The Morality of Greek Myths – Jupiter
The skit that I took part in tells the story of Echo and Narcissus. Starting off with Jupiter’s cheating on his wife Juno, Echo, a beautiful and talkative nymph helps him to escape by distracting Juno with her chatter. Echo is punished by Juno herself, and left with no words but the repetition of others’ speech. Not much later, she falls in love with the self absorbed and beautiful man Narcissus whom she follows, ashamed of her lack of voice, and eventually gets her heart broken because his own is too cold for anyone else’s love. As a punishment, the prayer of several other nymphs lead to Narcissus’ death, which falls upon him after he becomes so obsessed with the image of himself in the reflection of water.
This myth is overall quite somber and depressing, but this is an important factor as it emphasizes its moral a lot more. Echo is punished because of her obsession with the sound of her beautiful voice; she herself cannot get enough of a feature that is part of her. This leads to the conclusion that the Greeks did not believe in egocentrism, it would only lead to bad things. Narcissus too is infatuated with himself only. His love for himself leads to the rejection of others, even people that are in love with him, and so, he rejects external love for internal, self-absorbed, and of course narcissistic love.
This myth puts in the foreground the importance of an open mind and heart. The most valuable things in life are those that we share, such as love, and by mistakes such as Echo’s, of having used up her voice she has lost the chance of ever being loved by another. Vanity will have its consequences, both these characters had to suffer the consequence of death. Of course this is only an exaggeration of this self-absorbed act, but the characters of Echo and Narcissus are a representation of the arrogance that humans express too often, and how this particular arrogance and egotism drive a wedge between each of us humans.
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