Echo and Narcissus Echo and Narcissus Echo and Narcissus is a myth from Ovid's "Metamorphoses", a Latin mythological epic from the Augustan Age. The introduction of the myth of the mountain nymph Echo into the story of Narcissus, the beautiful youth who rejected sexuality and falls in love with his own reflection, appears to have been Ovid's invention. Ovid's version influenced the presentation of the myth in later Western art and literature. The myth of the goddess is told in Book III of the "Metamorphoses", and tells the story of a "talkative nymph" whom the goddess Venus admires for her magnificent voice and
Echo (mythology) himself oft hears his very own pipes and, giving chase across the mountains, looks in vain for the secret student he can never find. Both the Homeric and Orphic Hymns to Pan reiterate Longus’ tale of Pan chasing Echo’s secret voice across the mountains. Codex 190 of Photius' "Bibliotheca" states that Pan's unrequited love for Echo was placed there by Aphrodite, angry at his verdict in a beauty contest. Nonnus’ "Dionysiaca" contains a number of references to Echo. In Nonnus’ account, though Pan frequently chased Echo, he never won her affection. Book VI also makes reference to Echo in the