Many are the fables and legends of Greek mythology that somehow explain or give meaning to some of the phenomena that occur in nature . This is the case of the echo that we all understand as the reverberation or repetition of sound or our own voice when its waves are reflected by an obstacle. A word that apparently comes from a myth that of Echo and Narcissus that we will explain below.
What is the myth of Eco and what does it consist of?
The story of Eco in Greek mythology is that of a mountain nymph (known as oréades) who was raised by other nymphs and educated by the muses on Mount Helicon .
Legend has it that Zeus was quite attracted to nymphs and visited them frequently. Hera, his wife, jealous of these visits to the nymphs, followed him trying to catch him. However, Echo did not hesitate to help Zeus so he began to distract Hera with endless conversations, giving Zeus time to escape from her. At some point, Hera realized what Echo was doing and cursed her so that she could only repeat the last words someone else had just said.
Narcissus rejects Echo
After being cursed, young Echo met a beautiful young man named Narcissus , but being unable to speak to him due to the curse, she simply followed him through the forest. Narcissus, he had lost his companions he had gone hunting with, so he started yelling “Is anyone there?” Eco, given the opportunity, repeated the words . He shouted “Let’s get together” again to which Eco pounced on him repeating his words. However, Narciso rejected Echo and she was left in despair.
Narcissus came across a lake and there he fell in love with his own image , causing his death, unable to move. Echo wept for him and eventually she died herself , leaving only her voice behind.
It is precisely then that voice that we hear when, for example, we shout on top of a mountain and the cry is reproduced. But all this is legend since as you may already know in reality, the echo is an acoustic phenomenon in which the repetition of sound (in this case our scream) occurs when sound waves hit an obstacle and are reflected listen) until you reach the place where it was broadcast.
