Vanity In Greek Mythology

While the 1st century rabbi Yeshua ben-Yosef advised his followers to love their neighbors as themselves, there have been those throughout history who have loved themselves to the exclusion of their neighbors (the names of several Hollywood celebrities past and present come to mind). The very word used to describe this unhealthy type of self-preoccupation is narcissism, which derives from the name of a tragic figure in Greco-Roman mythology who literally love himself to death.

The best-known version of the tragic tale of Narcissus, or ??????????? NAR-kee-sohs) as he was known in the original Greek, comes to us from the Roman poet Ovid in his work Metamophoses.

In this tale, the nymph Echo attempts to save her fellow wood-nymphs from the wrath of Hera during those times that her husband Zeus would come down from Olympus for dalliances. Echo’s strategy was to keep Hera distracted with constant chatter, thus giving her sisters a chance to escape.

Once Hera realized she was being manipulated in this way, she cursed Echo, removing her powers of speech in such a way that she was no longer able to express herself, but only parrot the last words she heard spoken by others.

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Under this curse, she encountered the beautiful Narcissus, son of the river-god Kephisos and the nymph Leirope. Narcissus – aloof and self-absorbed by nature – was angered by Echo’s disability that limited her to repeating his words, believing she was mocking him.

Rebuffed and rejected, Echo pined away in the woods by herself, wasting away until nothing was left but her voice.

Narcissus was similarly cruel to other admirers of both sexes. It was only a matter of time before one heart-broken suitor called upon the gods for revenge, which came in the form of Cupid’s arrow. When Cupid – or ????? (AY-rohs) in Greek – shot someone in the heart with an arrow, that person would fall hopelessly in love with the first one they saw afterwards. For Narcissus, this was his own reflection in the water.

Unable to tear himself away from the sight of his true love and unable to fulfill his desire, he too wasted away, eventually dying from exhaustion (Hard, 2003). In another version of the tale, Narcissus kills himself with a sword, not realizing the beautiful boy in the reflection is actually himself and believing himself spurned. The theme of vanity leading to one’s downfall or incurring the wrath of the gods is a common one, not only in Hellenistic literature and folklore, but in many traditions throughout the Mediterranean and the Middle East.

Even King Solomon warns in the Book of Ecclesiastes, “…vanity of vanities, all is vanity. ” In Genesis, the god Jehovah punishes humans who presume to build a tower to heaven by “mixing their speech;” King Midas, prideful of his wealth and power, is given the gift of turning everything around him into gold, and winds up turning his beloved daughter into a lifeless chunk of metal; Promethius – in a legend reminiscent of the Hebrew legend of Lucifer’s Fall – presumes to bring mortals the secret of fire, and is punished by being chained to a rock where vultures eat out his liver every day.

In the legend of Oedipus, excessive pride leads to an early “road-rage” incident in which Oedipus (unknowingly) kills his own father, with tragic consequences for an entire city. This is not to say that one should not have a healthy self-concept; self-loathing is at least as damaging as uncontrolled narcissism, if not more so. Nonetheless, the character of Captain Kirk (himself possessed of a large ego) says in the classic Star Trek episode The Trouble With Tribbles: “Too much of anything – even love – is unhealthy.

” Interestingly, the actor who portrayed this character, William Shanter, currently plays a role on the series Boston Legal who is the epitome of narcissism and self-obsession. In the series, this obsessive self-love isolates him, even from the one person who genuinely cares for him. The other side – and this is warning to all– is that it makes him susceptible to manipulation (in fact, Shatner’s character – Denny Crane – seems to get an almost sexual thrill from the sound of his own name). Unchecked and unregulated by a healthy dose of humility, narcissistic self-love literally becomes a monster that destroys one from within and from without.

It is not only this active, self-love that is shown as being destructive; it is also the cold, unfeeling disregard for others that is shown to be a monster as well, and in fact, it is not so much Narcissus’ conceit and self-obsession that leads to his death, but in a broader sense, his callous disregard for the emotional and psychological needs of others. From Narcissus’ Greek name, we also get the word “narcotic” – a substance used to literally numb the senses (the first element in the name – ????? [NAR-kay] actually means “numbness”).

In this light, the story of Narcissus is not only a cautionary tale against conceit and excessive self-love, but one in which people are warned to be sensitive to the emotional needs and feelings of others. On closer examination, Narcissus’ sin was not that he loved himself too well – this was really only the instrument of his punishment. His sin was is disregard for the feelings of others. Such disregard for others is indicative of immaturity and arrested social development. It is normal for very young children to be self-centered, but it is a stage from which most people (hopefully) move beyond.

The “baby-boom” generation (born between 1945 and 1960) has often been accused of this sort of narcissistic self-preoccupation, and if the actions and behaviors of current U. S. leaders – most of whom belong to that generation – is any indication, the accusation is valid. Perhaps if more of them heeded the lessons of the story of Narcissus, the nation – and the world – would be a better place.

Work Cited

Hard, R. (2003). The Routledge Handbook of Greek Mythology. New York: Routledge.