The Myth of Echo

Remember when you would yell into a cave or tunnel and hear your own voice echoing back at you? Every time you hear your voice ringing back at you, remember that there is a myth behind your own echo.

The mountains were covered in a sea of dancing grass and swaying branches, and the world was tranquil, from the tip of the mountain to the horizon where the sun kissed the land. Out in the distant sky, a small patch of grey clouds seemed to be rushing towards the mountain range. The naiads and nymphs looked up, waiting for the rain to drizzle down and for the thunder to provide a lovely beat to their dance. Instead, the cloud seemed to zap with electricity, moving at unnatural speeds towards the lush mountain side. Suddenly, it halted right above a small pond where the wood nymphs were playing in the rushing water fall. While the cloud slowly descended above the water, it began to morph. The soft tufts of cloud soon became taut muscle, and some of the water vapor formed into a lavish beard. The wood nymphs knew this was no ordinary creature -- it was Jupiter, the king of the gods himself.

As his body solidified, he looked in panic towards the nymphs, who splashed about in the pond and told him his predicament. He was running away from the jealous Juno, who would frequently search the mountainsides to see if he would be amusing himself alongside the nymphs. Right as he finished telling his story, a nymph spotted Juno in the distance and quickly rushed Jupiter out of the pond. However, before he could properly hide, Juno had already reached the pond where the nymphs lay and began to inquire about Jupiter’s whereabouts. Juno’s voice was filled with rage, and the nymphs could tell that if they were caught lying, they would surely face terrible consequences. One nymph slowly stood up in the water and introduced herself as Echo. Without letting Juno ask about Jupiter’s location, she immediately started vivaciously telling a story. Echo’s arms flailed about her and her voice grew higher and louder to accompany the story. As Echo’s movements became even more animated, the rest of the nymphs fled the scene with Jupiter, using Echo as a perfect distraction.

Once the story finished, however, Juno realized that Echo’s actions were a rouse to distract her from finding Jupiter. Juno flew into such a rage that she cursed Echo by taking away the tongue that made a fool of the queen of gods. Instead, Echo now could never say the first word, only ever being able to echo the last word of another person’s sentence.

Sources:

• https://www.acaedu.net/cms/lib3/TX01001550/Centricity/Domain/562/Week%2022%20-%20The%20Story%20of%20Echo%20and%20Narcissus.pdf

• http://myths.e2bn.org/mythsandlegends/userstory948-story-of-echo-and-narcissus.html