Lethe

In Greek mythology, Lethe /ˈliːθi/ (Greek: Λήθη, Lḗthē; Ancient Greek: , Modern Greek: ) was one of the five rivers of the underworld 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 Greek mythology, Lethe /ˈliːθi/ (Greek: Λήθη, Lḗthē; Ancient Greek: , Modern Greek: ) was one of the five rivers of the underworld 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 (λήθη) literally means 'oblivion', 'forgetfulness', or 'concealment'. It is related to the Greek word for 'truth', aletheia (ἀλήθεια), which through the privative alpha literally means 'un-forgetfulness' or 'un-concealment'. Lethe, the river of forgetfulness, was one of the five rivers of the Greek underworld, the other four being Styx, Acheron (the river of sorrow), Cocytus (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. 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 (VI.703-751) writes that it is only when the dead have had their memories erased by the Lethe that they may be reincarnated. 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 ('Hardship'), Limos ('Starvation'), Algea ('Pains'), Hysminai ('Battles'), Makhai ('Wars'), Phonoi ('Murders'), Androktasiai ('Manslaughters'), Neikea ('Quarrels'), Pseudea ('Lies'), Logoi ('Stories'), Amphillogiai ('Disputes'), Dysnomia ('Lawlessness'), Ate ('Ruin'), and Horkos ('Oath'). 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 in Book X of Plato's Republic tells of the dead arriving at a barren waste called the 'plain of Lethe', through which the river Ameles ('careless') runs. 'Of this they were all obliged to drink a certain quantity,' Plato wrote, 'and those who were not saved by wisdom drank more than was necessary; and each one as he drank forgot all things.' 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. Many ancient Greek poems mention or describe Lethe. The river is also referenced in more recent novels and poetry. Simonides of Ceos, an ancient Greek lyrical poet, references Lethe in the sixty-seventh fragment of one of his poems. Publius Ovidius Naso, known as Ovid, in his description of the Underworld in his Metamorphoses, includes a description of Lethe as a stream that puts people to sleep. Aeneas, the protagonist of Virgil's epic Latin poem, Aeneid, travels to Lethe to meet the ghost of his father in Book VI of the poem.