page_title: Narcissus (plant)
section_title: Antiquity
hierarchical_section_title: Narcissus (plant) / Culture / Art / Antiquity
caption_attribution_description: English: These stories from the history of ancient Greece begin with myths and legends of gods and heroes and end with the conquests of Alexander the Great. The book is accessible and well organized, but it is considerably more detailed than some other introductory texts. It covers Greek history from the age of Mythology to the rise of Alexander, but because of its length we do not recommend it for 5th grade or younger. It is an excellent reference, thoroughly engaging, and a good candidate for a somewhat older student's first foray into Greek history.
context_page_description: Narcissus is a genus of predominantly spring flowering perennial plants of the amaryllis family, Amaryllidaceae. Various common names including daffodil, narcissus and jonquil are used to describe all or some members of the genus. Narcissus has conspicuous flowers with six petal-like tepals surmounted by a cup- or trumpet-shaped corona. The flowers are generally white or yellow, with either uniform or contrasting coloured tepals and corona.
  Narcissus were well known in ancient civilisation, both medicinally and botanically, but formally described by Linnaeus in his Species Plantarum. The genus is generally considered to have about ten sections with approximately 50 species. The number of species has varied, depending on how they are classified, due to similarity between species and hybridisation. The genus arose some time in the Late Oligocene to Early Miocene epochs, in the Iberian peninsula and adjacent areas of southwest Europe. The exact origin of the name Narcissus is unknown, but it is often linked to a Greek word for intoxicated and the myth of the youth of that name who fell in love with his own reflection.
context_section_description: The decorative use of narcissi dates as far back as ancient Egyptian tombs,  and frescoes at Pompeii. They are mentioned in the King James Version of the Bible as the Rose of Sharon and make frequent appearances in classical literature.
caption: Demeter and Persephone surrounded by daffodils - "Demeter rejoiced, for her daughter was by her side"
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