Saturday, October 10, 2009

In the story of Echo and Narcissus, what suggestions are made about the role of love in ancient culture? How is our modern understanding of love...

First, keeping in mind many ancient sources and especially Ovid’s Metamorphoses (which is probably the most famous rendition), let us explore the story a bit before we get into your question. Narcissus was the son of a god and a nymph. He was very beautiful. He was so beautiful, in fact, that the woodland nymph named Echo became attracted to him. Echo (due to her past exploits) was doomed to only repeat the last words said to her, which is where we get the auditory term “echo” from. After getting Narcissus’ attention (away from hunting) by repeating his last line (“Who’s there?”), Narcissus sees Echo and understands her desires, but rejects her completely. Some say it was the curse of Nemesis and some say it was by Narcissus own devices, but eventually Narcissus catches a glimpse of himself in a pool of water and becomes so entranced with his reflection that he never leaves. Some say he wastes away at the pool and some say he commits suicide because he finally realizes that love cannot exist in this way. This being said, love is explored (both in the ancient world and in today’s world) through this story through three elements: reciprocation, pride, and control.


The first element of love that the story of Narcissus makes clear is that love must be reciprocated to exist. The way that we say this in the modern world is that love should be a “two-way street,” and not one-sided. Echo truly tries for reciprocation (keeping in mind the way she was cursed to only repeat words), but she is completely rejected. As a result, love does not exist between the female and the male figure. In regards to Narcissus himself, he “falls in love” with his own reflection, but this is not real love in that it cannot be reciprocated. Why? A reflection in water can reciprocate nothing. Some versions show Narcissus simply wasting away in front of his own image as a result (therefore causing his death). Other versions show Narcissus committing suicide due to his eventual knowledge that this love cannot possibly be the “two-way street” he desires. This first element of love, then, is shared between the ancient and the modern world.


Another implication is that pride is the enemy of love. It wasn’t long before pride was named as one of the seven deadly sins, and (kind of) continues to remain so; therefore, this is yet another similarity of the role of love between the modern and the ancient world. Pride in himself keeps Narcissus from loving another. He is too in love with himself to have room for anyone else. Further, he is unable to think of the desires of another with anything but disdain. This is the most pertinent element in a newly named mental disorder called Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD). People truly diagnosed with this disorder in the modern world continually find (usually after a lifetime of tragedy) that they are unable to have relationships with others because they are unable to make their own desires anything but paramount. Again, this second role of love (as an enemy to pride) is shared between the modern world and the ancient world.


A third role of love in the story of Narcissus and Echo, is that love is ultimately controlled by the gods. Now, here we have the first example of a thought restricted to the ancient world of the Greeks (and other polytheistic religions). Here we have to think about both characters being controlled by the gods. How was Echo controlled? She is punished by Hera in one of the famous arguments between Hera and Zeus. Hera is tricked into thinking Zeus is in the city and, as a result, she curses Echo into only repeating the last words said of anyone she comes across. This severely thwarts her attempts at love. This happens, of course, when Echo meets Narcissus and (in an effort to get his attention) can only repeat his last line which of course was, “Who’s there?” In regards to Narcissus, some versions of the story have the goddess Nemesis (the goddess of revenge) taking the side of poor Echo and punishing Narcissus. These versions have Nemesis luring Narcissus to the pool where he doesn’t realize that he is looking at a refection before he falls in love with it. These versions always show Narcissus taking his own life because love cannot be given in return. Thus, due to the gods controlling both characters, this is an aspect of love that is limited to the ancient world.


In conclusion, the elements of love discussed here are the following: love must be reciprocated, pride is love’s enemy, and love is controlled by the gods. It is only the following element limited to ancient culture. Further, it is interesting to note that Narcissus isn’t really human in that he is the son of a river god (Cephissus) and a nymph (Liriope). If human, then he certainly has a divine element. As a result, perhaps these issues could be deemed as more of a “god-problem,” but considering the Greeks used their myths to try to understand humanity, the question you ask is significant and worth exploring. Also, there is a suggestion that the role of women in a relationship should be passive. Echo is punished due to her exploits and her excessive talking, therefore doomed to repeat only the last words said by someone else. She has no real speech of her own. Perhaps more than the actual elements of love presented by the character of Narcissus, this element of gender-roles in love suggested by Echo is absolutely rejected in most of today’s modern world. These days, in the Western World anyway, women are regarded as equals in a relationship.

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