Narcissism has a rather romantic beginning. In Greek mythology, a young nymph named Echo had fallen in love with a man named Narcissus. However, Narcissus rejected her, quite brutally I might add, and as a result, Aphrodite cursed him to fall in love with his own reflection as he looked into a woodland pool. The young man became so enamored with his own reflection that he eventually turned into a beautiful flower called a narcissus. Narcissism has found its place in other books as well. In J.K Rowling’s Harry Potter, Gilderoy Lockhart is an overbearing teacher who tried to cover up his own delusions by attacking both Harry and Ron, only for him to end up with his own memories gone. The same can be said of Voldemort. In Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray, the titular protagonist displays narcissistic traits, so much so that the beautiful portrait painted in the beginning, the portrait that became hideous over time, was modeled after John Gray, a real person, a young working-class poet of extraordinary beauty. A boy so striking that strangers would lean out of their boxes at Covent Garden to fix him in their opera glasses. In Rick Riordan’s The Heroes of Olympus, Apollo believes himself to be the equal of and even better than Zeus, and the only person that he even cares about is his sister, Artemis. 

Narcissism has been traditionally labeled as a personality disorder. Individuals who have this disorder are said to suffer from grandiosity, arrogance, little to no empathy, and an extremely exaggerated sense of self worth, and treat others as below themselves. While there have been talks about removing the disorder from the DSM, a guidebook that allows mental health professionals to diagnose patients, there’s no doubt that narcissism continues to influence us, fictional or nonfictional, even today.

Narcissism borders alongside psychopathy and sociopathy, though they may be less inclined towards violent behavior. Individuals who have narcissistic personality disorder will have a tendency to put others down to make themselves feel better, and are often envious of other people’s successes. While many children and adolescents display these traits, they often aren’t permanent. A parent who is a narcissist will often guide their children in a way that’s extremely possessive, and will become jealous of the child’s growing successes. While narcissists comprise a small amount of Americans, the disorder is still powerful enough to impact our culture.

Narcissism has impacted our culture today. From being shown in the Dr. Phil show, to the countless documentaries describing narcissism, the disorder today remains the driving factors behind many characters today. Despite the harm it can cause, we still choose to write about it because of its uniqueness. The narcissists we usually find come from villains in children’s books, fairytales, perhaps even a few adult movies. Even so, narcissism is still a disorder that has affected many, and will continue to do so throughout literature, as well as the damage this can cause.