He was forbidden from looking at his own reflection since his mother, the nymph Liriope, was warned by the fortune teller Tiresias that doing so would lead to his downfall.

One of the women who loved Narcissus was the nymph Echo, who was known for her ability to entertain and delight others with her gift for speech.

However, when Echo helped Zeus cheat on his wife Hera, Hera punished Echo by taking away her ability to speak except to repeat the last words she heard. One day, Echo followed Narcissus through the woods and when he spoke to her, she could only repeat his words.

Narcissus mocked and rejected her, causing Echo to retreat to a cave where she died of grief. As a punishment for Narcissus’s actions, the goddess of revenge, Nemesis, caused Narcissus to become thirsty while walking through the forest.

When he went to a nearby river to drink, he saw his own reflection in the water and became infatuated with it. He tried to touch it and fulfill the prophecy of Tiresias, but he ended up falling into the water and drowning.

A beautiful flower called the “Narcissus” grew in his place and the term “narcissism” refers to the excessive admiration and vanity that a person has for themselves based on their own appearance.