Echo and Narcissus (Poussin)
- 1 min read
- 2 chapters
Related on Lably
Through Paris
The myth
The work derives from Greek Mythology. According to Ovid's Metamorphoses, the nymph Echo fell in love with Narcissus, but he rejected her. Nemesis, the goddess of vengeance, punished Narcissus by making him fall in love with his own reflection. At the place where he died grew the flower that bears his name: Narcissus.
Sign in to keep reading
One more chapter is free with a Lably account.
The painting
Poussin illustrates this myth by representing three characters in an idyllic landscape: in the foreground, Narcissus, lying down; behind him, on the right, Eros, god of love; and on the left, sitting on a rock, Echo. Around the hair of the dead young Narcissus are already blooming flowers to which he gave his name. Echo, leaning on a rock, seems "an elegiac and immaterial apparition".