Language/Modern-greek-1453/Culture/Narcissism
Narcissism is a self-centered personality style characterized as having an excessive interest in one's physical appearance and an excessive preoccupation with one's own needs, often at the expense of others.
Narcissus, in Greek mythology, the son of the river god Cephissus and the nymph Liriope. He was distinguished for his beauty. According to Ovid’s Metamorphoses, Book III, Narcissus’s mother was told by the blind seer Tiresias that he would have a long life, provided he never recognized himself. However, his rejection of the love of the nymph Echo or (in an earlier version) of the young man Ameinias drew upon him the vengeance of the gods. He fell in love with his own reflection in the waters of a spring and pined away (or killed himself); the flower that bears his name sprang up where he died. The Greek traveler and geographer Pausanias, in Description of Greece, Book IX, said it was more likely that Narcissus, to console himself for the death of his beloved twin sister, his exact counterpart, sat gazing into the spring to recall her features.
The term "narcissism" is associated with the Greek myth of Narcissus where he fell in love with himself, while he thought he fell in love with a nymph.
The one he really fell in love with was nothing but the reflection of his own image in the water. The charm exerted on him by the reflection of his image, created his unsatisfied passion for himself that led him to death. In his attempt to caress the image he so fell in love with fell and drowned.
We all have elements of narcissism from the moment we are born. This means that we focus on ourselves - on our desires and needs.
The image we have of ourselves and the messages we give to others about ourselves are intertwined with experiences and messages that we got from our family in childhood.
When of course this is met with exaggeration, then we are referring to a disturbed personality.
In psychology and especially in psychoanalysis the term narcissism refers to a personality disorder where the individual deals too much with himself. In a way, this person, as in the myth, is in love with himself and is overly concerned with the image he shows to others.
This admiration and concern for him does not leave much time and space to deal with others around him and so his life is essentially poor in terms of his interpersonal relationships.
The main goal of a narcissistic personality is to be admired and adored by those around him.
His self-esteem is extremely fragile and depends on the image that others have of him.
A narcissist is a person who in fact has very low self-esteem and when his environment criticizes or rejects his behaviors, then his well-hidden fragile personality emerges and collapses.
A narcissist has so much need to feel different, special, superior and unique that he is able to go to extremes to achieve it.
One of his biggest fears is that others will discover reality, that is, his real self and so he tries in every way not to reveal himself.
Their interpersonal relationships are usually problematic because of their need for admiration, their sense of privilege and their inability to feel the needs of others.
Unfortunately, the social structure itself is increasingly encouraging more superficial and shallow relationships with others.
Instead, it rewards a trend that has to do with ostentation, ephemeral relationships, the acquisition of wealth at all costs, and the acquisition of even the fifteen-minute recognition as Andy Warhol had rightly predicted.
The reflections from the waters of modern society seem to be not only misleading but also profoundly distorting.
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