Key Info

- Known for his incredible beauty and vanity

- Turned into a flower by Nemesis as punishment for his vanity

Brief Bio

Narcissus was a hunter from Thespiae in Boeotia who was known for his beauty which was noticed by all. According to the best-known version of the story, by Ovid, Narcissus rejected all advances, eventually falling in love with a reflection in a pool of water, tragically not realizing its similarity, entranced by it. In some versions, he beat his breast purple in agony at being kept apart from this reflected love, and in his place sprouted a flower bearing his name.

The character of Narcissus is the origin of the term narcissism, a self-centered personality style. This quality in extreme contributes to the definition of narcissistic personality disorder, a psychiatric condition marked by grandiosity, excessive need for attention and admiration, and an inability to empathize.