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Beauty and Narcissus

Narcissus was born, an epitome of beauty, as the son of the river god Cephissus and the nymph Liriope. Liriope asked a powerful oracle if her baby would live a long and happy life to which she was met with the reply, "If he but fail to recognize himself, a long life he may have, beneath the sun."

Echo was an oread who was cursed by Hera to only be able to repeat the last words spoken by someone else as her name itself suggests. One day, she saw Narcissus in the woods and fell in love with his beauty. She began following him and was attracted to him more and more with each passing minute. But there was one problem. Echo could not speak to Narcissus. When Narcissus eventually realized that he was being followed, all Echo could do was repeat his words as Narcissus called out to her. When Echo finally revealed herself, Narcissus rejected her and carried on.

Narcissus' rejection was too much for her to handle. Too cruel. Too heartbreaking. Echo could not understand why he had treated her that way and chose to live alone in the wilderness. The thought of the rejection kept coming back to her and her feelings being much intense caused her body to wither away. The only things that were left of her were her bones and her voice. Echo's voice kept living in the woods. The tragedy that befell Echo because of Narcissus angered a lot of nymphs. Nemesis, the goddess of revenge, heard these voices calling for revenge and decided to help them.

Nemesis led Narcissus to a clear pool of water. As he leaned over to drink from it, he caught sight of his reflection and was unable to tear himself away. He was surprised at its beauty. He marvelled at it. He began to love his reflection to the point of complete obsession. He was unable to move. He was completely frozen as he burnt with desire for the person he saw in the reflection of the water. It's when he tried to embrace it that he realized that it was his own self and he was enamoured all the more by it. Thus, he remained by the pool until he withered away and died, leaving only a beautiful flower with white petals behind, a symbol of unrequited love, which is today called as the Narcissus flower. It is said that Narcissus still looks at his reflection in the Stygian waters of the underworld and is still fixated there.

I heard somewhere that humans were never really supposed to see their own reflection and thus the inventor of the mirror cursed the human race for all of eternity. And I think the tale of Narcissus backs this notion. How beauty products and beauty influencers' hype are on a rising streak in this modern world also validates this statement. Yes, we want to look our best always. But the societal definition of beauty is fleeting- it is lost to youth. So when you make your beauty your focal point, take heed that you do not lose yourself as you lose your youth. Take heed that you do not become like Narcissus and wither away in the end. Because there is more to life than just "beauty".

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