest defects that could be observed in a human being was hidden, his self-esteem was so excessive that he was incapable of loving another being.
His suitors were very varied, beautiful, intelligent people with immense wealth tried to conquer and make the young man fall in love, however, it was impossible for them, since Narcissus' ego and vanity were so great that he despised all his suitors.
One day he rejected Echo, a nymph of beautiful beauty and precious voice. Eco, despite her beauty, could not speak since she had been cursed by Hera, her beauty caused the goddess so much jealousy, that she was destined to be unable to speak complete sentences, the only thing she could do was repeat the last word of what mortals said.
Narciso did not take Eco's declarations of love seriously, after all, her beauty was not comparable to his own. Broken, Eco flees the place, hiding in the caves to spend the rest of her life alone and sad.
When he was at the gates of death, Eco begged Nemesis, the deity of vengeance and divine justice, to make Narcissus suffer all that she had suffered for him, the pain of not being able to be with his being. Beloved had broken Echo, so he would make sure, even on his deathbed, that Narcissus felt the same way.
Nemesis then curses Narcissus so that he falls in love only with his reflection, allocating a suffering similar to that which that nymph had had to suffer. Echo unknowingly sentenced Narcissus to death.
Knowing nothing of the curse, Narcissus headed for the River Styx, as he always did when he wanted to escape the heat. Approaching the river, he managed to observe the beauty of it, in love with what he saw, he got closer and closer until finally, he fell on the side.
Because he was alone, no one could help him, he died drowned by his ego from looking at his own reflection. It is like this with the curse of Nemesis, Eco had achieved his revenge, not only had he achieved the painful death of Narcissus, but also, he had condemned him to live his life in the underworld, observing his only company, the reflection of the.
If you're interested in more articles like this one about the myth of Narcissus, we recommend reading myths and legends from around the world in our myths and legends category.
What is the Narcissus complex?
Detecting the influence of myths in real life isn't so difficult. The Narcissus complex, a theory created by Sigmund Freud , explains that within the human mind there exists an overestimation of oneself, implying that instead of directing love towards objects of affection other than ourselves, some people will seek to find in others traits of their own personality until they find absolute perfection.
Narcissistic people then only look for a perfect love that they are not really going to find, after all, it is impossible to find a perfectly identical person. Likewise, these people are only able to find love in their own person, they have a hard time showing empathy to others and they are extremely selfish.
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