Narcissus
The myth according to Roman writer Ovid.
Narcissus is very handsome but cruelly refuses the advances of Echo.
The lovely nymph, heartbroken, wastes away and dies with only her voice remaining to echo her plight.
As a punishment for his neglect, Narcissus is then killed.
Another version has Echo punished by Hera because she kept the goddess distracted with stories while the lovers of her husband Zeus, the mountain nymphs, escaped Mt. Olympus without notice.
This explains why Echo could only repeat what others said to her.
It is Echo in this form that Narcissus comes across one day while hunting deer in the forest.
After a useless exchange of repeated words and statements, Echo tries to embrace the youth, but he rejects her and dashes off back home.
Echo then pines away in the forest so that her body eventually perishes and only her voice remains.
1818
Jean Alaux called Le Romain.
French,
1786-1864
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