A GREEK MYTH NARCISSUS

NARCISSUS AS A GREEK MYTH 

NARKISSOS (or Narcissus) was a young man from the town of Thespiai in Boiotia, a son of the river-god Kephisos and the fountain-nymph Liriope.

Different authors and poets have different beliefs and myths regarding the Narcissus. Three of the tales are discussed here referring  Narcissus as myth

 One of the story says that…..

        Deep in a green glade in olden Greece, there babbled sparkled a small screamwhich at some places widened out into a sleepy poor .One day , a young man named Narcissus was hunting in the forest and came to one of the pool shinning in the sunlight. Being hot and thirsty,he stopped to drink, and over the smooth water , he saw in it his own form or image , as in a looking glass.Full of the wonder, he fell in love with his own image which he had not seen before , and he longed to embrace it , thinking it was a water fairy. For a few moments he gazed with delight at the picture and then plunged his arms into water water to catch the lovely creaturehe saw there . But the face vanished in the spray as he tried to take the fairy in his arm . Poor Narcissushad fallen in love with his own beautiful face.Day after day he visited the glade and at last he pinned away and died by the edge of the pool . At the spot where he fell or died , a flower was born which he called the Narcissus.

Another story says that….

Narcissus was celebrated for his beauty, and attracted many admirers but, in his arrogance, spurned themall.Many nymphs and girls fell in love with him but he rejected them. One of these nymphs, Echo, was so distraught over this rejection that she withdrew into a lonely spot and faded until all that was left was a plaintive whisper. The goddess Nemesis heard the rejected girls prayers for vengeance and arranged for Narcissus to fall in love with his own reflection. He stayed watching his reflection and let himself die. It is quite possible, however, that the connection between Echo and Narcissus was entirely Ovid's own invention, for there is no earlier witness to it.

                                                         

An important and earlier variation of this tale originates in the region in Greek known as Boeotia (to the north and west of Athens). It tells that Narcissus lived in the city of Thespiae. A young man, Ameinias, was in love with Narcissus, but he rejected Ameinias' love. He grew tired of Ameinias' affections and sent him a present of a sword. Ameinias killed himself with the sword in front of Narcissus' door and as he died, he called curses upon Narcissus. One day Narcissus fell in love with his own reflection in a spring and, in desperation, killed himself.

ALL of above mentioned stories give an origin to the narcissus flower, which grew where Narcissus die and myth became famous named as Narcissus.