Motif
fatal self-love through pursuit of one’s own image
fatal_self_love_through_pursuit_of_one_s_own_image
A motif of the Sacred Love and Longing family, within the sub-family Forbidden and Transgressive Love. Every row below is a tagged passage; each rests on a quote in its source text.
1 occurrences
1 traditions
roman
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The Metamorphoses of Ovid, Books I-VII EXPLANATION. / EXPLANATION. / EXPLANATION. / EXPLANATION.; lines 5378-5452 confidence: high
The explanation says little historical fact is known about Narcissus except his Thespian origin, and interprets the fable as a moral lesson on fatal self-love and pursuit of a receding image.
The explanation explicitly frames Narcissus’s pursuit of his own image as revealing the fatal effects of self-love.
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