Lethe

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Related to Lethe: Hippocrene

Le·the

(lē′thē)

n. Greek Mythology

The river of forgetfulness, one of the five rivers in Hades.

[Greek Lēthē, from lēthē, forgetfulness.]

Le′the·an adj.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Lethe

(ˈliːθɪ)

1. (Classical Myth & Legend) Greek myth a river in Hades that caused forgetfulness in those who drank its waters

2. forgetfulness

[C16: via Latin from Greek, from lēthē oblivion]

Lethean adj

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

Le•the

(ˈli θi)

n.

1. a river in the ancient Greek underworld whose water caused those who drank it to forget their past.

2. (usu. l.c.) forgetfulness; oblivion.

[< Latin < Greek lḗthē literally, forgetfulness, derivative of lanthánesthai to forget]

Le•the•an (lɪˈθi ən, ˈli θi ən) adj.

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Noun

Lethe - (Greek mythology) a river in Hades; the souls of the dead had to drink from it, which made them forget all they had done and suffered when they were alive

River Lethe

netherworld, Scheol, underworld, Hades, infernal region, Hell - (religion) the world of the dead; "No one goes to Hades with all his immense wealth"-Theognis

Greek mythology - the mythology of the ancient Greeks

Translations

Lethe

[ˈliːθiː] N → Lete(o) m

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

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References in classic literature ?

The rosemary nods upon the grave; The lily lolls upon the wave; Wrapping the fog about its breast, The ruin moulders into rest; Looking like Lethe, see!

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Whereby you may see, that the river of Lethe runneth as well above ground as below.

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"I know not Lethe nor Nepenthe," remarked he; "but I have learned many new secrets in the wilderness, and here is one of them -- a recipe that an Indian taught me, in requital of some lessons of my own, that were as old as Paracelsus.

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I can understand the ignorant masses loving to soak themselves in drink--oh, yes, it's very shocking that they should, of course--very shocking to us who live in cozy homes, with all the graces and pleasures of life around us, that the dwellers in damp cellars and windy attics should creep from their dens of misery into the warmth and glare of the public-house bar, and seek to float for a brief space away from their dull world upon a Lethe stream of gin.

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But the Genius which according to the old belief stands at the door by which we enter, and gives us the lethe to drink, that we may tell no tales, mixed the cup too strongly, and we cannot shake off the lethargy now at noonday.

Every roof is agreeable to the eye until it is lifted; then we find tragedy and moaning women and hard-eyed husbands and deluges of lethe, and the men ask, 'What's the news?' as if the old were so bad.

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Our recollections are unfortunately mingled with much that we deplore, and with many actions which we bitterly repent; still in the most chequered life I firmly think there are so many little rays of sunshine to look back upon, that I do not believe any mortal (unless he had put himself without the pale of hope) would deliberately drain a goblet of the waters of Lethe, if he had it in his power.'

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Pluto now summoned his domestics, and bade them lose no time in preparing a most sumptuous banquet, and above all things, not to fail of setting a golden beaker of the water of Lethe by Proserpina's plate.

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Farr off from these a slow and silent stream, LETHE the River of Oblivion roules Her watrie Labyrinth, whereof who drinks, Forthwith his former state and being forgets, Forgets both joy and grief, pleasure and pain.

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It smell so like the waters of Lethe, and of that fountain of youth that the Conquistadores sought for in the Floridas, and find him all too late."

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By way of a preliminary sip of the waters of Lethe, before beginning the full draught, he placed a franc on number seven and lost.

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If we do not succeed this time, there is perhaps one more chance for the race left before it arrives on the banks of the Styx; and that is in the Lethe of the Pacific, which is three times as wide.