I cannot figure out the "moral" of this story for the life of me. Because two completely different events tie into one story. And I haven't the slightest idea how echo losing her voice has anything to do with narcissus falling in love with himself.
2007-01-04 05:55:29 · 8 answers · asked by Kristi H 2 in Society & Culture ➔ Mythology & Folklore
The Greek myth of Echo and Narcissus is a story of unrequited love. An important issue in Greek culture involves "hubris" (being humble not arrogant) and as a result many of their myths deal with the gods punishing mortals for their boasts and vanity. Also, the gods were constantly cheating on each other, though ironically extremely jealous. Many myths deal with both their affairs with each other or mortals (ie. Aphrodite & Ares, Poseidon & Medusa, etc) and their vengence when their jealously was aroused. This is a story that deals with all of the above.
Zeus, the father of the gods was married to Hera. Zeus was constantly seducing women, which infuriated Hera, the godess of marriage! Among the nymphs that followed Hera was Echo, who every time Zeus's attention fell upon some nymph, would distract Hera with her chattering or singing. When Hera discovered this, she punished her by limiting her speech to only being able to repeat the last syllable of words spoken in her presence. Soon afterwards, Echo fell in love with Narcissus. Unable to declare her love, she was spurned by him and she died of a broken heart. It was said that she had withdrawn into a cave where her bones turned to stone and all that remained of her was the echo of her voice. The gods punished Narcissus for having spurned Echo by making him fall in love with his own image. One day he saw his reflection in the still water of a fountain and was so drawn by the image that nothing could tear him away from it and he died there. The gods took pity on him and changed his body into the flower which bears his name and which grows at the edge of springs.
2007-01-04 06:11:51 · answer #1 · answered by Kami 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
As Kami said, it's a story of unrequited love. It's more of a motif than a moral. The moral of the story is whatever you make of it.
The only thing I've been able to come up with that's even vaguely close to being a 'moral' is this:
When you fall too far within yourself, you lose the chance of knowing others who might give you the love and attention you need. Rather than focus so much on yourself, start focusing on the world around you. People reflect what you show them.
2007-01-04 06:25:38 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
yeah the story is that narcissus keeps lookin at himself in a lake n ffalls in love with himself n his beaty. echo was a nymph that liked him n got punished so that she could only repeat things that others have said
2007-01-04 08:27:57 · answer #3 · answered by Biju E 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It began when Echo pissed off Hera by talking her ear off to keep Hera from catching Zeus cheating on her with other nymphs. Hera cursed her, making it so Echo only repeated the last word anyone said.
One day, Echo fell in love with Narcissus, who was the most beautiful man on Earth. Narcissus only loved himself, and Echo took to following him around, just far enough behind so he wouldn't notice. Narcissus got lost in the woods one day, and called out for help, but Echo could only repeat what he said instead of helping him. He rejected her, and she prayed to Aphrodite for death. Aphrodite granted her wish, but let her voice live on.
Narcissus, legend says, saw his own reflection in the water, and fell in love with it, staying for hours and hours on end. Eventually, he wasted away into a flower, naturally named the Narcissus.
2007-01-04 06:11:50 · answer #4 · answered by asoneill99 3 · 2⤊ 1⤋
These are actually two seperate myths that have been combined into one since one of the Characters (Echo) appears in both stories. Both myths are about being overly proud and losing something prescious because of it. They are also both about unrequited love. Hope that helps.
2007-01-04 06:36:46 · answer #5 · answered by harpertara 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
THey are still around. I stopped caring about them when Chino start bitchng when rap/rock got popular and he didn't get credit for innovating in when bands like Faith No More and the Red Hot Chili Peppers were doing it in the early mid 80's before the Deftones even formed
2016-03-29 07:37:16 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Hey, I haven't even got a clue what the story is. It sounds very odd though, and I wouldn't be surprised if it was a pointless lil story. Or maybe it lost something in translation...
2007-01-04 06:05:38 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 2⤋
The moral of the story is "NEVER piss off a vindictive goddess" ,P
2007-01-06 05:06:50 · answer #8 · answered by Kubbi 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋