Narcissist

You know, Narcissus must have been a rather likable chap--otherwise all of those nymphs wouldn't have been pining for his love. I believe that nymphs have enough sense to fall for people on a deeper basis than beauty. He probably ALSO had a meltingly gorgeous singing voice, was academically inclined, had a hilarious sense of humor, and wore stylish sandals.

Everyone gives Narcissus a hard rap because he rejected Echo, but who are THEY to tell him who to fall in love with? Maybe he had commitment issues--he was only fifteen after all. That's FAR too young to get married. Besides, Echo was annoying. All she could do was repeat every word that came out of Narcissus' mouth. Now given, Narcissus was probably very witty, wise, and well worth repeating, however this does NOT diminish the value of original thought. Had he accepted the persistent love of Echo, her determined doting would have been reveled in for a little bit, and then he would have become incurably bored.

"Echo, my dear, It's been lovely that you always do what I want to do, but it's becoming rather exhausting to make all of the decisions. What do YOU want to do today?"

"What do YOU want to do today?"

"I don't know. I want YOU to pick!"

"I don't know. I want YOU to pick!"

"But I don't want to!"

"But I don't want to!"

Yes, that would have been a miserable marriage; avoiding it shows that he must have had quite a bit of foresight for such a young fellow.

Narcissus was probably incredibly emotionally stable when compared to other youths of his age. While they were bemoaning their greek noses and ill-fitting togas, he was giving himself positive, self-validating speeches. "Narcissus, you good looking fellow you, what incredible feats are you going to accomplish today?!" It's really too bad he got stuck looking at his reflection for so long--he probably would have made a great motivational speaker! "Learning to Love the Man in the Mirror: A Teenager's Guide to Good Self-esteem." Think of how many anorexic, self-depreciating greek adolescents he could have saved! I imagine he also would have made an excellent model, stand-up comedian, actor, rock-star, scientist and brain surgeon.

I think I've figured it out!

Narcissist (n.) 1. a good looking, likable, talented, funny, sensible person who has a lot of potential for greatness.

Wow--I'll have to thank Erin for the compliment!