Narcissus, the Vain

An ancient story tells of Narcissus, son of the river god Cephisus and the nymph Leirope. One day while hunting for stags he noticed that someone was following him so he asked: “Who’s there?” Echo, a nymph who fell madly in love with him, was embarrassed to show herself, instead she replied: “Who’s there?” On and on it went until finally she got the chance to embrace Narcissus only to be rejected. Narcissus got thirsty from all the shouting so he decided to drink from a stream. Finding his reflection he fell in love not knowing it was him. When he tried to kiss his image, it disappeared and so when it reappeared he decided not to disturb it anymore not even for him to drink. Eventually he died of thirst and self-love, staring at his own reflection. From where he died a flower grew and it was named after him. This is also the origin of the word narcissism which means to love oneself. Had there been hidden spy cameras during that time, such episode could have been viewed as ignorance and not vanity.

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