Students complete final draft. Sample Answer: Is our fate predetermined or do we actually have control over what happens to us? Are we our own worst enemy? Is karma fair or unjust? In the Greek myth, “Echo and Narcissus” retold by Roger Lancelyn Green, the author attempts to answer these life questions through his characterization of the two main characters—Echo and Narcissus. This mythological tale of Echo and Narcissus teaches the idea that often times we are our own worst enemies and that we are the sole contributor of our own fate. By developing Echo’s character throughout the myth, the author is able to show that “we are our worst enemy.” Echo, the most beautiful and most talkative, of all the nymphs in the Oreades surmises her eventual lonely fate when she unapologetically lies to Hera, Zeus’s wife, to protect Zeus. Echo’s loyalty towards Zeus is evident when she shamelessly protects Zeus’s infidelity from his wife every time he “ would come down to earth and wander with the nymphs on the mountains.” Echo would deceive Hera by keeping her “listening for hours to end to her stories and her gossip,” in order to distract Hera from her suspicion of Zeus’s whereabouts. Echo’s shameless loyalty, deception, and gossiping ways caused Hera to punish Echo with her own character traits—by condemning her to “be able only to repeat what other people say—and never speak unless someone else speaks first”. Her inability to speak openly is further crippled when she can across “a beautiful youth called Narcissus.” The author reveals a central theme—we are our worst enemy—when Echo, who uses her talkative ways to deceive others, is now unable to utter a single word to profess her love for Narcissus. Eventually Echo was able to speak “…the happiest words that had left her lips since the curse” to let Narcissus know how she feels about him by repeating only the part of Narcissus’s cruel responses—“Let us meet!”, “I would have you touch me!”, “Kiss me! Kiss me!”. Finally Echo realizes that her love for Narcissus would never be returned because he furiously detest that just a single touch
Students complete final draft. Sample Answer: Is our fate predetermined or do we actually have control over what happens to us? Are we our own worst enemy? Is karma fair or unjust? In the Greek myth, “Echo and Narcissus” retold by Roger Lancelyn Green, the author attempts to answer these life questions through his characterization of the two main characters—Echo and Narcissus. This mythological tale of Echo and Narcissus teaches the idea that often times we are our own worst enemies and that we are the sole contributor of our own fate. By developing Echo’s character throughout the myth, the author is able to show that “we are our worst enemy.” Echo, the most beautiful and most talkative, of all the nymphs in the Oreades surmises her eventual lonely fate when she unapologetically lies to Hera, Zeus’s wife, to protect Zeus. Echo’s loyalty towards Zeus is evident when she shamelessly protects Zeus’s infidelity from his wife every time he “ would come down to earth and wander with the nymphs on the mountains.” Echo would deceive Hera by keeping her “listening for hours to end to her stories and her gossip,” in order to distract Hera from her suspicion of Zeus’s whereabouts. Echo’s shameless loyalty, deception, and gossiping ways caused Hera to punish Echo with her own character traits—by condemning her to “be able only to repeat what other people say—and never speak unless someone else speaks first”. Her inability to speak openly is further crippled when she can across “a beautiful youth called Narcissus.” The author reveals a central theme—we are our worst enemy—when Echo, who uses her talkative ways to deceive others, is now unable to utter a single word to profess her love for Narcissus. Eventually Echo was able to speak “…the happiest words that had left her lips since the curse” to let Narcissus know how she feels about him by repeating only the part of Narcissus’s cruel responses—“Let us meet!”, “I would have you touch me!”, “Kiss me! Kiss me!”. Finally Echo realizes that her love for Narcissus would never be returned because he furiously detest that just a single touch
7.%20Echo%20and%20Narcissus.%20lesson%20-%20Story.docx