After Echo was cursed by Hera and her golden tongue forever gone, she found herself in love with Narcissus son of Cephissus and Liriope and known for his beauty (and his obsession with it). With her curse, she was unable to express her love for him, and could only follow him in the forest as he hunted. She longed to approach him but could only repeat his words. When he got lost in the woods, he cried out to his friends "where are you?" and she repeated, when he heard her he asked "who is there?", and she repeated "who is there?". This continued for some time until she finally revealed herself. Echo leapt into the arms of Narcissus who scorned her and threw her off on to the ground. With such rejection she slowly withered away until there was nothing left of her but her voice. In her despair, she disintegrates and her personality is engulfed into and swallowed up by Narcissus. Echo had lost her individuality when Hera took away her voice, and as she perished from her despair, she lost what was left of her identity and what remained was a voice that could only echo the expressions of others.
Then there was Pan, who fell in love with Echo and tried to seduce her, the way he tried to seduce so many others. When Echo did not reciprocate Pan's love and rejected his advances, he became angry and ordered his shepherds to tear Echo into pieces. Once again Echo is left with nothing but her voice. Gaia, mother earth bore witness to all that had happened to Echo and developed a great compassion for her. To commemorate Echo and her golden voice, Gaia left a small piece of her in every corner of the Earth, the wind, the trees and the air so the world can be reminded of Echo's unrequited love and mother earth's compassion for her.