Through various divisions within the piece, ‘Metamorphosis of Narcissus’ retells the story of Narcissus’s tragic fate. In the ancient Greek myth, Narcissus was a very handsome, yet selfish young man who broke the hearts of many lovers, especially the many nymphs who inhabited the area. For this, the gods decided to punish him by allowing him to see his gorgeous unattainable reflection in a nearby pool. He instantly fell in love with it, but upon realising he could not interact with it, he died from frustration. Relenting, the gods immortalised Narcissus as the narcissus flower (daffodil) so he could forever spread his beauty throughout the world. In the first scene of the painting, Narcissus can be seen standing on a pedestal on top of an empty chess board, staring into the mountains. Dali uses an empty chess board and a pedestal represents how Narcissus sees his life. The single figure on the chess board is used to reveal to the viewer that Narcissus sees his life as a one person game. The pedestal, in which Narcissus’ proud statue is standing on, is used by Dali to highlight Narcissus’ vanity and self-importance. In the sky above the statue, a group of dark clouds can be seen gathering, heading towards the chess board. This could be interpreted as the ‘cloud despair and sorrow heading his way’ from the Gods, if he wishes to continue to live his life in such a manner. In this scene Dali has chosen to use pale colours to represent the monotony of Narcissus’ soul-less life. To the right of this statue, in the second scene, a group of naked female nymphs can be seen …show more content…
The immense transformation from the passionate man proclaiming to the mountains, to the gloomy flower which is being held up by the decaying stone hand outlines for the viewers the many emotions and transformations from life to death, self-love to sorrow, and joy to