"Often father and daughter look down on mother together. They exchange meaningful glances when she misses a point. They agree that she is not bright as they are, cannot reason as they do. This collusion does not save the daughter from the mother’s fate."
— Bonnie Burstow
I know this quote is usually discussed in the context of mother/daughter relationships, but I can’t stop thinking about how perfectly this dynamic fits into my interpretation of Narcissus and his parents.
My version of Narcissus is essentially like a 1980s preppy legacy student. He’s the golden boy who idolizes his father, desperate for approval, totally blind to his father's faults while simultaneously dismissing his mother, Liriope. He treats her like she’s dramatic or overbearing, completely unaware that he is currently living through the exact same ordeal she did, being aggressively pursued by someone who won't take no for an answer.
He doesn't know the "mom lore," so he aligns himself with the father who caused it.
My personal interpretation of Narcissus and Cephissus being close comes from my reading of this
Claudian, Rape of Proserpine 2. 130 ff (trans. Platnauer) (Roman poetry C4th A.D.) : "[Persephone and her nymphs gather flowers :] Thee also, Hyacinthus, they gather, thy flower inscribed with woe, and Narcissus too--once lovely boys, now the pride of flowering spring. Thou, Hyacinthus, wert born at Amyclae, Narcissus was Helicon's child; thee the errant discus slew; him love of his stream-reflected face beguiled; for thee weeps Delos' god with sorrow-weighted brow; for him Cephisus with his broken reeds."
That’s where I get the vibe. Cephissus, to me, sounds like a man deeply proud of his boy, perhaps his one son among many daughters whom he hoped for greatness. Narcissus doesn't hate his mother, but he is distant from her because he is too busy trying to be his father’s son, unaware that the "collusion does not save him from the mother’s fate."
