I. Name
Narcissus is a Greek hero, whose name is carried once in the Bible by a Roman (Rom. 16.11). The etymology of his name is probably pre-Hellenic (Chantraine 1980), as of so many plants.
II. Identity
The aetiological myth of Narcissus is only attested in relatively late sources and is hardly older than Hellenistic times. The mythographer Conon (FGH 26 F 1.26), who lived under Augustus but had access to many local myths, relates the fate of a handsome youth from Boeotian Thespi…