O spring like crystal!
If only, on your silver surface,
you would suddenly form
the eyes I have desired,
which I bear sketched deep within my heart.
~John of the Cross
Spiritual Canticle
The myth of Narcissus tells the story of a beautiful young man courted by many women but incapable of returning the affection of even one. The goddess Nemesis takes pity on one of his rejected suitors and determines that Narcissus should fall in love with himself and remain unable to reciprocate, thus cursing him with the unrequited love that had afflicted his cortege of spurned lovers.
The next time Narcissus catches a glimpse of his reflection in a pond, lo and behold, he is transfixed by the sight of himself. Enamored by his own appearance, he cannot leave the pond and perishes trying to embrace his elusive reflection on the water.
This myth is about conceit. It was conceit that prevented Narcissus from loving anyone and conceit that, in the end, led him to embrace a mirage.
Conceit comes from the word conceive, meaning to fashion in one’s mind and, etymologically at least, does not suggest a moral flaw as much as it does a form of delusion. In fact, Narcissus was helplessly trapped inside a solipsistic bubble. Tragically, he lived exiled from the world until love drove him “out of his mind”.
Tereisias had prophesied that Narcissus’ life would end prematurely if he should come to know himself. It was indeed in death that Narcissus transcended the mirror that separated him from his beloved and that he finally knew himself for who he was.
Ancient myths are full of tragic heroes who only come to see the light in darkness or go blind before they see, of lovers that are out of their senses and beggars that are really kings. Tereisias himself was blind, as was Oedipus. And Socrates, who was considered the wisest man in Greece, identified with Eros, the vagabond and drifter. They wandered among the lost and wounded, denuded and unprotected but driven, like Narcissus, by unrequited love. Only among the bereft, so it seems, does the light of wisdom strike.
But, your analysis entirely ignores the fact that he was the most beautiful man who had ever lived.
ReplyDeleteAnd, as does the lovely Springtime Narcissus, he dies betimes, but then revives always.
As does the beautiful mortal.
The Narcissus myth has always seemed to me to be a perfect illustration of the human condition and it is a pity that it has become so closely bound up with conceit and egoism both of which are pejorative words... "the ego" has now become the counterpart of the mediaeval devil. Reflexive awareness and self awareness are natural progressions towards consciousness which in itself must be transcended.
ReplyDeleteAlbert Low
Paulo Coelho writes his own version of the story in his book "The Alchemist" wherein he writes that the fresh water pond turns into tearful salty water. It cries not for the loss of Narcissus but for the loss of seeing its own beautiful reflection in his eyes when he gazed into the water. It seems from Coelho's version that we are attracted to how we see ourselves in others' eyes and a constant need for affirmation.
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