Zeus, the King of the gods on Olympus, was unfaithful to his wife Hera, who he cheated on with goddesses, nymphs and humans.

Legend has it that Zeus became infatuated with Echo, a nymph with a beautiful voice, who with her lovely stories entertained Hera.

When Hera found out about Zeus’ infidelity, she tried to put her husband off Echo by putting a curse on her, so that Echo wouldn’t be able to speak anymore, except when repeating the last words that she heard said by anyone near her.

The embarrassed nymph took herself off to a cave near a stream.

On the other hand there’s Narcissus, a beautiful young man, who was afflicted with the curse that if he saw his reflection in a mirror it would be his damnation.

When Narcissus was walking through the forest, Echo saw him and followed him without being noticed, and she fell head over heels in love with him. Narcissus was so vain that he despised all women who fell in love with him, something Echo would unfortunately find out.

On one of his walks, Narcissus noticed that someone was following him and asked, “Who goes there?”

Echo came out from behind a tree, and as she could not speak, she just repeated the last word that Narcissus had said, “There” , “There”, because of the goddess Hera’s curse.

Narcissus repeated the question, “You haven’t fallen in love with me, have you?” Echo couldn’t control herself and repeated “You”, “You”.

Narcissus realised that she was in love with him and brutally rejected her, causing Echo to hide herself in her cave weeping, where she wasted away from sorrow.

But the bad deeds we do to others don’t always go unpunished, and so Nemesis, the goddess who punished arrogance, punished Narcissus by making him thirsty. He stopped at a pond of clear water to drink, and saw his reflection in the water, falling hopelessly in love with his own beauty. Wanting to possess this beauty, he threw himself into the water, and drowned.

His soul went to the underworld, and on the bank next to where he died, a beautiful flower grew which we call the daffodil (Narciso in Spanish).

Narcissism is the term we use for the excessive or exaggerated admiration that a person feels for themselves, be it their looks or other attributes.