XIII: Nisus and Scylla—Echo and Narcissus—Clytie—Hero and Leander explained

What happens

Themes in this chapter

• Love and Transformation

  Each story involves love leading to physical transformation: Scylla into a bird, Echo into a voice, Narcissus into a flower, Clytie into a sunflower, and Hero and Leander into death.

• Jealousy and Revenge

  Juno's jealousy leads to Echo's curse; the rejected nymph's prayer for Narcissus brings divine revenge; Nisus as a sea-eagle pursues Scylla in vengeance.

• Fate and Free Will

  Fate decrees Megara's safety depends on Nisus's lock; Scylla's choice to cut it defies fate but leads to tragedy. Leander's fate is sealed by the storm despite his will.

Characters to notice

• Scylla

  Daughter of King Nisus; betrays her father by cutting off his purple lock to win Minos, but is rejected and transformed into a bird.

• Minerva

  Mentioned indirectly as Minos, king of Crete, who rejects Scylla's betrayal and sails away.

• Jupiter

  Referenced as Jove, who was cradled in Crete, in Minos's speech.

• Phoebus Apollo

  Object of Clytie's unrequited love; also compared to Minos's archery skill.

• Echo

  Nymph cursed by Juno to only repeat others' words; pines for Narcissus and fades into a voice.

• Narcissus

  Beautiful youth who rejects Echo and falls in love with his own reflection, leading to his death and transformation into a flower.

• Juno

  Goddess who curses Echo for detaining her with talk.

• Venus

  Goddess of love; Hero is a priestess of Venus.

Key passages

• “Minos shrunk back and refused to touch it. 'The gods destroy thee, infamous woman,' he exclaimed; 'disgrace of our time! May neither earth nor sea yield thee a resting-place! Surely, my Crete, where Jove himself was cradled, shall not be polluted with such a monster!'”

  Minos recoiled and would not take the lock, cursing Scylla as a disgrace and declaring that Crete, the birthplace of Jove, must not be defiled by her presence.

  Minos rejects Scylla's betrayal despite her sacrifice.

• “Echo by her talk contrived to detain the goddess till the nymphs made their escape. When Juno discovered it, she passed sentence upon Echo in these words: 'You shall forfeit the use of that tongue with which you have cheated me, except for that one purpose you are so fond of—reply. You shall still have the last word, but no power to speak first.'”

  Echo distracted Juno with chatter so the nymphs could flee; Juno punished her by taking away her ability to speak first, allowing her only to repeat what others said.

  Origin of the echo phenomenon in myth.

• “He fell in love with himself. He brought his lips near to take a kiss; he plunged his arms...”

  Narcissus became enamored with his own reflection, leaning in to kiss the image in the water.

  Narcissus's self-love leads to his demise.

• “Clytie was a water-nymph and in love with Apollo, who made her no return. So she pined away, sitting all day long upon the cold ground, with her unbound tresses streaming over her shoulders.”

  The water-nymph Clytie loved Apollo unrequitedly, wasting away as she sat on the ground, her hair loose, gazing at the sun.

  Clytie's transformation into a sunflower.

• “Leander loved her, and used to swim the strait nightly to enjoy the company of his mistress, guided by a torch which she reared upon the tower for the purpose. But one night a tempest arose and the sea was rough; his strength failed, and he was drowned.”

  Leander swam the Hellespont each night to see Hero, who lit a torch to guide him, but a storm caused him to drown.

  Tragic end of Hero and Leander's love.