Echo
Echo
Nationality/Culture
Greek
Pronunciation
EK-oh
Alternate Names
None
Appears In
Ovid's Metamorphoses
Lineage
Unknown
Character Overview
In Greek mythology , Echo was a mountain nymph who annoyed Hera (pronounced HAIR-uh), queen of the gods, by talking to her constandy. Echo's chatter distracted Hera and prevented her from discovering the love affairs of her husband, Zeus (pronounced ZOOS). As punishment, Hera took away Echo's power of speech so that she could say nothing except the last words spoken by someone else.
Other myths tell of Echo's falling in love with Narcissus (pronounced nar-SIS-us), the handsome son of a river god. However, Narcissus rejected Echo because she could only repeat his words. She was so upset that she faded away until only her voice was heard as an echo. Another myth states that Pan , god of the woods, pursued Echo but that she escaped him by running away. The angry Pan caused some shepherds to go mad and tear Echo apart, leaving nothing but her voice to echo through the mountains.
Echo in Context
In many cultures, myths arise as a way to explain why something exists the way it does in nature. For example, a myth might explain why the giraffe has such a long neck. It is likely that the myth of Echo originated as a way to explain the reflected sounds heard by ancient Greeks; this is supported by the fact that Echo was a mountain nymph, and mountainous areas are more likely to result in the reflected sounds we know today as echoes.
Key Themes and Symbols
One of the main themes of the myth of Echo is unrequited love, or love that is not felt and returned by the other person. In the myth, Echo loves Narcissus, even though she cannot tell him. Narcissus rejects Echo, and she simply fades away. The myth can also be seen as a warning of the dangers of talking too much; Echo is cursed by Hera after the goddess is distracted by Echo's constant chatter.
Echo in Art, Literature, and Everyday Life
Although Echo's story was widely known among the ancient Greeks, it was the subject of relatively few existing works of art and literature. Ovid's Metamorphoses is the most notable telling. The myth remained well-known through the Renaissance; William Shakespeare's classic play Romeo and Juliet includes a passage about Echo.
In modern times, the myth of Echo lives on in the term “echo,” which refers to the reflection of a sound back to a listener, usually in enclosed areas or open places with hard vertical surfaces such as cliff faces.
Read, Write, Think, Discuss
Echo wastes away after Narcissus refuses to love her as she loves him. This theme of unrequited love is popular in modern books and movies. Find an example of unrequited love in a book you have read or a movie you have seen, and describe how the theme is handled in the story you have selected.