echo [ME] In Greek mythology Echo was the name of an oread or mountain nymph whom the goddess Hera deprived of speech to stop her chattering. The unfortunate creature was left able only to repeat what others had said. She fell in love with the handsome *Narcissus, and when he rejected her she wasted away with grief until there was nothing left of her but her voice. In another, nastier version of the story she was loved by the god Pan but turned him down; in revenge he drove a group of shepherds mad and made them tear her to pieces. The fragments were hidden in the earth, including her voice, which could still imitate other sounds. The name of the nymph was probably a personification of the Greek word ēkhō, which was related to ēkhē ‘a sound’.