# Narcissus — Metamorphoses character guide

> Narcissus in Metamorphoses by Ovid.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** A handsome youth , named Narcissus

**First appearance:** 0025-story-of-narcissus

## Snapshot

A youth of such surpassing beauty that he scorns every lover — until he sees his own reflection in a pool and cannot look away.

## Who they are

Narcissus is the son of a nymph and a river god, raised to be so beautiful that crowds of admirers trail after him, all of them dismissed. He wanders alone into the woods, where Echo follows him hopelessly, and when he finally sees his own face in a still pool, he mistakes it for a living beloved. His self-absorption becomes the poem's definitive portrait of love turned inward, a desire that consumes rather than connects.

## In the story

### [Book III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/metamorphoses_se/chapters/book-iii)

A beautiful youth who falls in love with his own reflection and dies, transforming into a flower.

### [Transformation of Echo](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/metamorphoses_se/chapters/transformation-of-echo)

A beautiful youth, son of Liriope and Cephisus, who rejects Echo's love and is subject to Tiresias' prophecy.

### [Story of Narcissus](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/metamorphoses_se/chapters/story-of-narcissus)

A handsome youth who falls in love with his own reflection and dies of unrequited self-love.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/metamorphoses_se/characters/narcissus
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/metamorphoses_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/metamorphoses_se/characters