I need help with the story echo and narcissus?

Question

i need help with the stroy echo and narcissus. for whoever read the story do you feel sympathy towards narcissus or do you think he deserved his fate?

please help me!

Answer 1

Here are some sites that you can use as sources:

A Roman Mosaic of Narcissus and Echo:

http://www.theoi.com/Gallery/Z51.1.html

A page about Echo that has a link to Narcissus page:

http://www.theoi.com/Nymphe/NympheEkho.h...

The story of Narcissus and Echo from and Ancient source:

http://www.theoi.com/Text/Callistratus.h...

Answer 2

You should form your own opinion on it, but it is a morality tale to keep you from becoming obsessed with yourself.  Imagine, a powerful deity trying to get your attention but you're too hung up on yourself to notice?  Yikes.  I think he got what he wanted.

Answer 3

Its a morality tale slated against Narcissus.

It is intended to show harsh consequences for being too self possessed, too proud, too arrogant, and rejecting others cruelly.

He deserved his fate because his situation was immanently solvable.

He wasn't chained down, he wasn't locked up, he could have easily walked away from the pool (in which he sees himself, believing it is a spirit) if his love for himself was not so great (and exploited by a vengeful goddess).

In other words, if Narcissus had put what is truly important (honor, kindness, charity, humility, generosity, strength, ect.) rather than this silly and consuming infatuation with himself, he would have survived.

He would have realized the "spirit" was not going to accompany him, and left when he became hungry and thirsty.

His transformation into a flower holds it's own symbolic vanity. After all, a flower is rather useless.

Very pretty, yes. But serves no functional purpose. Certainly it is no state for a man to be in. This just shows the final condemnation on his character in the eyes of the rather pragmatic Greeks.