Echo and Narcissus: Difference between revisions
m Reverted edits by 213.31.24.209 (talk) to last version by Marcocapelle |
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[[File:Affresco romano - Pompei - Narciso ed Eco.JPG|thumb|left|150px|''Narcissus and Echo'', wall painting from [[Pompeii]] (45–79 AD)]] |
[[File:Affresco romano - Pompei - Narciso ed Eco.JPG|thumb|left|150px|''Narcissus and Echo'', wall painting from [[Pompeii]] (45–79 AD)]] |
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The myth of the goddess is told in Book III of the ''Metamorphoses'', and tells the story of a "talkative nymph" whom the goddess Venus admires for her magnificent voice and song. When she tricks [[Juno (mythology)|Juno]] into believing that her husband, [[Jupiter (mythology)|Jupiter]], was in the city, Juno curses Echo by making her able to only finish a sentence not started, and unable to say anything on her own. "Yet a chatterbox, had no other use of speech than she has now, that she could repeat only the last words out of many." This is the explanation of the [[Echo (phenomenon)|aural effect]] which was named after her. |
The myth of the goddess is told in Book III of the ''Metamorphoses'', and tells the story of a "talkative nymph" whom the goddess Venus admires for her magnificent voice and song. When she tricks [[Juno (mythology)|Juno]] into believing that her husband, [[Jupiter (mythology)|Jupiter]], was in the city, Juno curses Echo by making her able to only finish a sentence not started, and unable to say anything on her own. "Yet a chatterbox, had no other use of speech than she has now, that she could repeat only the last words out of many." This is the explanation of the [[Echo (phenomenon)|aural effect]] which was named after her.<ref>[[Ovid]], Translated by David Raeburn (2004). ''[[Metamorphoses]]''. Penguin Classics. 3. 361-369. {{ISBN|014044789X}}</ref> |
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Sometime after being cursed, Echo spied a young man, [[Narcissus (mythology)|Narcissus]], while he was out hunting deer with his companions. She [[Love at first sight|immediately fell in love with him]] and, infatuated, followed quietly. The more she looked at the young man, the more she longed for him. Though she wished with all her heart to call out to Narcissus, Juno's curse prevented her.<ref>[[Ovid]], ''[[Metamorphoses]]'', 3. 370-378</ref> |
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Then, Narcissus "tired from both his enthusiasm for hunting and from the heat" rests by a spring, and whilst drinking, "a new thirst grows inside him" and he is "captivated by the image of the beauty he has seen". He falls deeply in love with "all the things for which he himself is admired." He then wastes away with love for himself, echoing the manner in which [[Echo (mythology)|Echo]] did earlier. A while later his body is gone, and in its place is a [[Narcissus (plant)|narcissus]] flower. The pale flower is still found near river banks so that it can be reflected in the water. |
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{{Clear}} |
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During the hunt, Narcissus became separated from his companions and called out, ‘is anyone there,’ and heard the nymph repeat his words. Startled, Narcissus answered the voice, ‘come here,’ only to be told the same. When Narcissus saw that nobody had emerged from the glade, he concluded that the owner of the voice must be running away from him and called out again. Finally, he shouted, "This way, we must come together." Taking this to be a reciprocation of her love, Echo concurred ecstatically, "We must come together!"<ref>[[Ovid]], ''[[Metamorphoses]]'', 3. 379-386</ref> |
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In her delight, Echo rushed to Narcissus ready to throw her arms around her beloved. Narcissus, however, was appalled and, spurning her, exclaimed, ‘Hands off! May I die before you enjoy my body.’ All Echo could whisper in reply was, ‘enjoy my body’ and having done so she fled, scorned, humiliated, and shamed.<ref>[[Ovid]], ''[[Metamorphoses]]'', 3. 386-392</ref> |
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Despite the harshness of his rejection, Echo’s love for Narcissus only grew.<ref>[[Ovid]], ''[[Metamorphoses]]'', 3. 394</ref> When Narcissus died, wasting away before his own reflection, consumed by a love that could not be, Echo mourned over his body. When Narcissus, looking one last time into the pool uttered, "Oh marvellous boy, I loved you in vain, farewell", Echo too chorused, "Farewell."<ref>[[Ovid]], ''[[Metamorphoses]]'', 3. 493-501</ref> |
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Eventually, Echo, too, began to waste away. Her beauty faded, her skin shrivelled, and her bones turned to stone. Today, all that remains of Echo is the sound of her voice.<ref>[[Ovid]], ''[[Metamorphoses]]'', 3. 395-397</ref> |
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==Gallery== |
==Gallery== |
Revision as of 16:59, 2 November 2020
![]() | This article includes a list of references, related reading, or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. (July 2011) |
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9c/John_William_Waterhouse_-_Echo_and_Narcissus_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg/300px-John_William_Waterhouse_-_Echo_and_Narcissus_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg)
Echo and Narcissus is a myth from Ovid's Metamorphoses, a Roman mythological epic from the Augustan Age. The introduction of the myth of the mountain nymph Echo into the story of Narcissus, the beautiful youth who rejected Echo and fell in love with his own reflection, appears to have been Ovid's invention. Ovid's version influenced the presentation of the myth in later Western art and literature.
Story
The myth of the goddess is told in Book III of the Metamorphoses, and tells the story of a "talkative nymph" whom the goddess Venus admires for her magnificent voice and song. When she tricks Juno into believing that her husband, Jupiter, was in the city, Juno curses Echo by making her able to only finish a sentence not started, and unable to say anything on her own. "Yet a chatterbox, had no other use of speech than she has now, that she could repeat only the last words out of many." This is the explanation of the aural effect which was named after her.[1]
Sometime after being cursed, Echo spied a young man, Narcissus, while he was out hunting deer with his companions. She immediately fell in love with him and, infatuated, followed quietly. The more she looked at the young man, the more she longed for him. Though she wished with all her heart to call out to Narcissus, Juno's curse prevented her.[2]
During the hunt, Narcissus became separated from his companions and called out, ‘is anyone there,’ and heard the nymph repeat his words. Startled, Narcissus answered the voice, ‘come here,’ only to be told the same. When Narcissus saw that nobody had emerged from the glade, he concluded that the owner of the voice must be running away from him and called out again. Finally, he shouted, "This way, we must come together." Taking this to be a reciprocation of her love, Echo concurred ecstatically, "We must come together!"[3]
In her delight, Echo rushed to Narcissus ready to throw her arms around her beloved. Narcissus, however, was appalled and, spurning her, exclaimed, ‘Hands off! May I die before you enjoy my body.’ All Echo could whisper in reply was, ‘enjoy my body’ and having done so she fled, scorned, humiliated, and shamed.[4]
Despite the harshness of his rejection, Echo’s love for Narcissus only grew.[5] When Narcissus died, wasting away before his own reflection, consumed by a love that could not be, Echo mourned over his body. When Narcissus, looking one last time into the pool uttered, "Oh marvellous boy, I loved you in vain, farewell", Echo too chorused, "Farewell."[6]
Eventually, Echo, too, began to waste away. Her beauty faded, her skin shrivelled, and her bones turned to stone. Today, all that remains of Echo is the sound of her voice.[7]
Gallery
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Francesco Xanto Avelli, Echo, Amor en Narcissus (1535)
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Nicolas Poussin, Écho et Narcisse (ca. 1629–1630)
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Benjamin West, Narcissus and Echo (1805)
See also
References
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
- ^ Ovid, Translated by David Raeburn (2004). Metamorphoses. Penguin Classics. 3. 361-369. ISBN 014044789X
- ^ Ovid, Metamorphoses, 3. 370-378
- ^ Ovid, Metamorphoses, 3. 379-386
- ^ Ovid, Metamorphoses, 3. 386-392
- ^ Ovid, Metamorphoses, 3. 394
- ^ Ovid, Metamorphoses, 3. 493-501
- ^ Ovid, Metamorphoses, 3. 395-397