The Greeks, like many other cultures of antiquity, created myths to explain those phenomena that they found incomprehensible.One of them is the echo .How is it possible that the sound we emit repeat itself? The answer for the inhabitants of ancient Greece was the Nymph Eco .Join us to discover the mythological legend behind the phenomenon.
The mythological legend of the Nymph Eco
We have all marveled, especially in our childhood, hearing our voice reproduced several times in certain places.It is the echo that gives us the last word we have spoken.
The echo It is an acoustic phenomenon that occurs when a wave is reflected on a surface and returns to the one that has emitted it.For the human being to perceive the echo it is necessary that certain circumstances occur.The first is that persistence must be overcome acoustics and for this the reflective surface must be separated from the source 11.34 m.for dry sounds and at least 17 meters for mu sounds The second is that it must be reflected perpendicularly on a wall.
In nature, the most common natural places where you can hear the echo are the walls of a canon or the rock cliffs facing to the water.It is also possible that it occurs at the bottom of a well, in an empty room or in an enclosed space.
The Nymph Eco
The nymph eco was an oreade .A oreade was a type of nymph that protected the caves and mountains of Greece.Eco lived on Mount Helicon.In some versions of the myth, although he grew up among the nymphs, He was not immortal like them since, although his mother was also a nymph, his father was a mortal.His main quality is that he had a beautiful voice.
The Nymph Eco and the Greek Muses
The Greek muses, of which we have spoken to you in Science Daily Online, were the ones that educated the nymph Eco developing their skills for music and singing.They taught her to play all musical instruments.
Myth of Eco
The myth of Eco explains that the god Zeus often came down from Olympus to frolic with the nymphs of the forest.Hera, the wife of Zeus, who was extremely jealous, followed him and Eco was in charge of entertaining her by explaining stories with her wonderful voice so that God had time to enjoy his love affairs, but the goddess discovered the dwarf and wanted to punish the nymph.then Eco could not speak of his own accord, he had no control over what he said, he could only repeat the last words he had heard: he could not verbalize anything before someone else did and could not remain silent if someone had spoken previously.p>
He turned the nymph Eco into the echo .Ovid in the "Metamorphosis" recounts it this way:
"That tongue of yours, for which I have been deceived, will have its reduced power and enjoy the shorter use of speech"
Eco and Narcissus
The myth of Eco did not end with Hera's punishment, continues with the story of Eco and Narcissus. The nymph retired to live in the country and fell in love with a young shepherd named Narcissus.As he could not speak, he could not explain what he felt and simply followed him wherever he went.One day Narcissus heard a noise and asked: "Is there someone here? »A voice answered:« Here, here ».Then he said:« Come, come »and I hear an answer« come, come ».But nobody came out of the foliage.He asked again:« Why did I do you avoid? ”and the voice replied“ you avoid me.”Narcissus finally said "Let's get together" "here, together." Echo thought Narcissus corresponded in his love affairs and came out with his arms extended to embrace it exclaiming «let's join together together».
Narcissus, horrified rejection.The Nymph Eco , humiliated, hid in a cave and refusing to take food It was withering until only his voice remained.Narcissus, a while later, was punished by another displacer to fall in love with his own reflection in the water and die consumed by an impossible love.
The Myth of Echo and the God Pan
Another myth about the nymph Eco relates her to the god Pan.Eco was a nymph of great beauty and musical skills and Pan envied her virtuosity and wanted to seduce her to get her virginity.However, she does not give birth to men or to the gods.Pan angry, she sent her minions who dismembered her and distributed her pieces all over the world..Gea, however, made each of the fragments retain their voice and that's why we heard the echo.
The nymph Eco was an Oreade
The Oreades or nymphs of the mountains were divided into groups according to the mountain where they live and protected: the Ideas were from Monte Ida, the peliades of Monte Pelion, the Lyceum of Monte Liceo, etc.It is related to Artemisa already that she liked to hunt in forests and rocky areas where caves abounded.The best known of the oreades is without a doubt the nymph Eco .
Do you know the myth of Echo and Narcissus? And that of Eco and Pan? If you have been interested in this article, you may want to read the post:
-Zeus lovers.The most amazing cases
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