The+Addict

//The Addict // By: Melissa McGrath //THE ADDICT: Is someone who // becomes physiologically or psychologically dependent on an addictive substance or habit, typically leading to their downfall. //The Story of Narcissus and Echo // Portraying the role of //the addict// in ancient Greek Mythology goes to the tale of //Narcissusand Echo//. After distracting Hera, allowing Zeus to go off and have numerous exposés with the plentiful, mystical nymphs, Hera catches on and takes away the voice of Echo. Echo is then only allowed to repeat the commands and words of others. Along the same time the river god Cephisus surrounded the blue nymph Leiriope and seduced her. It was then Narcissus was conceived. As any mother would, mystical or not, Leiriope was concerned with her child’s welfare. She went to consult the oracle and was told Narcissus “Would live to a ripe old age, as long as he never knew himself.” Addict: To cause or to become physiologically or psychologically dependent on a habit-forming substance

Narcissus grew more handsome and beautiful the older he aged. When he had reached age sixteen he left a trail of declined lovers of both sexes behind him. He was strongly against the idea of love and wanted no such thing with anyone; nymph, mortal, man or women. A sudden, one day Narcissus was out hunting when the lovely Echo found him fancy and followed him. Because she was unable to speak, she followed him until he realized he was being followed and then revealed herself. She ran up and embraced him, but he wasn’t fond of Echo, her love, or the love of any nymph. He pulled away in disgust and told her to leave. Narcissus left Echo alone and heartbroken. She spent the rest of her life in loneliness waiting for her one love, narcissus, and her voice.

One of narcissus’s dearest admirers, the most extreme of them all, Ameinius, repeatedly tried and tried for Narcissus’s affection. Until one day Narcissus sent him a sword and told him to prove his love for him. Ameinius cried out to the God’s pleading to punish Narcissus and all his vanity, only before he plunged the sword through his heart. The Goddess of the hunt, Artemis, heard Ameinius’ cry. She made narcissus fall in love..a love that could never e fulfilled. When one day Narcissus looked down into a mystical spring, he fell in love with what he saw reflected in the water. He tried and tried to touch his reflection in the waters, but he was never able to. He sat for hours gazing at himself until he relized that his reflection was not a love in reality but vanity. He was tortured by his love, just as were all those from the previous ages who slaved and slaved for his affection. Unable to stand the agony of the reality Narcissus’ tortured mind only left one choice which was the plunge a dagger through his heart. And as he did he screamed goodbye to his reflection. Where his blood stained the earth, a white flower with a red inside bloomed which was given the name of Narcissus.

//King Midas’ Golden Touch // Midas was the pleasure-loving King of Macedonia, where he ruled over the Brigians (also known as Moschians.) He was the first person ever to plant a rose garden and he loved to spend his days feasting and listening to music. His mother was said to be the great goddess Cybelle (Rhea), who is "the mother of the gods". Some have called Gordius his father, and yet others claim that Gordius was only his step-father. When he was just a baby, a procession of ants was seen carrying grains of wheat up the side of his cradle and placing them between his lips as he slept. When the oracles were asked to explain this omen they said that Midas was a special child who would amass great power and wealth. King Midas' rose gardens were celebrated and he derived great pleasure in their pristine beauty. Well, it happened that Dionysus, the celebrated god of wine, was leading his army of frenzied followers into India. The army of Dionysus consisted in part of Satyrs, who were half human, half goat individuals with a serious lust for wine and sexual pleasures. Silenus was an old friend who had been entrusted with the education of Dionysus, so the god of wine was particularly fond of him. At a particularly rowdy party Silenus got drunk like a skunk, which was quite normal for a Satyr, and he wandered away from the rest of his mates, becoming hopelessly lost. Eventually he stumbled his way to King Midas' palace and proceeded to pass out among the King's treasured rose bushes, where he slept off his drunken fit. King Midas let him go without punishment. When the god Dionysus heard about it, he rewarded King Midas by granting him one wish. The king thought for only a second and then said I wish for everything I touch to turn to gold." And so it was. The beautiful flowers in his garden turned toward the sun for light, but when Midas approached and touched them, they stood rigid and gold. The king grew hungry and thin, for each time he tried to eat, he found that his meal had turned to gold. His lovely daughter, at his loving touch, turned hard and fast to gold. His water, his bed, his clothes, his friends, and eventually the whole palace was gold. King Midas saw that soon his whole kingdom would turn to gold unless he did something right away. He asked Dionysus to turn everything back to the way it had been and take back his golden touch. Because the king was ashamed and very sad, Dionysus took pity on him and granted his request. Instantly, King Midas was poorer that he had been, but richer, he felt, in the things that really count.

Augustus Gloop From //Willy Wonka// When Willy Wonka releases his announcement of the golden tickets in the wonka bars, all the children run to the store hoping and hoping to be the lucky holder of one of these trophies. The first person to win is the glutton Augustus Gloop. When the camera first hits him it is quite obvious what the director is trying to do…he is trying to make America cringe at Augustus’ obese body scarfing down a big dumpling, barely being able to talk to the television reporter. Later in the film when he and the four other winners are running around in the world of candy, he is drawn to Wonka’s forbidden chocolate river. As Wonka is telling him to stop indulging and drinking his chocolate milk, Augustus gracefully falls into the river. When Charlie Bucket attempts to save him, he is unsuccessful and Augustus is pulled under the delightful milk. He is sucked up into a tube and never seen again. His addiction to food and drink brought him to an end. His character was never seen in the film again. //T ////he human race faces obstacles and is placed through tests to categorize ourselves as a certain archetype. Some of us are never able to control ourselves, and that is the reason behind the addict and its appearance through history. // The Addict Works Cited Page