Beauty is a Curse - The Story of Narcissus

The antagonist in my story, James, is obviously arrogant and self centred as he dumped his girlfriend in an effort to become a god after discovering the recipe for immense power. The level of arrogance and self love from this guy are off the scale and as it turns out, this sort of condition has a name - narcissism.

Wikipedia's definition of Narcissism is quite insightful as it shows the different types of narcissism - the healthy kind, the unlikable character trait and the mental illness. The mental illness is probably the most interesting as the person with the illness cannot help themselves as a lot of the time they don't realise they are a narcissist. They don't think there is anything to cure sometimes as their thought process is so self centred that they believe they are perfect.

Apparently depression is also common in narcissists, those who do know there is something different about them can sometimes desperately want meaningful friendships and relationships but are constantly frustrated at their failed attempts as they just cannot love someone else. There is no cure for narcissism, but mood modifying medication and therapy can help to some extent although these will never fully cure the person.

People can become narcissistic in two ways, both of which occur through childhood and involve the parents. Either the child is over praised, spoilt and undisciplined or the child is starved of attention or neglected and so they think they can only rely on themselves. No one is born a narcissist.

The word narcissism comes from a Greek story about young man named Narcissus. Narcissus is beautiful, loved and admired by those around him and himself. The goddess of divine retribution, Nemesis, decided that Narcissus was living too selfishly and arrogantly and decided to teach him a lesson. She lured the young hunter to a pool of reflective water, as soon as he gazed at his own reflection he couldn't took his eyes off of it. He literally fell in love with his own beauty and when he attempted to reach for the reflection, he slipped into the pool and drowned. This act of vengeance was to show others that being this arrogant is a danger and a sin.

Nemesis and Narcissus

It was also believed that after the boy drowned, a flower soon blossomed beside the pool, this was named the Narcissus flower, commonly referred to today as a daffodil. This flower is also an example of how beauty comes with consequences- although daffodils are very pretty, they are also poisonous. Long exposure to daffodils can cause skin sores and consumption of the bulb or flower can lead to extreme vomiting and stomach problems. It would seem that beauty came at a price for both Narcissus and the Narcissus Flower. The lesson the Greeks were trying to teach people is that it is alright to be very beautiful but to let your beauty consume you to such an extent that you are obsessed with yourself is the wrong way to live.

The Narcissus Flower - AKA The Daffodil