Narcissus, << nahr SIHS uhs >>, in Greek mythology, was a handsome youth who was courted by many lovers for his beauty. He, however, haughtily rejected all of them, including the nymph Echo. As punishment for his cruelty, the gods condemned Narcissus to contemplate his beauty reflected in a pond on Mount Helicon in Greece. Day after day he lay beside the pond, gazing lovingly at his reflection until he wasted away and died. When searchers went out to look for him, they found only a flower, now called the narcissus. Echo also wasted away from her love for Narcissus, finally becoming nothing more than a voice in the woods. The best-known version of the Narcissus story appears in the Metamorphoses, a collection of tales by the Roman poet Ovid.
