Narcissus
Narcissus names 4 different subjects across the 6 encyclopedias on this shelf. Each is set out below.
Narcissus nar-sis'sus, in Greek mythology
Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)
nar-sis'sus, in Greek mythology, a beautiful youth, son of the river god, Cephissus (se-fis'us). He was handsome, selfish, and vain. Having caught sight of his own fair face and drooping ringlets in a spring, he mistook the reflection for a water nymph. Hoping she might come out to meet him, he hung lovingly over the brink until there was nothing left of him but the waxy, beautiful, pool-loving flower that bears his name. According to another account, excessive vanity was sent upon him as a punishment for cruelty to the nymph Echo, whom he allowed to pine away to a mere voice in unrequited love. See Daffodil ; Echo
Narcissus an extensive genus of bulbous plants
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
an extensive genus of bulbous plants, mostly natives of Europe, natural order Amaryllidaceæ. The species are numerous, and from their hardiness, delicate shape, gay yellow or white flowers, and smell, have long been favorite objects of cultivation, especially the daffodil (N. Pseudonarcissus), the jonquil (N. Jonquilla), polyanthus narcissus (N. Tazetta), and white narcissus (N. poeticus). Some of the more hardy species grow wild in our woods and under our hedges.
Narcissus A beautiful youth
1000 Classical Characters (1900)
A beautiful youth, son of Cephisus and the nymph Liriope, was born at Thespis in Boeotia . He saw his image reflected in a fountain and became in love with it, thinking it to be the nymph of the place. His fruitless attempts to reach this beautiful object so provoked him that he killed himself. His blood was changed into a flower which still bears his name.
Narcissus in Greek mythology
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
in Greek mythology, the beautiful son of Cephisus and the nymph Liriope. The story of his metamorphosis into the flower so called (see NARCISSUS) is given only in the version adopted by Ovid; and this version says that he killed himself, and that the flower sprang from his blood.
What Has Changed in the Last Century
The mythological accounts still stand as summaries of Ovid, but the name has since travelled somewhere none of these writers mention: psychiatry. Havelock Ellis had used "narcissus-like" of self-absorption in 1898 and Freud's essay "On Narcissism" appeared in 1914, so when Collier's wrote in 1921 that the story "is given only in the version adopted by Ovid," narcissism was already becoming a clinical word; narcissistic personality disorder was formally listed as a diagnosis in the American DSM-III in 1980. Collier's botanical entry has aged well: Narcissus is still placed in the Amaryllidaceae, with roughly fifty to sixty accepted species, and its bulbs turned out to contain galantamine, the alkaloid licensed around 2001 as a treatment for Alzheimer's disease. The claim that Ovid is the sole source is the one point modern scholars would qualify, since Conon and Pausanias also report versions of the tale.
Written for this edition, 2026.