Greek Mythology and Narcissism

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Greek Mythology is the study of the stories and legends of ancient Greek life. They are fictional stories used to teach and provide context on everyday occurrences, such as nature, health, but most importantly, love. The love myths of ancient Greece are far more different than anything we know of today. The myths featured competitive world views, such as homosexuality. There are other psychological ideas apparent in Greek myths. Using the book Mythology by Edith Hamilton, the myths of Narcissus, Amor and Psyche, and Pygmalion and Galatea include the ideas of narcissism, impulsiveness, and the impact of expectations appear many times.
Narcissism is defined as “The state or stage of development in psychoanalytic theory in which there is considerable erotic interest in one's own body and ego and which in abnormal forms persists through fixation or reappears through regression”(Merriam-Webster). In the context of love, narcissism can be a very straining trait. Most narcissists are raised by their parents in the idea of being incredibly great. A narcissistic relationship is a very difficult one, especially in the myths. A narcissistic person will be difficult to love, due to the fact that they do not love themselves.“The findings suggest that intergroup expressions of ethnocentrism are based on personal self-aggrandizement, whereas intergroup expressions are based on personal self-transcendence.”(Bizumic 1) In the Myths, there was a man named Narcissus was incredibly beautiful and loved himself because of it. Wherever he went he would make sure people knew about his beauty.(Hamilton 91) This lead to the term narcissism.
Narcissism in the myths link multiple characters together in very surprising way. Narcissism seems to either make ...

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...roup Is Not Worthy of Me": Narcissism and Ethnocentrism." Political Psychology 29.3 (2008): 437-53. JSTOR. Web. 28 Jan. 2014.
Chen, Gilad, and Richard J. Kilmoski. "The Impact of Expectations on Newcomer Performance in Teams as Mediated by Work Characteristics, Social Exchanges, and Empowerment." The Academy of Management Journal 5th ser. 46 (2003): 591-607. JSTOR. Web. 28 Jan. 2014.
Hamilton, Edith, and Steele Savage. Mythology. Boston: Little, Brown and, 1942. Print.
"Impulse." Merriam-Webster.com. Merriam-Webster, n.d. Web. 11 Feb. 2014. .
"Narcissism." Merriam-Webster.com. Merriam-Webster, n.d. Web. 10 Feb. 2014. .
Post, Jerrold M. "Narcissism and the Charismatic Leader-Follower Relationship." Political Psychology 7.4 (1986): 675-88. JSTOR. Web. 28 Jan. 2014.

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