Echo and Narcissus

Once upon a time, like a really long time ago, there was this hottie named Narcissus. He was a total babe with a incredibly buff bod. You know the kind: rippling abs, awesome biceps, cute buns, sun-bleached blonde hair, dazzling smile...yep, the whole enchilada! But he had an attitude problem 'cause he thought there weren't any women who could match his perfectness. He was like, sooooo stuck on himself. The chicks were always following him around and trying to get his attention (even the nymphs!).

There was one nymph in particular who had it really bad for him. Her name was Echo. She was a cute li'l thing with a nice figure and long black hair. But she was a hopeless case, though. You see, before she became part of Narcissus' fan club, she did a very bad thing. It seemed she was involved in a scandal by covering up for Zeus when he was making a getaway with his latest mistress. She had distracted his wife, Hera, by talking her head off and Zeus was able to split with his new lady. But Hera found out and started trippin'. She cursed Echo by saying, "From now on you won't be able to talk normally. You'll only be able to repeat the last words of what someone else has said." This was a total bummer for the nymph 'cause she loved to chat.

So you can imagine how hard it was for Echo to try to flirt with Narcissus! He totally ignored her (like all the other girls) and told her to, "Get lost!"

Stunned, she repeated, "Lost!" Seeing that none of her womanly charms (or nymphly charms, in her case) were going to work on him, she split the scene and went on a retreat into the mountains. Eventually, the poor girl wasted away into nothing (seems she had developed an eating disorder, too). In fact, the only thing left of her was her voice. It still answers when folks yell from the sides of mountains, canyons, and stuff.

Meanwhile, Narcissus finally found someone to match his perfectionosity. He was totally in love with...himself! Yeah, it seems he happened to glance into a pool of water one day and he saw his reflection. It was kinda sad really, and after a while he realized he could love no one else. So what could the poor lovesick guy do? Well, it's kind of a downer actually, so don't freak....

He killed himself. Lame, huh?

His fan club of grief-stricken nymphs and other assorted hotties buried him beside his favorite pool. They probably left him like, a ton of scented candles and stuffed animals and made a shrine-thingy there. Over time, a bunch of beautiful purple blossoms grew on his grave. In his honor, the flowers came to be called narcissus. Kind of a weird coincidence, dontchya think?