Echo and Narcissus

            Echo was a young, very talkative nymph.  Echo and Zeus were together, believing that all was well.  Hera, Zeus’ wife, was unhappy and had followed Zeus down to Earth.  Zeus being godly had sensed her coming.  He instructed Echo to keep Hera busy until he got away.  Echo did just that.  She created a long and untrue story for Hera, giving Zeus enough time to escape.  Reah (Hera’s mom) knew she had been tricked.  Reah turned to Echo and declared, “That tongue of yours, by which I have been tricked, shall have its power curtailed and enjoy the briefest of speech.”  From that moment on the talkative Echo could barely use her voice, and could only repeat the words that those around her said.  Echo became lonely and secluded herself deep in the woods.

          One day, a handsome man named Narcissus came along.  Echo fell in love with him immediately, but she could not tell him.  Narcissus went deeper into the woods, until he came upon a calm stream.  He bent over to drink, but saw his reflection.  He spoke to his reflection, “I love you.”  Echo hearing her chance responded, “I love you.”  But it was too late, Narcissus was too busy admiring himself to notice her.  Narcissus wouldn’t leave the stream to eat, or disturb his image to drink.  He died of thirst and hunger.  Echo died too, but when she died not even her bones remained.  Echo’s voice the one thing she had been denied in life was preserved, and to this day her voice sounds everywhere.

(You may find different versions of this myth because before it was written down it was passed on from person to person.)