CIRCA 1ST CENTURY B.C.-1ST CENTURY A.D.

Narcissus, the son of the river-god Kephisos and the nymph Leiriope, was prophesied a long life by the seer Teiresias, provided that he did not see himself. The youth was famed for his beauty, and many tried in vain to win his love. One rejected lover asked the gods for revenge, and this was fulfilled by Nemesis. While out hunting, Narcissus came to a spring for a drink, and when he saw his reflection in the water, he instantly fell in love with his own image. Unable to pull himself away, he died, either from exhaustion, unrequited love, or drowning. A narcissus flower grew at the spot where he met his death. See Rafn, "Narkissos" in Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae, VI.

The sculptural type, thought to be based on a Greek original of the late 5th century B.C. by a follower of Polykleitos, is known from numerous late Hellenistic and Roman copies, including an example at Holkham Hall, Norfolk, no. 171 in Beck, Bol, and Bückling, Polyklet, Der Bildhauer der griechischen Klassik and another in the Metropolitan Museum, in reverse, no. 169 in the same publication. The identification of the type as Narcissos has been questioned by some, but can be confirmed by a carnelian gem in Copenhagen (see no. 54 in Rafn, op. cit.), which shows the youth standing at ease before a flowing spring, the name-sake flower already sprouting from the ground behind him.