A day that was much like any other day (sunny with mild weather and temperature) found two wood nymphs relaxing by a pond, catching up on the latest gossip (after all, with the Greek gods there is always much to gossip about).
One said to the other, “Did you hear about what happened to Narcissus last year?”
“No,” was the response, “last I heard anything to do with him was that poor Echo pined for him and faded away, but that over a year ago. I knew her once, a long time ago. Nice girl. Shame she made Hera angry.”
“Well you’ll find this interesting,” said the first, a fir wood nymph. “So you know how Narcissus basically rejects everyone who likes him? Like, no matter if they’re human, nymph, demigod, whatever, he just turns them away?”
“Everyone knows that,” replied the other, whose home was an olive tree. “He’s always been so full of himself, thinking he’s all that. He’s just good looking. That’s not uncommon at all in mythology.”
“Well I guess he made the wrong person mad,” said the fir nymph. “Someone cursed him! Said that he should fall in love with himself and fail to be loved back, and Nemesis heard him.”
The olive nymph let out a snort. “The same Nemesis who hurts anyone who seems to be too lucky? Sure she wasn’t just eavesdropping? That goddess does love her gossip, just like the rest.”
“Hey, I’m just telling you what I heard. I’ll stop if you don’t want to hear it.”
“Alright, I’m sorry, I’ll be quiet. What happened after Nemesis got involved?”
“Well, she did what was asked of her. The next time Narcissus was out hunting, when he went to drink from a pond he saw his reflection and fell in love with himself, and – “
“Hold up, you expect me to believe that?” cried the olive wood nymph. “I know Narcissus went back for seconds of looks instead of getting in line when they were handing out intelligence, but surely even he wasn’t that dumb. I mean, animals can recognize that their reflection isn’t real!”
The fir wood nymph held up her hands defensively. “I swear it’s true! My cousin’s boyfriend’s sister’s aunt saw him! He was sitting by the pond, weeping and reaching down to touch the surface, moaning at the fact that he couldn’t caress his reflection’s face. I swear it actually happened.”
The olive wood nymph let out a snort. “Whatever you say. Did he ever manage to drag himself away from his own reflection?”
The fir nymph shook her head. “He just stayed there. Supposedly he knew that it was his reflection, and that he was being stupid, but he still stayed there and just looked at himself. Just wasted away. Someone told me Echo was there, watching it all happen. Not that she could do anything to help him. He finally died after a while. Kind of a sad way to go, if you ask me. Longing so much for what you can’t have.”
The olive nymph let out another snort. “This is Ancient Greece. People die in tragic ways all the time. Trust me, that’s nothing new.”
“Yeah, but I didn’t tell you the best part,” said the fir nymph. “His sisters went to bury his body, but they didn’t find it! They found a flower instead next to the pond, white with a yellow center, and it kept bobbing towards the water as if it was trying to look into it. Supposedly Echo stayed with him until the end too.” She sighed. “I know Greek mythology always has tragic endings, but this one really sucks, if you ask me.”
The olive wood nymph rolled her eyes again, and moved to stretch her arms. As she did, something by the edge of the pond caught her eye. There was a white flower, with a yellow center. As she watched, the flower kept nodding down at the top of the water, as if the wind was pushing it down. But the olive nymph realized that all the other plants were still, that there was no wind. The flower was the only plant in sight that was moving.
The olive wood nymph turned back to her companion, and saw that the fir nymph saw the flower as well. With a few muttered words to each other, they jumped up and moved quickly back down the path towards their trees, with only the echo of their words remaining in the clearing with the pond and the flower.
(Source: Ceil on DeviantArt)
Author’s note: This version of the story of Narcissus comes from Ovid's Metamorphoses. Like a lot of Greek myths, this one ends in tragedy. There’s not really a happy ending for anyone involved. Echo, who was cursed by Hera to repeat the last words someone spoke to her, was reported to have faded away after she was rejected by Narcissus, leaving only her voice behind. Narcissus (who was the subject of a prophecy that he would only be in danger if he were to find himself) was so arrogant in rejecting everyone that he attracted the attention of Nemesis (the Greek goddess of revenge who was known to go after those she felt had too high an opinion of themselves).
As should be evidenced, Narcissus is the root of the word ‘narcissism,’ a personality disorder where someone feels they are the best, and everyone who disagrees with them is their enemy. In other words, someone who is so in love with themselves that they disregard all others. Additionally, this story provides an explanation for the existence of two things: the echo, and the Narcissus flower (which really does exist).
I liked the idea of the story being told as gossip. The ending where the nymphs realize they’re by a pond with an oddly moving flower didn’t occur to me until I was almost done. But I like where the story ended up; it makes the tale a little somber, and gives it a ghostly feel that I think is befitting.
3 comments:
I really liked how dialogue-driven the story was. I feel like the gossipy tone really suits the drama of Greek mythology, that was a great idea! I also think you ended the story really well, with the nymphs finding the narcissus flower (endings are always the hardest part for me). The story seemed almost like a mix of the ancient and modern, with how self-aware the nymphs were of their place in Greek mythology and the structure of Greek tragedies.
First and foremost, I love the casual fourth wall break. That's easily my favorite story trope, and it fits the comedic theme here really well. Overall, I like the ex post facto focus of the story, telling it like nymph gossip as opposed to a fable warning of narcissism. Plus, we get a double feature with Echo involved as well. Despite being comedic, the rather sad conclusion of the tragedy doesn't lose its weight, but is somewhat softened by the disconnect from the first person of the story.
Hi Madison,
I love how you told this story. It was clear and concise, and I had a lot of fun reading it! The way you told the story as gossip between two nymphs was brilliant because at the end, it seems like the ghost of Narcissus and Echo came back to haunt them. Of course, Echo's story was very sad like all Greek tragedies. It flowed very nicely, too. All in all, good job and can't wait to read more!
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