Mini Myth: Echo, Echo, Echo... & Narcissus

Hey nerds, quick bit of enormous news. I am so excited to say that I have a new book coming out in June of this year, and not only is it just a new book, but it is a fully illustrated retelling of the Odyssey. It's aimed at children 9-12, but don't let that fool you. It's a shortened retelling, but I kept it true to the original in every way that matters. Check out the link in the episode's description for where to pre-order or just ask your local independent bookstore. Hello, this is Let's Talk About Myths, baby. I'm Liv. I'm here to talk to you about the mania that is Grig mythology. It's all just so exciting. Every day, something new and crazy. So I'm here today with the inaugural mini-mith. Basically, my plan here is to release these sort of miniature episodes that will sort of complement the other ones. Basically, the point is that there are so many myths that are just like tiny snippets. There's just kind of like little insights into how the ancient saw the world around them. They often like will explain how a certain earthly phenomenon came to be or why something is called what it is. So I thought it'd be kind of fun to release episodes twice a week. These ones will come on Fridays, little sort of snippets, maybe half length. I have no idea. It's all very difficult to figure out. It's not actually difficult to figure out. It's just a matter of, you know, you can write a lot of words on a document and it turns out when you speak it out loud, it's not that long. This is causing me endless grief. Let me tell you. The point is, I'm going to release these mini-mits 10 to 15 minutes long on a Friday, just a little bonus pathology for your weekend. And then on Tuesdays, the standard length that I've been doing before will happen. So basically I'm saying, this is a short one. It's Friday. Hopefully I'm still figuring out the timing of uploading stuff and nothing seems to work out like I want. But ideally, it's Friday. Hello. And I will be back with a standard episode length on Tuesday. I'm also here today with a brand new logo, which is the most exciting thing ever. It was created by my great friend Matthew Dunlavy. Thank you, Matthew. It's so lovely. I'm very excited. This is mini-mith number one, echo, echo, echo, and narcissists. This week's mini-mith is the story of why we have echoes. Now, you may have been led to believe that there was some fancy scientific reason why we have echoes. You know, something to do with the space around us and sounds bouncing off of things and whatnot. Science would have you believe that that's why an echo happens in some areas and not others. But as somebody who is, you know, not much into science, I completely believe science. Completely believe science. I just have an English degree and a classics degree. What can I say? All to say, I'm here to tell you that the real explanation is far simpler. You see, the story of echoes begins with our good friend Zeus. You know the one. Sex addict with a penchant for nymphs. So good old Zeus, classy, classy man. One day he was creeping on a bunch of nymphs. And frankly, in this case, they were actually totally into it. So, you know, more power to them. But of course, Zeus is not one for subtlety, and it wasn't long before Hera came around wondering where her husband was and, you know, what he might be up to. She doesn't trust him. I wonder why. So Zeus is off with a collection of these nymphs. I really couldn't tell you how many, but there are more than ones out. But there's one nymph, in particular, part of Zeus' new nymph Herum, and she's feeling protective of the king of the gods. Not clear why, but she is. She wants to distract Hera to keep her from discovering Zeus with his new lady friends, and so she starts to talk. The stimp is just chatting away, just talking about who knows what anything to keep Hera from looking any closer into the whole Zeus nymphs going on. But of course, Hera finds out. What did I tell you? But Hera always finding out. So she finds out she's being tricked, and even though it was her husband who was cheating on her, she of course punishes Echo for causing the distraction, because it's Hera. And so she curses Echo, making it so that from that point on, she'll only ever be able to repeat the last words that were spoken to her. She'll never be able to voice her own thoughts or feelings or answer anybody or talk at all. Awful. Frankly, it's probably one of the worst mythical punishments. I mean, that would just, it would really suck. So it does really suck for Echo, and she's kind of driving herself crazy. She's just wandering the forest by herself. She doesn't really, I mean, who she gonna talk to. She can't talk to anyone. What's the fun in spending time with other people? If, and it's not just like that she can't talk, it's like, if I say something, it's like that game that kids play that subnoxious is all hell, and it's just like, I'm gonna repeat every single thing you say to me as if that's not literally the most annoying thing you can do to another person. So she's not hanging out with anyone. She's avoiding anyone she possibly can, and I don't blame her. But in this case, she's wandering the forest, and it's sometime after this curse has overtaken her, and she comes upon a man, and he is the most beautiful man she has ever seen. We're talking like, Ryan Gosling mixed with the Oscar Isaacs, Throwin, I'm having trouble thinking of hot men, you know, all the hotties is what I'm trying to say here. This man is out hunting with his friends, and she spots the group. So in a very fictional and mythical and very much men putting a story on to women, she immediately falls truly madly deeply in love with this strange man she's seeing in the middle of the forest and doesn't know it all. She wants to say something to him, anything would do, but she just can't say anything. And truly, I mean, I think this is how you know that the myths were come up, like, were made up by men. It's just, it's a little bit far-fetched, even for a story. You can, I can imagine seeing a guy, I'm like, "Oh, you are super hot. I would like to get to know you, but we are told she is in love. Woman is in love." Eventually, this man is separated from his group, and he starts to call out for them. Echo is still hanging around. She's being a bit weird, again, men, putting, making up the story when it comes to women. And so when she hears him call out, all she can do is repeat his words back to him, "Is anyone there?" he calls, and she calls it right back. "Come here!" he tries, and he hears the same thing repeated right back. Now, this young man was already prone to a quality that starts with the letter N, but it doesn't exist yet in this world, so I'll just say that he thinks quite highly of himself. And like I said, story was come up, was made up by men. How, why can I not say that term? Anyway, the story was made up by men, and so, of course, the man in this story reacts awfully to what is, I admit, a fairly weird situation. I mean, the woman realistically speaking probably wouldn't be in love with him, and it's a bit weird that she is, but he loses his mind. Eventually, she feels like she can show herself because he's been calling out and she's been calling back, and she rushes towards him, and she just can't keep her hands to herself, and find this might be construed as coming on a bit strong, given they haven't yet met. But like I said, dude, loses his mind. So he just, not just like, "Oh, I'm sorry, I don't know you, could you go away?" It's literally like he acts as if she has insulted him in the most awful way possible, or attacked him or has been stalking him for months. He doesn't take it well, he's an ass. He totally rejects her, he doesn't give her a chance at all, and she's bummed, rightly so, I would think, and but then seeing a woman who's not psyched, by the way, a man has treated her. The goddess Nemesis takes notice, and she sees this guy being a real dick to a woman who was really just being honest about her admittedly kind of obsessive feelings, and she thinks that he deserves punishment. See, Nemesis is a real badass. She leads him to a nearby pond, and he spots his reflection in the water. He is apparently quite stupid on top of being an ass, and so he doesn't realize that it's just his own reflection, and he falls in love with this handsome man staring back at him from, you know, the water because it's basically a mirror. And he just stares and stares and stares. He stares at his reflection for so long that he eventually withers away and dies. This man's name was Narcissist, and he was the first narcissist. Funny enough, the flower doesn't always come from his name, there's one story where it does, but mainly the word Narcissist, and then the flower just happened to be named after an narcissist? I don't know. Echo, though, watching this happen. and she doesn't know her own self-worth, because she never gets over it. She just isn't loved with this man. She didn't know for the rest of her life, and eventually she too, whether's away and dies. And so all we have left is her voice, which just repeats our words back to us when we just, by complete coincidence, happen to be in locations which scientifically could be reasoned to create echo. [MUSIC PLAYING] Thank you so much for tuning in to this inaugural mini-miff. Please do me a solid and rate and review this podcast on iTunes or wherever you're listening. It really helps others discover it and helps me feel like people are listening. It's all around good things, and it takes two seconds of your time, so please, and thank you. The podcast is actually now available on iTunes, Google Play Store, Stitcher, SoundCloud, possibly more places because internet, the show's Instagram is @Metzbaby. The show's Twitter is @Metzbaby. We have a Facebook page. I said, we, as if it's not just me sitting in a room with my cat, we have a Facebook page, and it is also @Metzbaby. It has minimal content, but I am working on it. For now, you can hit like and make me feel good. Thank you again. My name is Liv, and I love this shit. [MUSIC PLAYING] Hey, nerds. I'm just here with a quick bit of news. So if you've ever thought of splurging on a trip to a couple of Greek islands and Athens, and you want to do it with me in October of this year, check the link in this episode's description, or go to mythsbaby.com/grouptrip for more information. It's happening. Highlights include following in Ariadne's footsteps as she flees the dreaded theses. mythsbaby.com/grouptrip.