H/W Narcissus 07/05/11

Echo and

1. I think the white petals of the daffodil can sym olise the pallor of Narcissus! skin. "his kind of pale skin would ha#e een considered eautiful in the $oman world as it showed you were not out in the sun like most common people and sla#es. %ust as they would ha#e found Narcissus! skin tone #ery eautiful& we in modern days& find thin's of natural eauty like flowers such as daffodils #ery eautiful. (. )nother feature of the natural world that is e*plained is the echo. It is e*plained y the fact that Echo wasted away as she fell in lo#e with Narcissus who had refused her ad#ances. )s she was a nymph and therefore immortal she could not die so all that was left was her #oice and her ones that had e#entually turned to stone. +. I don!t think the $omans would ha#e taken the ori'in of these stories seriously as I think they are the e,ui#alent of para les and stories in the -ld "estament today in the i le. Each story shows what happens at the hands of the 'ods if you challen'e them or their authority& for e*ample in the story of Echo and Narcissus& Echo was punished for helpin' %upiter try and outwit %uno and Narcissus! mother had een raped y a 'od& .ephisus and she challen'ed "eiresias who technically isn!t a 'od ut is hi'hly respected y them. /oth these characters ha#e met farily unpleasant ends due to the 'ods in tis story& and the $omans would ha#e used this as a kind of reli'ious code of conduct. 0. I do feel some sympathy for Echo and I feel a little less sympathetic to Narcissus. I don!t feel much sympathy towards Narcissus& as he was a rude and #ain person and I feel he deser#ed a punishment for his wron' eha#iour towards others. Howe#er I do feel some sympathy towards him as I do feel that death as a punishment is rather harsh. I feel more sympathy for Echo rather than Narcissus as she was cursed to e'in with& and it was sad how she couldn!t communicate with the man she lo#ed and was scornfully re1e*cted y him. 5. I think that modern audiences could relate to these characters. I feel this way ecause the story is alon' the lines of unre,uited lo#e. )lmost e#eryone in a modern a'e can identify with this story line. It can also teach us morals and #alues 1ust as it did the $omans and these would e #alua le to e#ery

day life. 2. I think the modern word 3narcissistic3means that you are #ain and completely self osessed. I think this is the correct definition of the word ecause Narcissus was completely in lo#e with himself and elie#ed that he himself was more eautiful than any statue and any 'od. In the $oman world& to insult the 'ods y sayin' a mere mortal was as powerful& as eautiful or as intelli'ent as the 'ods would certainly incurr their wrath. "herefore& for someone who is completely dellusional a out their looks and they elie#e themsel#es to e outstandin'ly eautiful& it would e ri'ht to call them narcissitic as they would& in modern a'es& may e not incurr the wrath of the 'ods ut certainly the wrath of other people. 7. In this story& -#id tackles themes of reflection in two ways. He focuses on oth the physical reflection& such as Echo who has the a ility to reflect other peoples words and Narcissus who looks into a pool and sees himself. Howe#er& it could e said that Narcissus does not 3see3 himself. He may see his e*terior appearance ut he doesn!t see the manner in which he treats ithers and conducts himself. /y listenin' to Echo!s #oice& he elie#es that he has found the perfect match for him& when infact it is only a reflection of him and when he sees his reflection he instantly falls in lo#e. When Narcissus claims he knows himself& he actually can!t know himself as he has only heard a reflection of his words throu'h Echo and his own reflection of his appearance in a pool& he does not know his own mind or his own eha#iour as he cannot fathom the idea that someone would not want to em race him when the reflection disappears when he tries to hu' it. Had he understood his own mind and eha#iour may e he would not ha#e liked what he saw. 4. In this story& Echo and Narcissus oth under'o a chan'e. Narcissus chan'es from a normal human ody to a daffodil after he wastes away from not wantin' to lea#e his own reflection. Howe#er& not only does he 'o throu'h a physical chan'e ut he also 'oes throu'h an emotional chan'e as in the e'innin' of the story we are told that within Narcissus! eautiful and perfect e*terior& his heart was cold and hard& meanin' that he lo#ed no one. 5o& Narcissus 'oes from not lo#in' anyone to lo#in' soemone& 1ust not soemone else ut himself. Echo also 'oes under a physical chan'e and an emotional chan'e. When Echo wastes away& she 'oes from a eautiful Nymph to ein' nothin' ut a pile of stones and a #oice that can only repeat the words of others who say them first 6yet another chan'e under'one y Echo7. When Echo falls in lo#e with Narcissus& she is scornfully re1ected y him. "his may ha#e een ,uite shockin' for Echo& ecause as she was a nymph& she is used to ein' the one ein' chased& and not the one doin' the chasin'. 5o to e re1ected in such a way that she was& she could ha#e een rather heart roken& as anyone would e& ut also ,uite shocked and taken a ack.

8. I think there is a kind of messa'e to this story. I think the messa'e would e that eauty isn!t only skin deep. I think this would e the messa'e ehind the story& as Narcissus was said to e #ery eautiful. )lthou'h he was #ery eautiful in his looks& he had an u'ly personality and was #ery dero'atory towards e#eryone& e#en those he deemed to e his friends. He e#en denied the lo#e of many eautiful nymphs who also lusted after him. "his would ha#e made him foolish& as many men would lon' to e the o 1ect of nymphs affections. /y his foolishness and i'norance of other peoples feelin's& this makes him ha#e an u'ly personality to e hidden under the eautiful mask he has. 10. I think the $omans en1oyed hearin' and tellin' this story ecause they may ha#e liked the way that there was hardly any 'ods in#ol#ed and that would e a reak away from life where they would constantly ha#e to watch their eha#iour as to not offend the 'ods. )lso& it would ha#e tau'ht people #alua le morals that would e 'ood to use in modern society. It is also ,uite a humorous story& so they would think it would e a 'ood story to lau'h at and tell at may e times when they were entertainin'.