In
Greek mythology,
Lethe (
Λήθη,
Lēthē;
Classical Greek [lɛː́tʰɛː],
modern Greek:
[ˈliθi]) was one of the five rivers of
Hades. Also known as the Ameles potamos (river of unmindfulness), the Lethe flowed around the cave of
Hypnos
and through the Underworld, where all those who drank from it
experienced complete forgetfulness. Lethe was also the name of the Greek
spirit of forgetfulness and oblivion, with whom the river was often
identified.
In Classical Greek, the word
Lethe literally means "oblivion", "forgetfulness", or "concealment". It is related to the Greek word for "truth",
aletheia (
ἀλήθεια), meaning "un-forgetfulness" or "un-concealment".
Mythology
River
Lethe (lee-thee), the river of forgetfulness, was one of the five rivers of the
Greek underworld, the other four being
Styx (the river of hate),
Akheron (the river of sorrow),
Kokytos (the river of lamentation) and
Phlegethon (the river of fire). According to
Statius, it bordered
Elysium, the final resting place of the virtuous.
Ovid wrote that the river flowed through the cave of Hypnos, god of sleep, where its murmuring would induce drowsiness.
[1]
The shades of the dead were required to drink the waters of the Lethe in order to forget their earthly life. In the
Aeneid,
Virgil writes that it is only when the dead have had their memories erased by the Lethe that they may be
reincarnated.
[2]
Goddess
Lethe was also the name of the personification of forgetfulness and oblivion, with whom the river was often associated.
Hesiod's
Theogony identifies her as the daughter of
Eris ("strife"), and the sister of
Ponos ("toil"),
Limos ("starvation"), the
Algea ("pains"), the
Hysminai ("fightings"), the
Makhai ("battles"), the
Phonoi ("murders"), the
Androktasiai ("man-slaughters"), the
Neikea ("quarrels"), the
Pseudologoi ("lies"), the
Amphilogiai ("disputes"),
Dysnomia ("lawlessness"),
Atë ("ruin"), and
Horkos ("oath").
[3]
Role in religion and philosophy
Some ancient Greeks believed that souls were made to drink from the
river before being reincarnated, so they would not remember their past
lives. The
Myth of Er at the end of
Plato's
Republic tells of the dead arriving at the "plain of Lethe", through which the river
Ameles ("careless") runs. A few
mystery religions taught the existence of another river, the
Mnemosyne; those who drank from the Mnemosyne would remember everything and attain
omniscience.
Initiates were taught that they would receive a choice of rivers to
drink from after death, and to drink from Mnemosyne instead of Lethe.
These two rivers are attested in several verse inscriptions on gold
plates dating to the 4th century BC and onward, found at
Thurii in Southern
Italy and elsewhere throughout the Greek world. There were rivers of Lethe and Mnemosyne at the oracular shrine of
Trophonius in
Boeotia, from which worshippers would drink before making oracular consultations with the god. More recently,
Martin Heidegger
used "lēthē" to symbolize the "concealment of Being" or "forgetting of
Being" that he saw as a major problem of modern philosophy. Examples are
found in his books on
Nietzsche (Vol 1, p. 194) and on Parmenides.
Real rivers
The River Lethe in Alaska.
Amongst authors in Antiquity, the tiny
Limia River between
Northern Portugal and
Galicia (Spain) was said to have the same properties of memory loss as the legendary Lethe River. In 138 BC, the Roman general
Decimus Junius Brutus
sought to dispose of the myth, as it impeded his military campaigns in
the area. He was said to have crossed the Limia and then called his
soldiers on the other side, one by one, by name. The soldiers,
astonished that their general remembered their names, crossed the river
as well without fear. This act proved that the Limia was not as
dangerous as the local myths described. In Alaska, a river which runs
through the
Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes is called
River Lethe.
In Popular Media
In the cartoon
Adventure Time,
Jake the Dog is tricked into drinking from the River of Forgetfulness
on a journey into the Land of the Dead. It is also referenced in final
lines of the Allen Ginsberg poem
A Supermarket in California:
- "Ah, dear father, greybeard, lonely old courage-
- teacher, what America did you have when Charon quit
- poling his ferry and you got out on a smoking bank
- and stood watching the boat disappear in the black
- waters of Lethe?"
Emily Dickinson mentions the "Lethe" in her poetry (#1730 by Thomas Johnson editing).
See also
Also a poem by Charles Baudelaire.
References
External links
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