Once upon a time there was a lovely nymph named Echo who caught the attention of Zeus, the king of the gods. Being the philanderer he was, Zeus cheated on his wife Hera with the other nymphs while Echo distracted her. Eventually, Hera found out about Echo's deception and took away her voice letting her only repeat what was last said by another person (so this is where "echo" comes from, eh?). Sadly, Echo fell in love with a boy named Narcissus who by age sixteen had broken several hearts from each sex as a result of his beauty. Nonetheless, despite Echo's love for Narcissus, he rejected her leaving Echo emotionally destroyed. After hearing a plea for punishment for Narcissus during the suicide of a rejected lover, Artemis, the goddess of the hunt, made Narcissus fall in love with his own image after looking at himself in a pond. For a long time, Narcissus tried in desperation to possess the object of his admiration but tortured himself in the process leading to his suicide.
Oh, the Greeks love tragedies, don't they? This story was pretty depressing and though it had a sad end, it has a really solid moral foundation. Narcissism and deception are punished while the righteous, kind people like lover committing suicide are redeemed in the eyes of the gods. We see narcissism everywhere because it is a completely natural feeling that we have pride in ourselves, but everything needs to come in moderation. Likewise, no one is truly altruistic to the core, therefore emotional balance rules! Although I absolutely love political life, I find most politicians to be narcissistic and rather pretentious compared to the average citizen. On the contrary, I find individuals who work at non-profit organizations to be the most altruistic though there are exceptions to every rule.
Kind of a strange image I know but I like the realistic depiction...
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