Echo and Narcissus

I truly enjoyed this myth because of the way in which it not only describes the origins of a word we commonly use today, echo, but also demonstrates how the human is very vengeful. “One day a maiden who had in vain endeavored to attract him uttered a prayer that he might some time or other feel what it was to love and meet no return of affection. The avenging goddess heard and granted the prayer.” I notice how almost all of the myths have a love theme, and withing this love theme, love never ends up being perfect. In other words, all of these myths either have a character who’s love isn’t returned, or the love that is returned doesn’t end up “Happilly ever after”. I like this because it demonstrates a sense of anti-cliché, the cliché being that at the end of many modern novels, love gets its way. This change of routine is very interesting. For instance, “The maid answered with all her heart in the same words, and hastened to the spot, ready to throw her arms about his neck. He started back, exclaiming, “Hands off! I would rather die than you should have me!”. This makes the story interesting. I also appreciate the way that revenge or desperation never pays off. In a way, Shakespeare adopts some of the characteristics of these myths, like in Appolo and Daphne, the idea is very similar to Romeo and Juliet. I believe that the gods' will stands out so much that each god becomes a completely different character. The punishments are not the everyday ones in which something is done to someone, but rather characters are restricted in certain ways in which their personality cries out in pain. For example, Echo's penalty wouldn't have been so bad for a quiet person.