Have you ever heard about the story of Daedalus and Icarus or Echo and Narcissus? Here you can read my summary of the stories.
The Summary of Daedalus and Icarus
The story starts with Daedalus building a labyrinth for King Minos; later lost the favor of the king and was locked in a tower. Because he couldn?t leave by land and sea, Daedalus decided to escape by air. He began to make wings for himself and his son, Icarus. He started with the smallest feathers to the largest feathers, putting them together with thread (for the larger one ) and wax (for the smaller ones). He made the wings like the wings of birds, with a slight curve. Icarus would watch his father work, and gather up feathers too. When the wings were finally done, Daedalus tried them out and then he taught his son how to fly. Before they took for flight, Daedalus tolded his son to stay with him and not to fly too low because the damp will clog his wings and not too high because the heat will melt them. He kissed Icarus and took off; keeping an eye on his son?s takeoff. As they flew, Icarus was getting excited and starting to fly upward. As he neared the sun, the wax softened and the feathers came off. Icarus fell into the waters; crying for his father. Daedalus buried his body and called the land Icaria after his son. Finally, Daedalus arrived safely in Sicily, where he built a temple to Apollo and hanged his wings as an offering to the god.
Echo and Narcissus
Echo was a nymph who devoted herself to woodland sports. Echo had only one problem; she was very talkative and always had the last word. Echo was the favorite of Artemis and included her in the race. One day, Hera was seeking her husband, Zeus, who she feared was amusing himself among the nymphs. But she wasn?t able to discovered that he was because Echo keep talking to her till the others made their escape. When Hera found out that Echo did that, she sentence upon Echo in these words, ?You shall forfeit the use of that tongue with which you have cheated me, except for that one purpose you are so fond of - reply. You shall have the last word but no power to speak first.? So Echo lived her life not being able to talk unless she was talked too. One day Echo saw Narcissus, she loved him and she followed his footsteps everywhere. But Narcissus didn?t love Echo or any other nymph that came to him. Because Narcissus turned Echo down, Echo lived in caves since then, till her flesh shrank away and her bones turned to rocks. There was nothing left but her voice, which she was still ready to reply to anyone who calls her and kept her habit of having the last word. When Narcissus didn?t return affection to a maiden, the maiden prayed to the avenging goddess that he some time feels what love was and have no affection back. It was granted. Then one day, Narcissus stooped down to get a drink in a fountain and saw his own image. He fell in love with himself. When he tried kissing and hugging his reflection, it disappeared at touch and returned. He got sad when his reflection didn?t return the affection. He lost his color, vigor, and beauty that charmed Echo. He died and his shape passed the Stygain River. His body leaned over th boat for a look of itself in the water. The nymphs mourned for him. They prepared a funeral pile that would have burned the body. But it was nowhere to be found but a purple flower and white leaves it the body?s place. Bearing the name and preserves the memory of Narcissus.
The Moral of this story is never have too much pride. To the Greek the moral was to never have hubris , or excessive pride because Narcissus compared his looks to gods, and died by a god's enchantment.
To read the original myth click on one of the following links:
