Month: October 2025

The direct ancestor of “echo” is the Ancient Greek word ēkhṓ (ἠχώ). This term primarily meant “sound” but specifically carried the connotation of a sound repeated or reflected. The word “echo” is inextricably linked to Greek mythology, specifically to the poignant tale of the mountain nymph (Oread) named Echo.
According to the most famous version of the tale, the nymph Echo possessed a beautiful voice and loved to talk. She was known to keep people busy with long stories, conversation, and flattery. Her downfall came when she aided Zeus, king of the gods, by distracting his wife Hera the Queen of the Gods, goddess of marriage family and childbirth who was incredibly powerful but also vengeful, Whenever Hera was close to catching Zeus with someone else, Echo disoriented the goddess with long stories giving Zeus time to leave.
Discovering the deception, the enraged Hera cursed Echo, stripping her of her ability to speak freely; she was doomed to only speak the last words spoken to her by another, thus ‘echoing’ their words. The effect of losing her agency was catastrophic for Echo, and it paved the way for her eventual downfall. Later, in her life Echo fell deeply in love with the handsome youth Narcissus. However, due to her curse, she could not express her feelings, but could only repeat fragments of his speech. Narcissus, famously self-absorbed, cruelly rejected her. Echo ran into the forest with tears in her eyes. The rejection was too much, too cruel to handle.
The love that she had felt for Narcissus was so intense and so obsessive that Echo could not accept the way he had treated her and decided to live alone in the wilderness. However, the thought of her rejection kept coming back. In the end, her feelings were so intense that her body withered away, and the only thing left behind were her bones and voice.

For the past millions of years, from the Stone Age till today, many developments have been made by humans, which mark a long journey. People are cutting trees for their own purposes, and in the name of progress, this “destruction of our mother earth” causes global warming and a rise in temperature on earth. Global warming is caused by human interference, which results in increasing greenhouse gases (CO₂) in the environment by cutting an excessive number of trees. This also creates a challenge for humans worldwide, as inhaling these harmful gases can lead to suffocation and death. It leads to rising sea levels, severe storms, and other extreme weather conditions, which can cause ocean acidification, collapse of tropical rainforests, and huge masses of ice falling into oceans. There must be preventive steps to check global warming. We can reduce it by installing eco-friendly home appliances and reducing tree cutting. Together, we can bring peace and happiness to our mother earth. If humans will something, they can achieve their goal for the planet.