Echo and Narcissus - Caravaggio and Poussin - Mythology

Nicolas Poussin, Echo and Narcissus, 1627 Caravaggio, Narcissus, 1596 Echo was condemned by Jupiter only to be able to speak the last words of someone else's speech. Narcissus was in love with his own image and left Echo, who was in love with him, heartbroken and she spent the rest of her life in lonely glens, pining away for the love she never knew, until only her voice remained. This is the dialog at Ovid's Metamorphoses: Narcissus [shouts]: "Is there anyone here?" Echo [eagerly]: "Here!" Narcissus: "Come to me!" Echo: "Come to me!" Narcissus [starting to get irritated]: "Why are you avoiding me?" Echo: "Why are you avoiding me?" Narcissus: "Here! Come with me!" Echo [shouting in ecstasy]: "Come with me!" She rushes out of her hiding place and flings herself at him. Narcissus, repelled by the idea of physical contact, pushes her away, and starts to run. Narcissus [savagely]: "Take your hands off me! No! How dare you touch me!" Echo [screaming]: "Touch me!"