Cephissus

One meaning of the name Cephissus is a Greek river god, the father of Narcissus. Another meaning of the name Cephissus is a man who was changed into a sea monster by Apollo. A third meaning for the name Cephissus is three famous rivers in Greece: in Attica near Eleusis; in Attica near Athens; in Boeotia and in Phocis near the sacred shrine of Delphi and Mount Parnassus. The three graces were particularly fond of the river near the sacred shrine. The final and fourth meaning of the name Cephissus is a Boeotian river god. He was the son of Oceanus and Tethys, brother of the other river gods, and father of Narcissus by the nymph, Liriope. Other children are ascribed to him, but in those cases parentage is disputed.

Narcissus is another example among several of a beautiful young man who spurned sex and died as a result. As such, his myth has much in common with those of Adonis and Hippolytus. In the Roman poet Ovid's retelling of the myth, Narcissus is the son of the river god Cephissus and the nymph Liriope. Tiresias, the seer, told his parents that the child "would live to an old age if it did not look at itself." Many nymphs and girls fell in love with him but he rejected them. One of these nymphs, Echo, was so distraught over this rejection that she withdrew into a lonely spot and faded until all that was left was a plaintive whisper. The goddess Nemesis heard the rejected girls prayers for vengeance and arranged for Narcissus to fall in love with his own reflection. He stayed watching his reflection and let himself die. It is quite possible, however, that the connection between Echo and Narcissus was entirely Ovid's own invention, for there is no earlier witness to it.

An important and earlier variation of this tale originates in the region in Greek known as Boeotia (to the north and west of Athens). Narcissus lived in the city of Thespiae. A young man, Ameinias, was in love with Narcissus, but he rejected Ameinias' love. He grew tired of Ameinias' affections and sent him a present of a sword. Ameinias killed himself with the sword in front of Narcissus' door and as he died, he called curses upon Narcissus. One day Narcissus fell in love with his own reflection in a spring and, in desperation, killed himself.