Narcissus (mythology)

Lore & Background

Thirsty after rejecting Echo, Narcissus found a pool of water. Leaning down to drink, he saw his own reflection and fell deeply in love with it, not realizing it was himself. Unable to leave the image, he eventually realized his love could not be reciprocated and melted away, turning into a gold and white flower. Other versions exist: in Conon's account, Ameinias kills himself after being spurned, and Narcissus later kills himself upon seeing his reflection. Pausanias records a variant in which Narcissus falls in love with his twin sister. In all versions, his body disappears and only a narcissus flower remains.

Reader's Guide

The myth of Narcissus has had a profound and lasting influence on Western culture, inspiring artists for at least two thousand years, including poets such as Keats and Alfred Edward Housman, and painters such as Caravaggio, Poussin, Turner, Dalí, and Waterhouse. The character is the origin of the term narcissism, a self-centered personality style, and in extreme form contributes to the definition of narcissistic personality disorder, a psychiatric condition marked by grandiosity, excessive need for attention and admiration, and impaired empathy. Modern psychoanalytic scholarship has challenged Freud's reading, with Javanbakht arguing that Narcissus exhibits a conflicted pattern more consistent with schizoid–histrionic dynamics than narcissistic personality disorder, and noting that his fixation is a punishment imposed by Nemesis, not an inherent trait. The myth also influenced English Victorian homoerotic culture via André Gide's Le Traité du Narcisse and appears in works by Oscar Wilde, including The Picture of Dorian Gray and the poem 'The Disciple.' Paulo Coelho's The Alchemist opens with a story about Narcissus derived from Wilde. Seamus Heaney references Narcissus in his poem 'Personal Helicon,' and Petrarchan poetry has been profoundly impacted by the myth.

Did You Know?

• The name Narcissus likely derives from a Pre-Greek word, as indicated by the suffix '-ισσος'.
• In some versions, Narcissus was the son of the river god Cephissus and nymph Liriope; in Nonnus, he is the son of the lunar goddess Selene and mortal Endymion.
• The seer Tiresias prophesied that Narcissus would live a long life only if he never 'came to know himself'.
• A version by Conon relates that a rejected suitor named Ameinias killed himself at Narcissus's doorstep, after which Narcissus also killed himself upon seeing his reflection.