Tuesday, April 28, 2009

What does Narcissus do that causes him to be cursed?

What does Narcissus do that causes him to be cursed.


What curse does one of Narcissus's disappointed lovers put on him?

What does Narcissus do that causes him to be cursed?
From the wikipedia article:





Another tale tells of the beautiful nymph Echo. Echo loved to constantly engage in gossip, making it difficult to do the job Zeus gave her i.e. distracting Hera while he seduced other women. When Hera discovered Zeus's philandering, she was distraught and punished Echo by making her repeat the last words of any sentence spoken to her.





Upon meeting the beautiful Narcissus, Echo fell in love with him and did everything she could to show her love for him. Narcissus was unimpressed, however, and rebuffed her affections, sending her running back into the woods. Narcissus then came into the woods looking for the mysterious woman. He asked aloud, "Is anyone here?" Echo responded, "Here, here!" to which Narcissus demanded, "Come show yourself." Echo shouted "Come!" in response and Narcissus bellowed, "I give you no power over me!" and turned to leave. In desperation Echo cried, "I give you power over me!" but Narcissus was already gone. Echo prayed: "May he who loves no one love himself." Narcissus went to find water and when he knelt over the lake he saw his reflection. Seeing his stunning features, he finally realised all the pain he had put women through because of his beauty. He dived into the water, unintentionally drowning himself. As he was falling he said, "Farewell, farewell." It was only then that Echo could say farewell. The nymphs found a beautiful flower where his body should have been, and named it 'narcissus' after him.





When Narcissus died, the goddesses of the forest appeared and found that the freshwater lake had been transformed into a lake of salty tears. "Why do you weep?" the goddesses asked. "I weep for Narcissus" the lake replied. "I am surprised that you weep for Narcissus," she said, "for though we always pursued him in the forest, you were the only one that could contemplate his beauty close at hand." "But... was Narcissus beautiful?" the lake asked. – “You do not know that?" the goddesses said in wonder. "After all, it was by your banks that he knelt every day to contemplate himself!"





The lake was silent for some time. Finally, it said: "I weep for Narcissus, but I never noticed that Narcissus was beautiful. I weep because, each time he knelt beside my banks, I could see, in the depths of his eyes, my own beauty reflected."
Reply:Many nymphs and girls fell in love with him but he rejected them. One of these nymphs, Echo, was so distraught over this rejection that she withdrew into a lonely spot and faded until all that was left was a plaintive whisper. The goddess Nemesis heard the rejected girls prayers for vengeance and arranged for Narcissus to fall in love with his own reflection. He stayed watching his reflection and let himself die.
Reply:Narcissus was a very charming man and was very cooky! One day, a nymph and Zeus (King of the Gods) were having an affair, and Hera (Queen of the Gods) was looking for Zeus. Zeus disappeared, and Hera asked the nymph where he was, and she said she didn't know. Hera left unconvenced. Later the nymph met Narcissus and fell in love with him, and in revenge aganist the nymph, Hera took away the nymph's voice. The nymph tried to be nice and get Narcissus to like her, but he was cruel and told her to get away from him. Zeus was angry at Narcissus for being cruel, and made Narcissus fall in love with himself. Narcissus went to a lake, saw his reflection and fell in love with himself. He didn't eat or sleep and died near the river. That is the story.


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