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Ancient Hellas described this flower in a beautiful legend. A handsome young man
Narcissus was the son of the river god Cefisus. When he was born he was promised a
a long life in case he never saw his face. At the time it was easy to do as there were
no mirrors and any reflections could only be seen in still clear water. Once Narcissus
was hunting in the forest where a mountain nymph Eco lived. Having seen the boy
she fell in love with him and hoped the love would be reciprocal. She tried hard to
draw his attention but all was in vain. She was so desperate that she asked gods to
pity her and punish the heartless young man. The gods decided to help her. Once,
when he was extremely thirsty, Narcissus stopped at a clear spring to have a drink and
suddenly saw his reflection. It was so beautiful that he immediately fell in love with
it and being unable to distract himself from the reflection he pined of love. The boy
was young and unhappy, so gods decided not to let him die and turned him into a
wonderful fragrant flower. Its head looks down as if admiring its
reflection. However, the scientific literature has two opinions about the origin of the word ‘narcissus’. One of the versions says that the name to the flower was given by Hipocratus in V-VI centuries BC and was derived from the Greek word ‘narkao’ (to stun or to befuddle). The other version claims that the name was derived from the Persian word ‘nargis’ – to stiffen or to freeze. Both of them sound right and are connected not only with the legend but also with characteristics of the plant. Daffodils’ strong fragrance can befuddle and Homer mentioned narcotic and paralysing characteristics of poisonous elements present in daffodils’ bulbs. This, in its turn, explains the origin of the word ‘narcosis’. In any case, obviously, we speak about a well-known variety Narcissus poeticus. It is called ‘poetical’ because for centuries poets praised daffodil’s beauty. They compared the flower with beauties’ eyes (in the modern Persian language the word ‘narges’ means ‘a beautiful eye’). Shakespeare was impressed by the flower, having described it in the tragedy ‘The Tempest’. Percy Shelly in ‘The Sensitive Plant’ also mentions the daffodil: ‘…And narcissi, the fairest among them all, Who gaze on their eyes in the stream’s recess, Till they die of their own dear loveliness…’ The daffodil is one of the world’s most ancient plants. Teofast mentions the daffodil 300 years BC. The flowers were grown in the Ancient Egypt, Iran, Ancient Greek and Rome. The daffodil is number one in the ‘big four’ of the most popular bulbous crops, followed by tulips, crocuses and hyacinth. Daffodil bulbs are valued more on the world market than those of tulips and other plants. There are a few flowers in the world, which drew attention of so many selectionists throughout the world. Currently some 30 thousand of daffodil varieties are known and 200 new varieties are bred annually. |
 Salvador Dali – Narcissus  Lent lily  Hipocratus is believed to name daffodils in V-VI centuries BC  Homer mentioned daffodils’ narcotic effect  William Shakespeare described daffodils in ‘The Tempest’  White daffodil |
