Summarization
Narcissus and Echo is a story of heartbreak and loss. Echo was blamed for Zeus' own mistakes and was given an awful curse from Hera. This curse made Echo lose her power to speak . This caused trouble for her because when she encountered Narcissus, a young man she loved, she was unable to communicate to him successfully. Whatever Narcissus said, Echo repeated. This seemed very strange to Narcissus, who was instantly repelled. He left her in the forest, heartbroken. Over time, Echo's bones turned to rock, and all that remained of her was her voice. Narcissus, however, was later cursed by the gods. The trail of broken hearts he left was the cause of this curse. One girl whose heart he crushed had had enough and prayed to the gods. The gods answered her wish by putting a curse on Narcissus. The curse made him fall in love with himself. This happened when he saw his reflection in the clear water he was about to drink from. He was infatuated with the vision he saw staring back at him and instantly fell in love with himself. Ironically, he then felt the pain that everyone else who fell in love with him and had their heart broken felt. Narcissus sat watching his reflection day and night, without food or water until he perished. All that was left in his place was a purple and white flower, called a narcissus.