Wonderfully soft and thin
parchment petals,
he stands straight and proud,
sprouting towards the sun.
Pride in everything
yellow color
Golden and delicate tones
in contemplation of the sun and sky,
in the denial of love shackles.
He stands, admiring himself,
giving us their beauty,
"But I'm especially beautiful,"
as if talking to everyone around.
He who has two loaves, let him sell one to buy narcissus flower.
For bread is food for the body, but narcissus is food for the soul...
A flower that has been praised by many poets at all times, only a rose can compare with it.
One of the reasons for such admiration for this flower was its beauty and elegance. It may have played a part in ancient greek myth, folded about the narcissus, which made the name of the flower a household name. Now people associate Narcissus with a narcissist. The language of flowers gives this plant a completely different meaning - deceptive hopes, desires, selfishness.
The ancient Greek myth of Narcissus will tell us about the origin of the flower.
He was the son of the Baltic river god Kefiss and the nymph Lirioessa. Narcissus was the most handsome young man. Kefiss and Lirioessa at one time turned to the oracle Tireseus and learned that their son would live to old age only if he never saw his own reflection, which would be quite feasible, because mirrors did not yet exist in those days. Everything would be fine until the young man met the nymph Echo.
Echo is a mountain nymph, was the favorite confidante of the queen of heaven, Juno. The goddess trusted the nymph with all her heart secrets as her best friend, but soon Juno found out that she had warmed the snake on her chest: Echo betrayed her friend, hiding the adventures of her husband Jupiter. Every time Jupiter went to the mountain nymphs, Echo began to speak to Juno with her conversations and stories in such a way that she was jealous goddess I didn't notice the time that passed.
But one day it was not possible to speak to the goddess, and Juno sensed a deception. He drove the nymph out with angry words, depriving her of the language with which she had so charmed the goddess. But Juno left Echo the opportunity to repeat the last syllable of the word that someone shouted. Since then, the nymph has lived in the forest, repeating the last sounds after passing people. Loneliness was difficult for her and she was looking for someone who could love her.
But one day I passed in the forest. Echo fell in love at first sight with a beautiful young man, and tried to captivate him in every possible way, but her attempts were in vain and remained cold. Then the nymph of despair began to pray to the gods with a request to take pity on her and punish the beautiful young man. The echo from hopeless passion soon withered and turned into an echo, but before her death she had time to curse Narcissus: “Let the one he loves not reciprocate Narcissus.”
The gods punished the young man, as requested by Echo. Once, returning from a hunt, he felt a strong thirst and stopped to drink water at the edge of a clean and calm source and already bent down to drink, but then for the first time he saw his reflection. The young man could not take his eyes off the beauty of what he saw, he fell in love with himself, but withered from love and faded like a flower. However, the Gods did not let the young man die just like that, in his place a beautiful flower narcissus, which smells wonderful and its whisk, as it were, leans down to look at its reflection.
By this myth ancient Greeks explained the beautiful but cold flower. Narcissus was considered among them the flower of the dead and the dead.
Initially the myth of Narcissus reflected the ancient primitive ideas of people about the fear of seeing their own reflection, which acted as the border of the real world and the world of illusions. Later, the term "narcissism" appeared as a characteristic of a selfish and narcissistic person. Nevertheless, this does not bother gardeners all over the world, who are happy to grow various varieties of daffodils. Artists and poets glorify and capture the narcissus in their works, and you and I collect bouquets from it and give them to loved ones.
No one can resist the will of the beautiful goddess Aphrodite. She can generously bestow happiness, or she can punish severely. Until now, people remember and pass on to each other the sad story that happened to the young Narcissus, the son of the river god Cefiss and the nymph Liriope. From infancy, Narcissus delighted everyone with his amazing beauty. His parents knew that beauty does not always bring happiness to people, and turned to the soothsayer Tiresias to tell them what awaits their child in the future and how long he will live in the world.
The wise Tiresias looked at the beautiful baby and said:
“Your son may live to a ripe old age, but only if he never sees his own face.
The parents of little Narcissus were surprised at such a strange answer, they did not understand anything, so they laughed at the prophecy of old Tiresias for a long time and decided not to pay attention to his empty words.
Years passed, Narcissus grew up and turned into a slender, beautiful young man. Young nymphs ran after him in a crowd, trying to attract his attention. But Narcissus did not love anyone, he was already used to the fact that everyone admires only him, while he himself remained cold and indifferent.
Once, when during a hunt he drove quivering deer into nets, the young nymph Echo saw him. She hid in the thicket of the forest and looked at Narcissus with delight. How beautiful this young man was! How she longed to speak to him! But that was her trouble, that she could not do it. Once upon a time, the great goddess Hera punished her for informing Zeus about the approach of Hera while he was having fun with the nymphs. The great goddess was angry with Echo and cursed her:
“Let your tongue lose its power and your voice become short,” she said to the guilty nymph. Since then, young Echo had forgotten how to speak, and now she could only repeat what she heard, and then only the last words.
In pursuit of deer, Narcissus wandered into the very depths of the forest, he lagged behind his companions and looked around in confusion. Suddenly it seemed to him that some shadow flashed through the forest thicket, and he heard the rustle of someone's cautious steps.
"Hey, is anyone here?" the young man shouted.
- There is! - repeated, responding, ringing Echo.
Why are you hiding, where are you? shouted Narcissus, surprised again.
- You? – also asked the invisible Echo. Narcissus thought that it was one of his comrades who decided to joke with him.
“Come here, we will meet here,” the young man called.
“See you later,” Echo agreed happily. A happy nymph ran out of her hiding place and rushed towards Narcissus, stretching out her hands to him. But Narcissus, as soon as he saw the girl, frowned and called out to her contemptuously:
"Pull your hands away, I'd rather die than stay with you!"
The young nymph did not know where to go from shame, she covered her face with her hands and rushed into the thicket of the forest. The unfortunate Echo fled far into the mountains and began to live there alone in the caves. Sometimes she went downstairs and wandered through the forest.
A lot of time had already passed since then, but she could not forget the beautiful Narcissus, she loved the cruel young man more and more, and resentment grew in her more and more. Echo dried up from love and grief, her body was completely exhausted, only her voice remained, still clear and sonorous. Now the unfortunate Echo is not shown to anyone, it only sadly responds to any cry.
And Narcissus continued to live proud and indifferent to everything in the world. Many beautiful nymphs suffered from love for him. And then one day they all gathered together and prayed to Aphrodite:
“Make it so, great goddess, that he will fall in love unrequitedly.
In response, Aphrodite sent a light breeze to the earth. He flew over the clearing where the young nymphs had gathered, touched their flaming bodies with a gentle wing, tousled their golden curls.
Spring has come. Bright, sunny. Narcissus spent all his days hunting in the woods. Once the young man wandered through the forest for a long time, this time he did not come across game, but he was very tired and he wanted to drink. Soon the young man found a stream and bent over its mirror surface. He was about to scoop up clean cold water, but suddenly froze in amazement. A beautiful face was looking at him from the transparent depths of the stream. It never occurred to him that he saw his own reflection in the water. Narcissus kept staring at it, and the longer he looked, the more he liked it.
"Who are you, lovely stranger?" he asked, leaning over the stream, “why did you hide in the stream?”
The beautiful face also moved its lips, but what it said, Narcissus did not hear.
“Come out of the water, my love,” he begged his reflection and beckoned him with his hand, “don’t you see how I suffer?
The beautiful stranger also beckoned him, held out her hands and laughed when he laughed. Narcissus bent down to the very water and wanted to kiss his beloved, but only cold water touched his lips. The water in the stream trembled, wrinkled and blurred a beautiful image.
Narcissus sat down on the bank of the stream and looked thoughtfully into its depths. From below, just as thoughtfully, a wonderful face looked at him. And suddenly a terrible thought came into his head. He even flinched in surprise. Was it really his face looking back at him from the mirrored surface of the stream?
- Oh grief! Didn't I love myself? After all, I see my own reflection in the water. In that case, I have no reason to live. I will go to the kingdom of the dead, and then my torment will end.
Narcissus is completely dried up, the last of his strength is already leaving him. But he still can't move away from the stream, he can't help looking at his reflection.
- O great gods! How cruelly I am punished,” the suffering young man cried out of grief, and his tears fell into the clear water. Circles went on its pure surface, the beautiful image disappeared, and Narcissus exclaimed with fear:
- Do not leave me, come back, let me admire you again!
The water calmed down, and again the unfortunate young man stares at his reflection, suffering from his terrible love.
Suffering, looking at him, and the nymph Echo. She helps him as much as she can, she talks to him as much as she can.
"Oh, woe," exclaims Narcissus.
"Woe," Echo replies.
“Goodbye,” the exhausted young man exclaims in a weakening voice.
“Goodbye,” Echo whispers sadly. “Goodbye,” her fading voice is lost in the depths of the forest.
And so Narcissus died of grief. His soul flew away to the kingdom of shadows, but even there, in the underground kingdom of Hades, he sits on the banks of the sacred Styx and sadly looks into the water.
Echo wept bitterly when she learned of the death of Narcissus, and all the nymphs mourned this proud and unfortunate young man. They dug a grave in the thicket of the forest, where he liked to hunt, but when they came for the body, they did not find it. In the place where the head of the young man had bowed for the last time, a white fragrant flower grew, a beautiful but cold flower of death. The nymphs called him a daffodil.
The ancient Greeks are today considered the teachers of the entire Old World. It was they who laid the foundations of science, sports, democratic government, art and literature. Much of their knowledge has come down to us through ancient myths that explained the universe and the order of things, coincidences, and others. The myth of Narcissus, which we will consider in our article, is very interesting.
So, the myth of Narcissus. Briefly, its content can be retold as follows: a young man fell in love with his own reflection and died, unable to tear himself away from contemplating himself in the water, even in order to eat. At the place of death, a flower grew from the body of a young man, which was just as beautiful and sloped down. He was named after the young man and was considered a symbol of death, sleep, from which you can wake up in a different guise, oblivion, but also a symbol of resurrection. But in fact, the myth of Narcissus is much more complicated.
Narcissus was a very handsome guy, the son of a nymph named Liriope and the river god Kefiss. When the boy was born, the soothsayer Tiresias told his parents about his future. He was destined to live a long and happy life, but in the event that he never sees his reflection. Since there were no mirrors then, the parents were calm.
But time passed. Narcissus grew up as a guy of amazing appearance, with whom girls and women fell in love with no memory. Even the representatives of the stronger sex paid attention to the handsome man. But he remained indifferent and repulsed everyone. Rejected fans called on the Olympic gods for help and tearfully asked to punish the proud. As ancient myths tell further, Nemesis heeded their prayers, and Narcissus saw his face in the river mirror. The old prophecy immediately came true: the young man was inflamed with a passion for his own reflection and died, unable to move away from the water.
Unhappy Echo
The myth of Narcissus tells not only about the sad fate of a beautiful young man, but also about the nymph Echo. Many boys and girls withered from love for Narcissus and, pushed away by the proud handsome man, raised their hands to the sky, begging for revenge. Among them was the nymph Echo.
Her fate is especially tragic. Once she was a friend of Hera (Juno), her trusted companion. The terrible goddess trusted her as herself. But Echo accidentally found out about the adventures of Zeus (Jupiter), the wife of Hera, and hid them from her mistress. The angry mistress of Olympus drove the nymph away, and also took away her voice. The girl could only repeat the last words spoken by someone. Only love could save her, and she diligently searched for the other half.
Love line Narcissus - Echo
According to Narcissus, he is a handsome and proud guy who did not love any woman. When he met the nymph Echo, she did not impress him either. The girl, on the contrary, was inflamed with passion. She followed him until her body dried up and only her voice remained. But the young man still paid no attention to her. Then the nymph twisted her hands to the sky and cursed the guy, wishing that the one whom Narcissus finally fell in love with would also remain indifferent to him.
Love did not bring happiness to either Echo, who disappeared from the face of the earth, leaving only her voice on it - a response, an echo, or Narcissus. The display in the river couldn't reciprocate even if it wanted to.
Philosophical research
The myth of Narcissus is not just a story about He carries a hidden meaning, condemnation, but also regret. The young man is gifted by the gods with rare beauty, but he is a toy in the hands of fate. He saw external beauty, even if it was his own (Narcissus did not know that he saw his face in the river), and forgot about everything in the world. The guy is not trying to find inner beauty, to see the soul. Perhaps if he tried to do this, he would understand that a person is both a soul and a body, he would find himself, his Self. Narcissus really suffers the way girls in love with him suffered, but cannot or does not want to take yourself in hand. He remains weak-willed, preferring longing and suffering, death to the struggle for his own happiness.
Echo - exhausted, disappointed. She could not resist Zeus and hid his adultery from Hera. By this she betrayed her friend, for which she received punishment. But her fate seems very difficult: she lost herself, but she could not find solace in love. The nymph also saw only visible beauty, only external gloss, and therefore was doomed.
Delightful flower
An amazing flower grew from the body of the dead Narcissus. Its touching petals and incredible aroma conquered at first sight, but also made me sad. This is probably why the plant was considered a symbol of death, dead people, a sign of sadness. But the flower, which received the name of the hero of ancient myths, is also the personification of resurrection, the triumph of life over the kingdom of gloomy Hades. And, probably, that is why people grow daffodils in their front gardens and flower beds, and he pleases them with his rare beauty, blooming, as soon as the snow melts and the sun warms the earth with its rays.
Ancient Greek myth tells a story about a beautiful young man named Narcissus. Narcissus was the son of the Boeotian river god Cefissus and the nymph Liriope.
The young man's parents turned to the oracle Tireseus, they were interested in the future of their son. The soothsayer said that Narcissus would live to old age if he did not see his face (or his reflection).
Narcissus grew up a young man of extraordinary beauty, and many women sought his love, but he was indifferent to everyone. When the nymph Echo fell in love with him, the handsome man rejected her feelings.
The nymph Echo, captivated by his beauty, suffered severely from unrequited love. In the end, Echo went to the mountains, withered and died there, leaving her voice. But before her death, she cursed the young man: "Let not the one whom he loves reciprocate Narcissus."
And other women rejected by Narcissus demanded the Goddess of justice Nemesis punish him.
When, exhausted by the heat, Narcissus leaned down to drink from the stream, he saw his own reflection in its jets. Narcissus had never met such beauty before and therefore lost his peace. Every morning, a young man in love with his reflection came to the stream. Narcissus did not eat, did not sleep, he was unable to move away from the stream. So day after day the young man melted until he disappeared without a trace.
And on the ground where the soul left the body, a white flower of cold beauty with a drooping head grew.
Since then, the mythical goddesses of retribution furies began to decorate their heads with wreaths of daffodils.
According to another legend, Narcissus had a twin sister, and after her unexpected death, he saw her features in his own reflection.
Ancient Greek parable
In love with his reflection, Narcissus was unable to move away from the stream, photo lh6.ggpht.com
When Narcissus died, the nymphs of the forest - the dryads - noticed that the fresh water in the stream had become salty from tears.
What are you crying about? the dryads asked him.
I mourn Narcissus, answered the brook.
No wonder, said the dryads. - After all, we always ran after him when he passed through the forest, and you are the only one who saw his beauty up close.
And was he handsome? - then asked the stream.
Who can judge this better than you? - the forest nymphs were surprised. - Isn't it on your shore, bending over your waters, did he spend his days?
The brook was silent for a long time and finally answered:
- I cry for Narcissus, although I never understood that he was beautiful. I cry because every time he descended on my shore and bent over my waters, my beauty was reflected in the depths of his eyes ....
photo bookz.ru
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updated 04.12.2011
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About Narcissus |
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Narcissus (or rather, Narcissus, from the Greek Νάρκισσος) - in ancient Greek mythology, the son of the Boeotian river god Cephis and the nymph Liriope (Lavrion), according to another version, the son of Endymion and Selena.
The young man's parents, being interested in his future, turned to the oracle Tireseus. The soothsayer said that Narcissus would live to old age if he did not see his face.
Giulio Caprioni Liriope Bringing Narcissus before Tiresias (Liriope laying Narcissus before Tiresias). 1660-70s
Narcissus grew up as a young man of extraordinary beauty, many women sought his love, when he was 16 years old, the nymph Echo fell in love with him.
Nicolas Poussin Echo and Narcissus 1628-30 Musee du Louvre, Paris
Nicolas Poussin Echo and Narcissus Dresdengalerie.
Once, when he got lost in a dense forest while hunting, the nymph Echo saw him. The nymph could not speak to Narcissus herself. The punishment of the goddess Hera weighed heavily on her: the nymph Echo had to be silent, and she could only answer questions by repeating their last words.
Echo looked with delight at the slender, handsome young man, hidden from him by the forest thicket.
Narcissus looked around, not knowing where to go, and shouted loudly:
Hey, who's here?
- Here! echoed loudly.
- Go here! shouted Narcissus.
- Here! Echo replied.
With amazement, the beautiful Narcissus looks around. There is not anyone.
Surprised by this, he exclaimed loudly:
- Come here, come to me!
And joyfully answered Echo:
- To me!
Edmund Kanoldt Echo and Narcissus 1884
Stretching out her hands, a nymph from the forest hurries to Narcissus, but the beautiful young man angrily pushed her away. He hastily left the nymph and hid in the forest. The rejected nymph hid in the impenetrable forest more often. She suffers from love for Narcissus, does not show herself to anyone, and only the unfortunate Echo responds sadly to every exclamation.
John William Waterhouse Echo and Narcissus 1903
And Narcissus remained as before proud and narcissistic, rejecting the love of other nymphs. One day one of the nymphs he rejected exclaimed:
- Love the same and you, Narcissus! And do not reciprocate the person you love!
The nymph's wish came true. The goddess of love Aphrodite was angry that Narcissus was rejecting her gifts and punished him. Ovid in Metamorphoses writes: “Whoever does not honor the golden Aphrodite, who rejects her gifts, who opposes her power, is mercilessly punished by the goddess of love.”
One spring, while hunting on a hot afternoon, Narcissus, exhausted by the heat, came to the stream and wanted to drink cold water. Neither the shepherd nor the mountain goats have ever touched the waters of this stream; never once did a broken branch fall into the stream, not even the wind carried the petals of lush flowers into the stream. Its water was clean and transparent. As in a mirror, everything around was reflected in it: the bushes that grew along the shore, and the slender cypresses, and the blue sky.
Narcissus bent down to the stream, leaning his hands on a stone protruding from the water, and was reflected in the stream all in all its beauty. It was then that Aphrodite's punishment overtook him.
Nicolas Bernard Lepicie Narcissus 1771
Karl Bryullov Narcissus 1819
In amazement, he looks at his reflection in the water, and strong love takes possession of him. With eyes full of love, he looks at his image in the water, it beckons him, calls, stretches out his arms to him. Narcissus leans over to the mirror of water to kiss his reflection, but kisses only the icy clear water of the stream.
Narcissus forgot everything: he does not leave the stream, without looking up, he admires himself.
Caravaggio Narcissus 1598-99 Galleria Nazionale d "Arte Antica, Rome
François Lemoyne Narcissus in love with his image 1728 Hamburger Kunsthalle.
Adolf Joseph Grass Narcissus 1867
Magnus Enckell Narcissus 1896-97
Narcissus stopped eating, drinking, sleeping, because he was unable to move away from the stream. Full of despair, he exclaims, stretching out his arms to his reflection:
- Oh, who suffered so cruelly! We are separated not by mountains, not by seas, but only by a strip of water, and yet we cannot be together with you. Get out of the stream!
Narcissus thought, looking at his reflection in the water.
Suddenly a terrible thought came into his head and he quietly whispers to his reflection, leaning towards the water:
- Oh grief! I'm afraid I'm not in love with myself! After all, you are me! I love myself. I feel like I don't have much left to live. As soon as I bloom, I will wither and descend into the gloomy realm of shadows. Death does not frighten me, death will bring an end to the pangs of love.
Henry Oliver Walker Narcissus.
Will H. Low Narcissus.
The forces of Narcissus leave and he already feels the approach of death, but he cannot tear himself away from his reflection. His tears fall into the clear waters of the stream. Circles began to move along the mirror surface of the water, and the beautiful image disappeared.
Narcissus exclaimed in fear:
- Oh, where are you? Come back! Stay! Don't leave me, it's cruel. Oh, let me look at you!
But now the water is calm again, the reflection has appeared again, again Narcissus is looking at him without looking up. It melts like dew on flowers in the rays of the hot sun.
The unfortunate nymph Echo also sees how Narcissus suffers. She still loves him, and Narcissus's suffering pains her heart.
- Oh grief! exclaims Narcissus.
- Woe! Echo answers.
. Finally, exhausted, Narcissus exclaimed in a weakening voice, looking at his reflection:
- Goodbye!
And even quieter, barely audible, the response of the nymph Echo sounded:
- Goodbye!
The head of Narcissus bowed on the green coastal grass, and the darkness of death covered his eyes.
John Gibson Narcissus 1838
Paul Dubois Narcissus 1867 Musée d "Orsay, Paris
Harold Parker Narcissus
Narcissus is dead. Nymphs wept in the forest, and Echo wept. The nymphs prepared a grave for the young Narcissus, but when they came for the body of the young man, they did not find it, and in the place where the head of Narcissus leaned on the grass, a white fragrant flower grew - the flower of death. They called him Narcissus.
The source of Narcissus, according to legend, is located in the Donacon (Reedbed) area in the land of the Thespians.
Honoré Daumier The Beautiful Narcissus 1842
Cartoon of project Gutenberg The Newest Narcissus
Cartoon from Project Gutenberg's New Narcissus
The name Narcissus has become a household name, it symbolizes pride and narcissism. In the language of flowers, "narcissus" means deceptive hopes, desires, selfishness.
Judging by the name of the hero, the myth of Narcissus is of pre-Greek origin, folk etymology brought the name Narcissus closer to the Greek verb n a r k a w - to freeze, to become stupefied.
By the way, in some versions of the myth, the nymph Echo is not mentioned.
For example, the ancient Greek writer Pausanias (2nd century AD) conveys a version of the legend according to which Narcissus had a twin sister, and after her unexpected death, he saw her features in his own reflection by the stream. “Bending over the stream in inconsolable grief, he saw in his own reflection the features of his beloved sister. No matter how much he dipped his hands into the water to embrace his native image, it was all in vain… So he died of grief, bending over the water.”
According to the same Ovid, not only nymphs were in love with Narcissus, but also many real girls (and, most interestingly, young men too!), But he also rejected their love.
A variant of the myth about the death of Narcissus, sent to him as a punishment for rejecting the love of the young man Aminius, is known. The rejected lover committed suicide in front of Narcissus' house, asking the deity for revenge.
As a result of all this, the daffodil among the ancient Greeks was the flower of the dead, the flower of the dead, and it is often this emblem in ancient Greek mythology. Narcissus was used in rituals dedicated to the goddess Demeter, it was depicted on tombstones, symbolizing the idea that death is only a dream (the Greek name for this flower has a common root with the word "narcosis" - "insensitivity").
Paphos Mosaics "Narcissus".
Fresco from Pompeii "Narcissus".
But in ancient Rome, the daffodil was a symbol of victory. Among the Romans, a wreath of yellow daffodils was greeted by warriors - winners who returned from the war.
In Persia, the smell of narcissus was called the aroma of youth. Its straight and strong stem has made it an emblem of devotion and faith in Islam.
In the Middle Ages, the legend of Narcissus was perceived as a parable about punished selfishness.
