Editing Narcissus (mythology) (section)

=== Literature ===
[[File:Roman de la Rose f. 11v (Narcissus gazes at the spring).jpg|thumb|180px|Narcissus gazes at the spring. From a 14th Century copy of [[Roman de la Rose]].]]
[[File:Benczur-narcissus.jpg|thumb|right|180px|''Narcissus'' by [[Gyula Benczúr]]]]
{{Unreferenced section|date=April 2024}}

The myth had a decided influence on English [[Victorian era|Victorian]] [[homoeroticism|homoerotic]] culture, via [[André Gide]]'s study of the myth, ''Le Traité du Narcisse'' ('The Treatise of the Narcissus', 1891), and the only novel by [[Oscar Wilde]], ''[[The Picture of Dorian Gray]]''.

[[Paulo Coelho]]'s ''[[The Alchemist (novel)|The Alchemist]]'' also starts with a story about Narcissus, found (we are told) by the alchemist in a book brought by someone in the caravan. The alchemist's (and Coelho's) source was very probably [[Hesketh Pearson]]'s ''The Life of Oscar Wilde'' (1946) in which this story is recorded (Penguin edition, p.&nbsp;217) as one of Wilde's inspired inventions. This version of the Narcissus story is based on Wilde's "The Disciple" from his "[[Poems in Prose (Wilde)]] ".

Author and poet [[Rainer Maria Rilke]] visits the character and symbolism of Narcissus in several of his poems.

[[Seamus Heaney]] references Narcissus in his poem "Personal Helicon"<ref name="ibiblio">[http://www.ibiblio.org/ipa/poems/heaney/personal_helicon.php Cf. Ibiblio], Internet Poetry Archive: Text of the Poem Personal Helicon</ref> from his first collection "Death of a Naturalist":<blockquote>To stare, big-eyed Narcissus, into some spring<br />
Is beneath all adult dignity.</blockquote>

In [[Rick Riordan]]'s ''[[Heroes of Olympus|Heroes of Olympus series]],'' Narcissus appears as a minor antagonist in the third book ''[[The Mark of Athena]]''.

[[William Faulkner]]'s character "Narcissa" in ''[[Sanctuary (Faulkner novel)|Sanctuary]]'', sister of Horace Benbow, was also named after Narcissus. Throughout the novel, she allows the arrogant, pompous pressures of high-class society to overrule the unconditional love that she should have for her brother.

[[Hermann Hesse]]'s character "Narcissus" in "[[Narcissus and Goldmund]]" shares several of mythical Narcissus' traits, although his narcissism is based on his intellect rather than his physical beauty.

[[A. E. Housman]] refers to the 'Greek Lad', Narcissus, in his poem "Look not in my Eyes" from ''[[A Shropshire Lad]]'' set to music by several English composers including [[George Butterworth]]. At the end of the poem stands a jonquil, a variety of daffodil, ''[[Narcissus jonquilla]]'', which like Narcissus looks sadly down into the water.

[[Herman Melville]] references the myth of Narcissus in his novel [[Moby-Dick]], in which [[Ishmael (Moby-Dick)|Ishmael]] explains the myth as "the key to it all," referring to the greater theme of finding the essence of Truth through the physical world.

On [[Sophia de Mello Breyner Andresen]]'s A Fada Oriana, the eponymous protagonist is punished with mortality for abandoning her duties in order to stare at herself in the surface of a river.

[[Joseph Conrad]]'s novel [[The Nigger of the 'Narcissus']] features a merchant ship named ''Narcissus''. An incident involving the ship, and the difficult decisions made by the crew, explore themes involving self-interest vs. altruism and humanitarianism.

[[Naomi Iizuka]]'s play ''Polaroid Stories'', a contemporary rewrite of the Orpheus and Eurydice myth, features Narcissus as a character. In the play he is portrayed as a self obsessed, and drug addicted young man who was raised on the streets. He is alluded to being a member of the [[LGBT|LGBT+]] community and mentions his sexual endeavours with older men, some ending with the death of these men due to drug overdoses. He is accompanied by the character Echo, whom he continuously spurns.

Petrarchan poetry, often in the form of a [[Petrarchan sonnet]], has been profoundly impacted by the myth of Narcissus. Most notably, Petrarch's Sonnet 45 contains themes and motifs inspired by the myth of Narcissus when the love interest, Laura, loves her reflection more than the narrator.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Archdeacon |first=Anthony |date=2018 |title=The Influence of Ovid's Echo and Narcissus Myth on English Petrarchan Poetry |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/2135049025 |journal=Early Modern Literary Studies |volume=20 |issue=1 |pages=1–29 |id={{ProQuest|2135049025}}}}</ref>