Narcissism

💭 conceptΝαρκισσισμός

Self-obsession, vanity, psychology

Excessive self-love or self-absorption, from the hunter Narcissus who fell in love with his own refl‌‌‌‌‍‍‍‍‍‍‌‍‍‍‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‍‍‍‌‌‌‌‌‌ection.

The Meaning of Narcissism

Narcissus was a young hunter of extraordinary beauty, the son of the river god Cephissus and the nymph Liriope.‌‌‌‌‍‍‍‍‍‍‌‍‍‍‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‍‍‍‌‌‌‌‌‌ A seer warned that he would live a long life only if he never came to know himself. Many admirers pursued him, but he rejected them all with contempt. The nymph Echo, cursed by Hera to repeat only others' words, loved him desperately, but Narcissus spurned her until she faded to nothing but a voice among the rocks. Nemesis heard the prayers of the scorned and lured Narcissus to a clear pool, where he saw his own reflection and fell hopelessly in love. Unable to embrace the image, he wasted away at the water's edge and died. A flower — the narcissus — grew where his body had lain. In 1899, Sigmund Freud's colleague Paul Näcke coined "narcissism" as a clinical term for pathological self-love, and it remains a formal diagnosis in modern psychology.

Parents

Cephissus and Liriope

Symbols

reflectionpoolnarcissus flower

Fun Fact

The clinical term "narcissistic personality disorder" appears in the DSM-5 and directly traces its name to this ancient Greek myth.

Words We Inherited

English words and phrases that trace back to this myth. See our full guide to English words from Greek mythology.

narcissusnarcissismvanityself-love

Explore Further

Narcissistic Personality

💭 concept

Psychology and mythology

A psychological condition characterised by grandiosity, need for admiration, and lack of empathy, named after Narcissus, the beautiful youth who fell in love with his own reflection

narcissismnarcissistnarcissistic

Narcissus and Echo

💭 concept

Narrative

The intertwined fates of a youth who loved only his own reflection and a nymph cursed to repeat others' words

narcissismnarcissistecho

Psyche

💭 concept

Language and psychology

An English word meaning the human mind or soul, derived from Psyche, the mortal woman whose love for Eros and trials among the gods became an allegory for the soul's journey

psychepsychologypsychiatry

Metamorphoses

💭 concept

Transformation, punishment, mercy

Stories of mortals and gods reshaped into new forms — by love, divine punishment, or compassion — central to how Greeks explained the natural world.

narcissismechoarachnid

Narcissus

🗡 hero

Youth who fell in love with his own reflection

A beautiful youth who rejected all lovers and fell in love with his own reflection in a pool. Unable to embrace the image, he wasted away and became a flower.

narcissistnarcissismnarcissus

Oedipus Complex

💭 concept

Psychoanalysis and psychology

A Freudian psychoanalytic concept describing a child's unconscious desire for the parent of the opposite sex, named after the mythological king who unknowingly killed his father and married his mother

oedipal

Nymphs & Nature Spirits

💭 concept

Nature, beauty, wildness

The divine spirits who inhabited every corner of the natural world — rivers, trees, mountains, and seas — beautiful, immortal or near-immortal, and intimately bound to the landscapes they embodied.

nymphechonarcissism

Eros

💭 concept

Primordial god of love and desire

In the oldest myths, Eros was a primordial force — one of the first beings to emerge from Chaos, the power that draws all things together. Later reimagined as Aphrodite's mischievous son.

eroticerotica