By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)
The story of Narcissus is one of the most enduringly popular, and instantly recognisable, from classical myth. The very name of Narcissus has become a kind of shorthand for self-love and self-regard.
But the actual facts of the Narcissus story are a little more complex than they first appear. Who fell in love with Narcissus, and what was her name? Or was it even a ‘she’? How did Narcissus give his name to the flower known as the ‘narcissus’ – and did he, in fact, give his name to it at all?