in Greek mythology, a handsome youth (the son of the river
god named Cephissus) whom many women fell in
love with but who rejected their
love. One of the women who fell in
love with Narcissus was a
nature goddess named Echo. Echo had earlier been cursed so that she could not speak except to repeat what was said to her and thus was unable to tell Narcissus of her
love for him. Then one
day when Narcissus was
walking in the woods, Echo approached him with outstretched arms, but Narcissus cruelly refused her
love. She was so humiliated that she hid in a cave and wasted away until only her voice remained. To punish Narcissus for what he had done, another goddess named Nemesis (a goddess of divine
retribution) made Narcissus
fall deeply in
love with his own face as seen in a
pool of water. Fascinated with his own reflection, Narcissus was unable to remove himself from his
image and wasted away, and where his
body had lain grew a beautiful
flower that now bears his name. From this
legend comes the
term narcissism which means excessive
self-
love or
admiration;
love of
self to the exclusion of others.