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Study
Guide Prepared by Michael J. Cummings...©
2008
Type
of Work
.
The
story is part of the
third book of Metamorphoses, a long
narrative poem by Ovid about
mythological, legendary, and historical
characters and circumstances that
undergo a transformation.
Setting
.
The
action is set in or
near the ancient Greek city of Thespiae in the
republic of Boeotia, north
of Attica.
Characters
..
Narcissus:
Proud youth who rejects the attentions of
maidens.
Echo:
Mountain nymph who falls in love with
Narcissus.
Rhamnusia:
Goddess of vengeance, Nemesis.
Liriope:
Mother of Narcissus. She is a water nymph
often referred to as a Nereid
because she is one of the daughter of a sea
god, Nereus.
Cephisus:
Father of Narcissus. He is a river god.
Tiresias:
Blind soothsayer.
Jupiter:
King of the gods. His Greek name is Zeus.
Juno:
Queen of the gods. Her Greek name is Hera.
Dryads:
Tree-dwelling nymphs who mourn the death of
Narcissus.
Naiads:
Nymphs dwelling in lakes, rivers, and springs.
They mourn the death of
Narcissus.
By Michael J. Cummings ©
2008
Based on
a 1717 English
Translation by John Dryden, Alexander Pope, and
Others
.
.
One
day the river god Cephisus impregnates the water nymph
Liriope after forcing
himself upon her. After she gives birth to a boy,
called Narcissus, she
asks the prophet Tiresias whether her child will have
a long life. “If
e’er he knows himself,” Tiresias answers, “he surely
dies.”
Liriope
does not understand this perplexing reply. Only the
passage of time will
reveal it to her.
When
Narcissus turns sixteen, he is so extraordinarily
handsome that young maidens
burn with desire for him. While hunting in the woods,
he attracts the attention
of the mountain nymph Echo, who was robbed of the
ability to voice her
thoughts after incurring the wrath of the queen of the
gods, Juno. Here
is what happened.
The
king of the gods, Jupiter, had once persuaded Echo to
distract Juno with
idle conversation so that he could sneak away and meet
with a paramour.
At the appointed time, Echo jabbers on, depriving Juno
of the opportunity
to spy on Jupiter. Later, when Juno discovers what
Echo was up to, she
punishes her by rendering her incapable of speaking
any words except the
last two or three she has heard someone else say.
These she must repeat.
Consequently, she speaks only “with mimick [mimic]
sounds, and accents
not her own.”
Upon
seeing Narcissus, she—like other maidens—cannot resist
his charms and yearns
to reveal to him her love. But, bearing the heavy
burden of Juno’s curse,
she can only repeat his last words in a voice that
sounds like his. When
words he speaks reverberate back to him, he calls out
to meet with whoever
is mimicking him. Heartened, Echo approaches him and,
by throwing her arms
around him, communicates her love. However, Narcissus,
proud and vain,
coldly rejects her. He will not deign to occupy his
time with this lowly
maid. Thereafter, she pines away for his love until
nothing is left of
her except the sound of her mimicking voice. “Her
bones are petrify'd,
her voice is found / In vaults, where still it doubles
ev'ry sound."
Meanwhile,
another love-struck admirer seeks his love, but proud
Narcissus ignores
the suit. Frustrated and angry, the suitor prays to
the gods, “Oh may he
love like me, and love like me in vain!" The goddess
of vengeance, known
by the names of Rhamnusia and Nemesis, hears the
prayer and decides to
answer it. The occasion for the retribution comes when
Narcissus is out
hunting again and, hot and tired, decides to rest next
to a pristine fountain
surrounded by pleasant verdure and high trees that
provide cooling shade.
When he bends over the fountain to quench his thirst,
he sees in the water
a wondrous face and immediately falls in love with it,
unaware that he
is looking at himself.
The
well-turn'd
neck and shoulders he descries,
The
spacious forehead, and
the sparkling eyes;
The hands
that Bacchus might
not scorn to show,
And hair
that round Apollo's
head might flow;
With all
the purple youthfulness
of face,
That gently
blushes in the
wat'ry glass.
Narcissus
kisses the reflection
and tries to pull it out of the water, to no avail.
Nevertheless, he remains
at the fountain, forsaking sleep and food. He cries
out in desperation:
"You
trees," says
he, "and thou surrounding grove,
Who oft
have been the kindly
scenes of love,
Tell me, if
e'er within
your shades did lye [lie]
A youth so
tortur'd, so
perplex'd as I?
I, who
before me see the
charming fair,
Whilst
there he stands,
and yet he stands not there."
Narcissus
then thinks the image must feel the same way he does,
frustrated with longing
for an embrace but unable to gain one. Finally, he
realizes what is happening:
Ah
wretched me!
I now begin too late
To find out
all the long-perplex'd
deceit;
It is my
self I love, my
self I see.
Still,
he cannot turn his eyes from the fountain. When he
cries, his tears disturb
the waters, and the reflection blurs and wrinkles.
Narcissus rips off his
garment and beats at his chest. His unrequited love is
killing him.
As
wax dissolves,
as ice begins to run,
And trickle
into drops before
the sun;
So melts
the youth, and
languishes away,
His beauty
withers, and
his limbs decay;
And none of
those attractive
charms remain,
To which
the slighted Echo
su'd in vain.
Echo sees and
pities him. When
he cries, "Ah youth! belov'd in vain," Echo replies,
“Ah youth! belov'd
in vain." After he dies, nymphs prepare an urn to hold
his ashes. However,
when they look for it, they find a beautiful flower in
its place.
Themes
.
Excessive
Pride
Narcissus
is excessively
proud, believing that Echo and other admirers worthy
of his attentions.
In ancient Greece, excessive pride was a grave sin
that ultimately causes
the downfall of those who exhibit it.
Unrequited
Love
Echo
wastes away after Narcissus
refuses to return her love. Narcissus withers and
turns into a flower after
realizing that the image in the fountain is merely a
reflection in the
fountain and, therefore, incapable of expressing
love.
Vengeance
Rhamnusia
(Nemesis), the
goddess of vengeance, punishes Narcissus by making
him fall in love with
his own image. Juno punishes Echo by robbing her of
the ability to voice
her thoughts.
Male
Abuse of Females
Cephisus
rapes Liriope. Jupiter
is unfaithful to Juno. Narcissus cruelly rejects the
attentions of Echo.
Climax
and Fulfillment of the Prophecy
.
The climax
occurs when Narcissus
realizes that he has fallen in love with his own
reflection. This realization
of his self-love fulfills the prophecy of Tiresias.
.
.
Style
and Verse Format
.
Although
he based the tales in Metamorphoses on
existing stories, Ovid presents
them with a freshness and originality that made them
uniquely his own.
His writing is vivid, elegant, and succinct, with the
stories—including
"Narcissus and Echo"—generally
moving swiftly from beginning to end without tedious
digressions or inflated
language.
Metamorphoses was highly popular with readers
of the Augustan
age (27 BC to AD 14, when Caesar Augustus ruled the
Roman Empire) and became
one of the best read books of the Renaissance,
influencing Shakespeare
and other prominent writers. The themes and motifs are
as timely today
as they were 2,000 years ago.
Ovid
wrote Metamorphoses in heroic hexameter,
the dignified verse format of ancient epic poetry.
Heroic hexameter consists
of unrhymed lines that each contain six feet. Each foot
is either a dactyl
(a stressed
syllable followed by two unstressed syllables) or a spondee
(two stressed syllables). The number of syllables per
line varies depending
on the number of dactyls and spondees in it.
A dactyl tends to accelerate
the narrative in the same way that an allegro and a
presto accelerate music;
a spondee tends to slow the narrative like an adagio
in music. Ovid chose
dactyls more often than spondees so that the narrative
moves along briskly.
English
Translations of Latin Works
When
translating Latin classics into English, writers
generally interpret the
Latin words rather than presenting a verbatim
rendering of them. One reason
for this approach is that Latin inflection and word
order differ substantially
from English inflection and word order.
Another reason is that there
is no Latin equivalent of the English definite
article (a, an,
or the). Consider the following Latin
phrase:
oculus
dexter.
Oculus
means eye, and dexter means right. However,
the phrase in English
does not mean eye right; rather, it means the  right
eye. As you can see, Latin places the
adjective after the noun, not
before it, and it does not use an article before the
noun. In addition,
a verb in a Latin sentence or phrase usually has a
different position than
a verb in an English phrase or sentence. Consider
the following Latin sentence:
Poeta
puellam amat. A word-for-word literal
translation renders it as Poet
girl loves. However, its correct translation
is The poet loves the
girl.
There
are many other differences—too
numerous to discuss here—between
Latin and English. As
a result of these differences, translators of Latin
literary works try
to capture the spirit of them rather than presenting
a literal rendering
of them. In addition, they may change the meter of a
verse work and add
rhyme to it. For example, the following English
translation of "Narcissus
and Echo" uses pentameter
with
iambic
feet rather than hexameter with dactylic or spondaic
feet. It also contains
end rhyme.
Narcissus
and Echo
By Ovid
.
| Background
In
Book III of Metamorphoses, Ovid
first tells other stories about
mythological figures, including the blind
prophet Tiresias, famous in all
the cities of Aonia for his ability to see
the future. In making the transition
from the story about Tiresias to the story
of Narcissus and Echo, Ovid
notes that the first person ever to seek
out Tiresias for a prophecy is
a water nymph, Liriope, who gave birth to
a boy, called Narcissus, after
the river god Cephisus raped her. Liriope
wants Tiresias to tell her whether
the boy will live a long life.
English
From
a 1717 Translation of Metamorphoses
by John Dryden,
Alexander
Pope, Joseph Addison,
William Congreve, and Others
|
Fam'd
far
and near for knowing things to
come,
From
him [Tiresias] th' enquiring
nations sought their doom;
The
fair Liriope his answers try'd,
And
first th' unerring prophet
justify'd.
This
nymph the God Cephisus had abus'd,
With
all his winding waters
circumfus'd,
And
on the Nereid got a lovely boy,
Whom
the soft maids ev'n then beheld
with joy.
The
tender dame, sollicitous to know
Whether
her
child should reach old age or no,
Consults
the
sage Tiresias, who replies,
"If
e'er he knows himself he surely
dies."
Long
liv'd the dubious mother in
suspence,
'Till
time
unriddled all the prophet's sense.
Narcissus
now
his sixteenth year began,
Just
turn'd of boy, and on the verge of
man;
Many
a friend the blooming youth
caress'd,
Many
a love-sick maid her flame
confess'd:
Such
was his pride, in vain the friend
caress'd,
The
love-sick maid in vain her flame
confess'd.
Once,
in
the woods, as he pursu'd the chace
[chase, hunt]
The
babbling Echo had descry'd his
face;
She,
who in others' words her silence
breaks,
Nor
speaks her self but when another
speaks.
Echo
was then a maid, of speech bereft,
Of
wonted speech; for tho' her voice
was left,
Juno
a curse did on her tongue impose,
To
sport with ev'ry sentence in the
close.
Full
often when the Goddess might have
caught
Jove
and her rivals in the very fault,
This
nymph with subtle stories would
delay
Her
coming, 'till the lovers slip'd
away.
The
Goddess found out the deceit in
time,
And
then she cry'd, "That tongue, for
this thy crime,
Which
could
so many subtle tales produce,
Shall
be
hereafter but of little use."
Hence
'tis
she prattles in a fainter tone,
With
mimick sounds, and accents not her
own.
This
love-sick virgin, over-joy'd to
find
The
boy alone, still follow'd him
behind:
When
glowing warmly at her near
approach,
As
sulphur blazes at the taper's
touch,
She
long'd her hidden passion to
reveal,
And
tell her pains, but had not words
to tell:
She
can't begin, but waits for the
rebound,
To
catch his voice, and to return the
sound.
The
nymph, when nothing could
Narcissus move,
Still
dash'd
with blushes for her slighted
love,
Liv'd
in
the shady covert of the woods,
In
solitary caves and dark abodes;
Where
pining
wander'd the rejected fair,
'Till
harrass'd
out, and worn away with care,
The
sounding skeleton, of blood
bereft,
Besides
her
bones and voice had nothing left.
Her
bones are petrify'd, her voice is
found
In
vaults, where still it doubles
ev'ry sound.
Thus
did the nymphs in vain caress the
boy,
He
still was lovely, but he still was
coy;
When
one fair virgin of the slighted
train
Thus
pray'd the Gods, provok'd by his
disdain,
"Oh
may he love like me, and love like
me in vain!"
Rhamnusia
pity'd
the neglected fair,
And
with just vengeance answer'd to
her pray'r.
There
stands
a fountain in a darksom wood,
Nor
stain'd with falling leaves nor
rising mud;
Untroubled
by
the breath of winds it rests,
Unsully'd
by
the touch of men or beasts;
High
bow'rs of shady trees above it
grow,
And
rising grass and chearful greens
below.
Pleas'd
with
the form and coolness of the
place,
And
over-heated by the morning chace,
Narcissus
on
the grassie verdure lyes:
But
whilst within the chrystal fount
he tries
To
quench his heat, he feels new
heats arise.
For
as his own bright image he
survey'd,
He
fell in love with the fantastick
shade;
And
o'er the fair resemblance hung
unmov'd,
Nor
knew, fond youth! it was himself
he lov'd.
The
well-turn'd neck and shoulders he
descries,
The
spacious forehead, and the
sparkling eyes;
The
hands that Bacchus1
might not scorn to show,
And
hair that round Apollo's2
head might flow;
With
all the purple youthfulness of
face,
That
gently blushes in the wat'ry
glass.
By
his own flames consum'd the lover
lyes,
And
gives himself the wound by which
he dies.
To
the cold water oft he joins his
lips,
Oft
catching at the beauteous shade he
dips
His
arms, as often from himself he
slips.
Nor
knows he who it is his arms pursue
With
eager clasps, but loves he knows
not who.
What
could, fond youth, this helpless
passion move?
What
kindled in thee this unpity'd
love?
Thy
own warm blush within the water
glows,
With
thee the colour'd shadow comes and
goes,
Its
empty being on thy self relies;
Step
thou aside, and the frail charmer
dies.
Still
o'er
the fountain's wat'ry gleam he
stood,
Mindless
of
sleep, and negligent of food;
Still
view'd
his face, and languish'd as he
view'd.
At
length he rais'd his head, and
thus began
To
vent his griefs, and tell the
woods his pain.
"You
trees," says he, "and thou
surrounding grove,
Who
oft have been the kindly scenes of
love,
Tell
me, if e'er within your shades did
lye
A
youth so tortur'd, so perplex'd as
I?
I,
who before me see the charming
fair,
Whilst
there
he stands, and yet he stands not
there:
In
such a maze of love my thoughts
are lost:
And
yet no bulwark'd town, nor distant
coast,
Preserves
the
beauteous youth from being seen,
No
mountains rise, nor oceans flow
between.
A
shallow water hinders my embrace;
And
yet the lovely mimick wears a face
That
kindly smiles, and when I bend to
join
My
lips to his, he fondly bends to
mine.
Hear,
gentle
youth, and pity my complaint,
Come
from thy well, thou fair
inhabitant.
My
charms an easy conquest have
obtain'd
O'er
other hearts, by thee alone
disdain'd.
But
why should I despair? I'm sure he
burns
With
equal flames, and languishes by
turns.
When-e'er
I
stoop, he offers at a kiss,
And
when my arms I stretch, he
stretches his.
His
eye with pleasure on my face he
keeps,
He
smiles my smiles, and when I weep
he weeps.
When
e'er I speak, his moving lips
appear
To
utter something, which I cannot
hear.
"Ah
wretched me! I now begin too late
To
find out all the long-perplex'd
deceit;
It
is my self I love, my self I see;
The
gay delusion is a part of me.
I
kindle up the fires by which I
burn,
And
my own beauties from the well
return.
Whom
should I court? how utter my
complaint?
Enjoyment
but
produces my restraint,
And
too much plenty makes me die for
want.
How
gladly would I from my self
remove!
And
at a distance set the thing I
love.
My
breast is warm'd with such unusual
fire,
I
wish him absent whom I most
desire.
And
now I faint with grief; my fate
draws nigh;
In
all the pride of blooming youth I
die.
Death
will
the sorrows of my heart relieve.
Oh
might the visionary youth survive,
I
should with joy my latest breath
resign!
But
oh! I see his fate involv'd in
mine."
This
said, the weeping youth again
return'd
To
the clear fountain, where again he
burn'd;
His
tears defac'd the surface of the
well,
With
circle after circle, as they fell:
And
now the lovely face but half
appears,
O'er-run
with
wrinkles, and deform'd with tears.
"Ah
whither," cries Narcissus, "dost
thou fly?
Let
me still feed the flame by which I
die;
Let
me still see, tho' I'm no further
blest."
Then
rends his garment off, and beats
his breast:
His
naked bosom redden'd with the
blow,
In
such a blush as purple clusters
show,
Ere
yet the sun's autumnal heats
refine
Their
sprightly
juice, and mellow it to wine.
The
glowing beauties of his breast he
spies,
And
with a new redoubled passion dies.
As
wax dissolves, as ice begins to
run,
And
trickle into drops before the sun;
So
melts the youth, and languishes
away,
His
beauty withers, and his limbs
decay;
And
none of those attractive charms
remain,
To
which the slighted Echo su'd in
vain.
She
saw him in his present misery,
Whom,
spight
of all her wrongs, she griev'd to
see.
She
answer'd sadly to the lover's
moan,
Sigh'd
back
his sighs, and groan'd to ev'ry
groan:
"Ah
youth! belov'd in vain," Narcissus
cries;
"Ah
youth! belov'd in vain," the nymph
replies.
"Farewell,"
says
he; the parting sound scarce fell
From
his faint lips, but she reply'd,
"farewell."
Then
on th' wholsome earth he gasping
lyes,
'Till
death
shuts up those self-admiring eyes.
To
the cold shades his flitting ghost
retires,
And
in the Stygian waves it self
admires.
For
him the Naiads and the Dryads
mourn,
Whom
the sad Echo answers in her turn;
And
now the sister-nymphs prepare his
urn:
When,
looking
for his corps, they only found
A
rising stalk, with yellow blossoms
crown'd
Notes
.
1.
Roman name for Dionysus, the god
of wine, revelry, ecstasy, and
vegetation.
2.
Reference to the Roman and Greek
name for the god of music, poetry,
prophecy,
and medicine. Apollo was also
identified with the sun. In myths
and literary
allusions, he is often depicted as
driving a golden chariot (the sun)
across
the sky.
Original Latin
Lines
55-166 of Book IV of Metamorphoses
Ille per Aonias fama
celeberrimus
urbes
inreprehensa dabat
populo
responsa petenti;
prima fide vocisque
ratae
temptamina sumpsit
caerula Liriope, quam
quondam
flumine curvo
inplicuit clausaeque
suis
Cephisos in undis
vim tulit: enixa est
utero
pulcherrima pleno
infantem nymphe, iam
tunc
qui posset amari,
Narcissumque vocat. de
quo
consultus, an esset
tempora maturae visurus
longa senectae,
fatidicus vates 'si se
non
noverit' inquit.
vana diu visa est vox
auguris:
exitus illam
resque probat letique
genus
novitasque furoris.
namque ter ad quinos
unum
Cephisius annum
addiderat poteratque
puer
iuvenisque videri:
multi illum iuvenes,
multae
cupiere puellae;
sed fuit in tenera tam
dura
superbia forma,
nulli illum iuvenes,
nullae
tetigere puellae.
adspicit hunc trepidos
agitantem
in retia cervos
vocalis nymphe, quae nec
reticere loquenti
nec prior ipsa loqui
didicit,
resonabilis Echo.
Corpus
adhuc Echo, non vox erat et tamen
usum
garrula non alium, quam
nunc habet, oris habebat,
reddere de multis ut
verba
novissima posset.
fecerat hoc Iuno, quia,
cum deprendere posset
sub Iove saepe suo
nymphas
in monte iacentis,
illa deam longo prudens
sermone tenebat,
dum fugerent nymphae.
postquam
hoc Saturnia sensit,
'huius' ait 'linguae,
qua
sum delusa, potestas
parva tibi dabitur
vocisque
brevissimus usus,'
reque minas firmat.
tantum
haec in fine loquendi
ingeminat voces
auditaque
verba reportat.
ergo ubi Narcissum per
devia
rura vagantem
vidit et incaluit,
sequitur
vestigia furtim,
quoque magis sequitur,
flamma
propiore calescit,
non aliter quam cum
summis
circumlita taedis
admotas rapiunt vivacia
sulphura flammas.
o quotiens voluit
blandis
accedere dictis
et mollis adhibere
preces!
natura repugnat
nec sinit, incipiat,
sed,
quod sinit, illa parata est
exspectare sonos, ad
quos
sua verba remittat.
forte puer comitum
seductus
ab agmine fido
dixerat: 'ecquis adest?'
et 'adest' responderat Echo.
hic stupet, utque aciem
partes dimittit in omnis,
voce 'veni!' magna
clamat:
vocat illa vocantem.
respicit et rursus nullo
veniente 'quid' inquit
'me fugis?' et totidem,
quot dixit, verba recepit.
perstat et alternae
deceptus
imagine vocis
'huc coeamus' ait,
nullique
libentius umquam
responsura sono
'coeamus'
rettulit Echo
et verbis favet ipsa
suis
egressaque silva
ibat, ut iniceret
sperato
bracchia collo;
ille fugit fugiensque
'manus
conplexibus aufer!
ante' ait 'emoriar, quam
sit tibi copia nostri';
rettulit illa nihil nisi
'sit tibi copia nostri!'
spreta latet silvis
pudibundaque
frondibus ora
protegit et solis ex
illo
vivit in antris;
sed tamen haeret amor
crescitque
dolore repulsae;
extenuant vigiles corpus
miserabile curae
adducitque cutem macies
et in aera sucus
corporis omnis abit; vox
tantum atque ossa supersunt:
vox manet, ossa ferunt
lapidis
traxisse figuram.
inde latet silvis
nulloque
in monte videtur,
omnibus auditur: sonus
est,
qui vivit in illa.
Sic
hanc,
sic alias undis aut montibus ortas
luserat hic nymphas, sic
coetus ante viriles;
inde manus aliquis
despectus
ad aethera tollens
'sic amet ipse licet,
sic
non potiatur amato!'
dixerat: adsensit
precibus
Rhamnusia iustis.
fons erat inlimis,
nitidis
argenteus undis,
quem neque pastores
neque
pastae monte capellae
contigerant aliudve
pecus,
quem nulla volucris
nec fera turbarat nec
lapsus
ab arbore ramus;
gramen erat circa, quod
proximus umor alebat,
silvaque sole locum
passura
tepescere nullo.
hic puer et studio
venandi
lassus et aestu
procubuit faciemque loci
fontemque secutus,
dumque sitim sedare
cupit,
sitis altera crevit,
dumque bibit, visae
correptus
imagine formae
spem sine corpore amat,
corpus putat esse, quod umbra est.
adstupet ipse sibi
vultuque
inmotus eodem
haeret, ut e Pario
formatum
marmore signum;
spectat humi positus
geminum,
sua lumina, sidus
et dignos Baccho1,
dignos et Apolline2
crines
inpubesque genas et
eburnea
colla decusque
oris et in niveo mixtum
candore ruborem,
cunctaque miratur,
quibus
est mirabilis ipse:
se cupit inprudens et,
qui
probat, ipse probatur,
dumque petit, petitur,
pariterque
accendit et ardet.
inrita fallaci quotiens
dedit oscula fonti,
in mediis quotiens visum
captantia collum
bracchia mersit aquis
nec
se deprendit in illis!
quid videat, nescit; sed
quod videt, uritur illo,
atque oculos idem, qui
decipit,
incitat error.
credule, quid frustra
simulacra
fugacia captas?
quod petis, est nusquam;
quod amas, avertere, perdes!
ista repercussae, quam
cernis,
imaginis umbra est:
nil habet ista sui;
tecum
venitque manetque;
tecum discedet, si tu
discedere
possis!
Non
illum
Cereris, non illum cura quietis
abstrahere inde potest,
sed opaca fusus in herba
spectat inexpleto
mendacem
lumine
formam
perque oculos perit ipse
suos; paulumque levatus
ad circumstantes tendens
sua bracchia silvas
'ecquis, io silvae,
crudelius'
inquit 'amavit?
scitis enim et multis
latebra
opportuna fuistis.
ecquem, cum vestrae tot
agantur saecula vitae,
qui sic tabuerit, longo
meministis in aevo?
et placet et video; sed
quod videoque placetque,
non tamen
invenio'--tantus
tenet error amantem--
'quoque magis doleam,
nec
nos mare separat ingens
nec via nec montes nec
clausis
moenia portis;
exigua prohibemur aqua!
cupit ipse teneri:
nam quotiens liquidis
porreximus
oscula lymphis,
hic totiens ad me
resupino
nititur ore.
posse putes tangi:
minimum
est, quod amantibus obstat.
quisquis es, huc exi!
quid
me, puer unice, fallis
quove petitus abis?
certe
nec forma nec aetas
est mea, quam fugias, et
amarunt me quoque nymphae!
spem mihi nescio quam
vultu
promittis amico,
cumque ego porrexi tibi
bracchia, porrigis ultro,
cum risi, adrides;
lacrimas
quoque saepe notavi
me lacrimante tuas; nutu
quoque signa remittis
et, quantum motu formosi
suspicor oris,
verba refers aures non
pervenientia
nostras!
iste ego sum: sensi, nec
me mea fallit imago;
uror amore mei: flammas
moveoque feroque.
quid faciam? roger anne
rogem? quid deinde rogabo?
quod cupio mecum est:
inopem
me copia fecit.
o utinam a nostro
secedere
corpore possem!
votum in amante novum,
vellem,
quod amamus, abesset.
iamque dolor vires
adimit,
nec tempora vitae
longa meae superant,
primoque
exstinguor in aevo.
nec mihi mors gravis est
posituro morte dolores,
hic, qui diligitur,
vellem
diuturnior esset;
nunc duo concordes anima
moriemur in una.'
Dixit
et ad faciem rediit male sanus
eandem
et lacrimis turbavit
aquas,
obscuraque moto
reddita forma lacu est;
quam cum vidisset abire,
'quo refugis? remane nec
me, crudelis, amantem
desere!' clamavit;
'liceat,
quod tangere non est,
adspicere et misero
praebere
alimenta furori!'
dumque dolet, summa
vestem
deduxit ab ora
nudaque marmoreis
percussit
pectora palmis.
pectora traxerunt roseum
percussa ruborem,
non aliter quam poma
solent,
quae candida parte,
parte rubent, aut ut
variis
solet uva racemis
ducere purpureum nondum
matura colorem.
quae simul adspexit
liquefacta
rursus in unda,
non tulit ulterius, sed
ut intabescere flavae
igne levi cerae
matutinaeque
pruinae
sole tepente solent, sic
attenuatus amore
liquitur et tecto
paulatim
carpitur igni;
et neque iam color est
mixto
candore rubori,
nec vigor et vires et
quae
modo visa placebant,
nec corpus remanet,
quondam
quod amaverat Echo.
quae tamen ut vidit,
quamvis
irata memorque,
indoluit, quotiensque
puer
miserabilis 'eheu'
dixerat, haec resonis
iterabat
vocibus 'eheu';
cumque suos manibus
percusserat
ille lacertos,
haec quoque reddebat
sonitum
plangoris eundem.
ultima vox solitam fuit
haec spectantis in undam:
'heu frustra dilecte
puer!'
totidemque remisit
verba locus, dictoque
vale
'vale' inquit et Echo.
ille caput viridi fessum
submisit in herba,
lumina mors clausit
domini
mirantia formam:
tum quoque se, postquam
est inferna sede receptus,
in Stygia spectabat
aqua.
planxere sorores
naides et sectos fratri
posuere capillos,
planxerunt dryades;
plangentibus
adsonat Echo.
iamque rogum quassasque
faces feretrumque parabant:
nusquam corpus erat;
croceum
pro corpore florem
inveniunt foliis medium
cingentibus albis.
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Study
Questions and Essay Topics
- Write an essay informing the reader
about rejection or avoidance of women
as a major motif in literary works. Among the
works you may wish to research
are Ovid's "Pygmalion,"
Shakespeare's
Love's
Labours Lost, Shakespeare's Venus
and Adonis, and Turgenev's
Father's
and
Sons.
- Psychologists use the words narcissism,
narcissist, and narcissistic
when referring to or describing a mental
condition or a person exhibiting
symptoms of this condition. What are the
definitions of these words?
- Write an essay focusing on the motif
of excessive pride in Greek literature.
Among the literary works you may wish to discuss
in your essay are the
Theban
plays of Sophocles.
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