The Greeks had many myths about nature in general and some that dealt with how plants, trees, and animals came to be in particular. Most involved humans that were being punished by the gods for some form of disobedience or personal slight.
Hera turned many of Zeus’s human lovers into animals and both she and Zeus enjoyed toying with the lives of humans as a whole. There were times, however, when humans themselves were responsible for their own transformations. Such was the case of Narcissus and Echo.
Echo was a lovely young nymph that had been cursed by Hera to repeat only what others had said. She was never again able to speak on her own behalf.
One day, as Echo was playing with her sisters in the woods, she saw the handsome young mortal named Narcissus, and as so many had before her, she fell immediately in love with his stunning good looks.
Echo longed to tell Narcissus how much she loved him but, of course, she could not. She could only echo the words of others, which she tried to do to communicate with the boy. But he grew tired of her game of hiding in the woods repeating nonsensical phrases. He demanded that she show herself to him.
When Echo finally came out of her hiding place, all she could do was wrap her arms around her beloved. But Narcissus hated to be touched and demanded that she let go of him, hurling obscenities and insults at the stricken nymph.
Echo, heartbroken, ran back into the woods once again. There she remained, pining away for her would-be beau. She would not eat and could not sleep. All she could do was sit and watch, hoping for a glimpse of Narcissus. It wasn’t long, however, before Echo’s body began to simply fade away into nothingness until all that was left of the beautiful nymph was her voice echoing throughout the woods.
The other nymphs felt that Narcissus deserved to be punished for the thoughtless way he treated those around him. They particularly felt he should pay for the loss of their beloved sister Echo. So they prayed to the gods for divine retribution.
Hera laughed at their prayers and said that Echo deserved to be ignored because she was a witless chatterbox that had caused her to lose valuable time. But Zeus disagreed with his wife and promised to answer the nymph’s prayers. Being the wisest of all the gods, Zeus decided to let Narcissus’s punishment fit the crime. Since he so callously tossed others aside who dared to fall in love with him, Zeus felt it only fitting that he learn what that felt like.
One day as the youth was hunting in the woods, he grew thirsty and looked for a pond from which he could draw water. As he bent over to retrieve the cool liquid, he caught a glimpse of himself reflected in the water and fell immediately in love – – with his own reflection.
Like so many before him, Narcissus pined for his love in spite of the fact that he was pining for himself. As Echo had done, Narcissus could not eat or sleep. He could do nothing but stare in the water at his one true love.
Slowly, but surely, his life force began to fail. As the last vestiges of life flowed out of him, Narcissus began to understand what his callous attitude had done. With his dying breath, he finally whispered the words that so many before him had longed to hear “I love you! Please forgive me.”
The wood nymphs, hearing these words, let go of their anger and asked that Narcissus be released from his curse. Of course, it was too late. The youth was dead and the gods could not restore mortal life. However, Zeus took pity on him and transformed his body into a white flower that would bloom once again, every spring. And that is – – according to the Greeks – – how the flower, narcissus, came to be.
