Narcissus (mythology)

Tiresias predicted to Narcissus that he would live long if he did not see himself (“If he does not see himself”). Many young men and women fell in love with Narcissus, but he rejected them with neglect. When Narcissus was fifteen years old, he was loved by the mountain nymph Echo or, in another version, the young man Aminius. Beautiful, but cold and proud, he rejects their love. In all versions, rejected lovers suffer and lose their life or physical appearance: Aminius commits suicide in front of the house of Narcissus, only the voice remains of the nymph Echo. Those who are rejected cry out to the gods (in particular, to Nemesis ), asking to punish Narcissus (“May he love himself, but he cannot possess his beloved!”), And she hears their requests. During the next hunt, Narcissus sees his reflection in the river and falls in love with himself, so much that he can no longer part with his reflection and dies of hunger and suffering. When the nymphs come for his body, a beautiful daffodil grows in the place where it was supposed to be. Naiads mourn him ^[5] .

The name Narcissus in ancient times became a household name ^[6] and began to symbolize pride and narcissism. According to one of the ancient interpreters close to Platonism , Narcissus saw “ in the current nature of matter its own shadow, that is, inside matter - a living creature, which is the last image of the true soul, and trying to embrace this soul as its own (that is, having loved the living being for his own sake), he suffocated, drowning, as if he had destroyed the true soul ” ^[7] .

Several versions of this myth have reached us.

• The classic version of the story about the nymph Echo and Narcissus is reflected in the 3rd book “Metamorphosis” (verses 339-510) by Publius Ovid Nazon (8 AD) ^[8] .: Once, when the fifteen-year-old son of Kefisa and Liriopeia Narcissus walked through the forest, he was noticed by the mountain nymph Echo, who immediately fell in love with him and followed him. Narcissus, finding that he was being persecuted, cried out: “Who is here?”, And the nymph only repeated his words. Soon, she found herself and tried to wrap Narcissus in her arms, but he coldly rejected the courtship of Echo and drove her away. The unfortunate nymph spent the rest of her life in suffering, her body fading until only a voice was left of her, capable of only repeating other sounds. The goddess of vengeance Nemesis , having heard about this, lured Narcissus into the thicket to the spring with mirror-like calm water, in which the young man saw himself. Not realizing that this was just a reflection, he fell in love with his image. In the end, he died of exhaustion, realizing the impossibility of mutual love for himself, and a daffodil flower grew in place of his body.
• An earlier version, relatively recently discovered among the oxirinh papyruses and attributed to Parthenius of Nicaea , dates back to the 50s. BC e. She ends with the suicide of Narcissus.
• The version of the Greek mythographer Conon , a contemporary of Ovid, also ends with the suicide of Narcissus, but it depicts the young man Aminius, whose love, as, indeed, the love of many other young men, was rejected by Narcissus. Amini, on the threshold of the house of Narcissus, threw himself on the sword, which he handed to the unfortunate Narcissus. Before this desperate act, Aminius prayed to the gods and asked to punish the arrogant for all the suffering he inflicted ^[9] . A century later, this plot with changes in prose form was outlined by Pausanias , the author of travel observations and notes entitled “Description of Hellas” ( dr. Greek Περιήγησις τῆς Ἑλλάδος ), with confidence and completeness he wrote down walking mythological plots. According to Pausanias, in the area of ​​Donakon ("Reed bed") in the land of the Thespians there is a spring from which Narcissus supposedly died. According to this legend, Narcissus had a twin sister who looked like him like two drops of water. Narcissus was in love with her, and when she suddenly died, he began to go to the source and look into the water, imagining that he was seeing her. In this he consoled until he died ^[10] .

• 1594 - 1596 - painting by Caravaggio "Narcissus by the river"
• 1819 - painting by Karl Pavlovich Bryullov - "Narcissus"
• 1911 - one-act ballet "Narcissus and Echo" to the music of N. Cherepnin
• 1960 - choreographic miniature “Narcissus” to music by N. Cherepnin, choreography by K. Goleizovsky (“An Evening of New Choreographic Miniatures”, Bolshoi Theater , first performer - Vladimir Vasiliev )
• 1937 - painting by Salvador Dali "Metamorphoses of Narcissus"

• Narcissism
• Pygmalion
• “The Stick of Narcissus” ^[11] or “The Magic Wand of Narcissus” ^[12] is a synonym for selfie sticks

• Nikolai Kun: Legends and myths of Ancient Greece (Neopr.) . Date of treatment October 16, 2005. Archived November 28, 2012.
• R. Graves. Myths of Ancient Greece (neopr.) . Date of treatment March 1, 2009. Archived November 28, 2012.
• Pascal Kignar. Narcissus (neopr.) . Date of treatment October 9, 2007. Archived November 28, 2012. // Kinyar P. Sex and fear: Essays: Transl. with fr. - M .: Text, 2000, p. 130-140
• New light on the Narcissus myth: P. Oxy. LXIX 4711 (unspecified) . Date of treatment March 4, 2010. Archived November 28, 2012. (eng.)