Liriope
nymphA river nymph who was the mother of Narcissus and the first person to consult the prophet Tiresias.
The Myth
Liriope was a Naiad of extraordinary beauty who lived in the waters of Boeotia. The river god Cephissus — a different Cephissus from the one in Phocis — enclosed her in his winding streams and forced himself upon her. She bore a son of unearthly beauty: Narcissus.
Troubled by an unnamed anxiety about her child's future, Liriope sought out the blind prophet Tiresias and asked whether Narcissus would live to a ripe old age. The seer's answer was strange: "Yes, if he never knows himself." This was the first prophecy Tiresias ever delivered, and it made his reputation — but only after the prophecy came horribly true.
Narcissus grew to be beautiful beyond measure but cold to every suitor, male and female. When he finally saw his own reflection in a pool and fell in love with it, he wasted away staring at the face he could never reach. A flower grew where he died. Tiresias was vindicated: knowing himself had killed him. Liriope's anxious question had received its answer, and the word 'narcissism' entered human vocabulary forever.
Parents
Unknown; a river nymph
Symbols
Fun Fact
Liriope's question to Tiresias — 'will my son live long?' — was the prophet's first consultation, launching the career of Greek mythology's most famous seer.
Words We Inherited
English words and phrases that trace back to this myth:
Explore Further
Narcissus
heroA beautiful youth who rejected all lovers and fell in love with his own reflection in a pool....
Cephissus
godRiver god of the Cephissus, the principal river of Attica and Boeotia.
Tiresias
heroThe most famous seer in Greek mythology, blinded by the gods but given the gift of prophecy in...
Aegina
nymphA river nymph abducted by Zeus and brought to the island that bears her name.
Chelone
nymphA nymph transformed into a tortoise by Hermes for refusing to attend the wedding of Zeus and Hera.
Larissa
nymphA Pelasgian nymph or princess who gave her name to the city of Larissa in Thessaly, one of Greece's...
Metope
nymphA river nymph, daughter of the river Ladon, who married the river god Asopus and bore him twenty...
Antiope
nymphA nymph or princess loved by Zeus, who bore the twins Amphion and Zethus, builders of Thebes' walls.
Creusa
nymphA Naiad nymph of Thessaly who bore Hypseus and Stilbe to the river god Peneus.
Juturna
nymphAn Italian water nymph loved by Jupiter, who granted her dominion over springs and streams as...
Lilaea
nymphA Naiad nymph of the spring that feeds the river Cephissus in Phocis, and the namesake of an...
Stilbe
nymphA nymph of Thessaly, daughter of the river Peneus, who bore Centaurus and Lapithes to Apollo — thus...