User:Paul August/Lethe (daughter of Eris)
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[edit]References
[edit]- Drachmann, Anders Bjørn, Scholia vetera in Pindari carmina, Vol. I, Lipsiae, 1903. Internet Archive.
- Plutarch, Moralia, Volume VIII: Table-Talk, Volume IX: Table-Talk, Books 7-9. Dialogue on Love., by Edwin L. Minar, F. H. Sandbach, W. C. Helmbold, Loeb Classical Library No. 425, Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press, 1961. ISBN 978-0-674-99467-6. Online version at Harvard University Press.
Sources
[edit]Ancient
[edit]7.25 [= Simonides fr. LXVII Loeb = 184 Bergk = 126 Diehl][1]
- In this tomb of Teos, his home, was Anacreon laid, the singer whom the Muses made deathless, who set to the sweet love of lads measures breathing of the Graces, breathing of Love. Alone in Acheron he grieves not that he has left the sun and dwelleth there in the house of Lethe, but that he has left Megisteus, graceful above all the youth, and his passion for Thracian Smerdies. Yet never doth he desist from song delightful as honey, and even in Hades he hath not laid that lute to rest.
- [5] μοῦνος δ᾿ εἰν Ἀχέροντι βαρύνεται, οὐχ ὅτι λείπων
- [6] ἠέλιον, Λήθης ἐνθάδ᾿ ἔκυρσε δόμων·
- Μνήμη καὶ Λήθη, μέγα χαιρετον· ἡ μὲν ἐπ᾿ ἔργοις
- Μνήμη τοῖς ἀγαθοῖς, ἡ δ᾿, ἐπὶ λευγαλέοις.
- Memory and Oblivion, all hail! Memory I say in the case of good things, and Oblivion in the case of evil.
- Νὺξ δ’ ἔτεκε στυγερόν τε Μόρον καὶ Κῆρα μέλαιναν
- καὶ Θάνατον, τέκε δ’ Ὕπνον, ἔτικτε δὲ φῦλον Ὀνείρων.
- Night bore loathsome Doom and black Fate and Death, and she bore Sleep, and she gave birth to the tribe of Dreams.
- τίκτε δὲ καὶ Νέμεσιν πῆμα θνητοῖσι βροτοῖσι
- Νὺξ ὀλοή· μετὰ τὴν δ’ Ἀπάτην τέκε καὶ Φιλότητα
- Γῆράς τ’ οὐλόμενον, καὶ Ἔριν τέκε καρτερόθυμον.
- Deadly Night gave birth to Nemesis (Indignation) too, a woe for mortal human beings; and after her she bore Deceit and Fondness and baneful Old Age, and she bore hard-hearted Strife.
- αὐτὰρ Ἔρις στυγερὴ τέκε μὲν Πόνον ἀλγινόεντα
- Λήθην τε Λιμόν τε καὶ Ἄλγεα δακρυόεντα
- Ὑσμίνας τε Μάχας τε Φόνους τ’ Ἀνδροκτασίας τε
- Νείκεά τε Ψεύδεά τε Λόγους τ’ Ἀμφιλλογίας τε
- Δυσνομίην τ’ Ἄτην τε, συνήθεας ἀλλήλῃσιν,
- Ὅρκόν θ’, ὃς δὴ πλεῖστον ἐπιχθονίους ἀνθρώπους
- πημαίνει, ὅτε κέν τις ἑκὼν ἐπίορκον ὀμόσσῃ·
- And loathsome Strife bore painful Toil and Forgetfulness and Hunger and tearful Pains, and Combats and Battles and Murders and Slaughters, and Strifes and Lies and Tales and Disputes, and Lawlessness and Recklessness, much like one another, and Oath, who indeed brings most woe upon human beings on the earth, whenever someone willfully swears a false oath.
- From Aether and Earth: Dolor, Deceit (Dolus), Wrath (Ira), Lamentation (Luctus), Falsehood Mendacium, Oath Iusiurandum, Vengeance, Intemperance, Altercation, Oblivion [Oblivio], Sloth, Fear, Pride, Incest, Combat, Ocean, Themis, Tartarus, Pontus; and the Titans, Briareus, Gyges, Steropes, Atlas, Hyperion, and Polus, Saturn, Ops, Moneta, Dione; and three Furies — namely, Alecto, Megaera, Tisiphone.
3 To Nyx
- 6
- Athanassakis and Wolkow, pp. 6–7:
- you free us from cares, you offer us welcome respite from toil.
- Athanassakis and Wolkow, pp. 6–7:
- Greek:
- ληθομέριμν’, ἀγαθήν τε πόνων ἀνάπαυσιν ἔχουσα·
- Greek:
77 To Mnemosyne
- 3–10
- Athanassakis and Wolkow, p. 61:
- [3] Evil oblivion [λήθη] that harms the mind is alien to her [Mnemosyne]
- ...
- [9] O blessed goddess, for the initiates stir the memory
- [10]of the sacred rite, ward off oblivion [λήθη] from them
- Athanassakis and Wolkow, p. 61:
- West, p. 231 on 227 Λήθην:
- [3] ἐκτὸς ἐοῦσα κακῆς [evil] λήθης βλαψίφρονος αἰεί,
- ...
- [9] ἀλλά, μάκαιρα θεά, μύσταις μνήμην ἐπέγειρε
- [10]εὐιέρου τελετῆς, λήθην δ’ ἀπὸ τῶνδ’ ἀπόπεμπε.
- West, p. 231 on 227 Λήθην:
85 To Hypnos
- 5–8
- Athanassakis and Wolkow, p. 65:
- [5] You free us of cares, you offer sweet respite from toil,
- ...
- [8] since to Death [Θανάτου Thanatos] and Oblivion [Λήθης, Lethe] you [Hypnos/Sleep] are a true brother.
- Athanassakis and Wolkow, p. 65:
- Here he must drink water called the water of Forgetfulness, that he may forget all that he has been thinking of hitherto, and afterwards he drinks of another water, the water of Memory, which causes him to remember what he sees after his descent. After looking at the image which they say was made by Daedalus （it is not shown by the priests save to such as are going to visit Trophonius）, having seen it, worshipped it and prayed, he proceeds to the oracle, dressed in a linen tunic, with ribbons girding it, and wearing the boots of the country.
- 10.621a
- And then, without turning round, it went beneath the throne of Necessity, and after passing through it, when the rest had also passed through, they all made their way to the plain of Lethe through terrifying choking fire: for the place was empty of trees and anything else that grows in the earth.
- 10.621c
- And so, Glaucon, the story has been preserved and has not been lost, and it would save us if we follow it and we shall make a successful crossing of the river Lethe and shall not pollute our souls.
- Table-Talk 705B
- I fear the ancients were wrong in calling Dionysus the son of Lethe (Forgetfulness); they should have made him her father. For he seems to have made you forget that ...
fr. LXVII Loeb [= 184 Bergk = 126 Diehl][1] [= The Greek Anthology, 7.25]
- This tomb received Anacreon, whom the Muses made deathless, the singer of his native Teos, who tuned his lyre for songs of the sweet love of boys, songs with the scent of the Graces and Loves. One thing alone distresses him in Acheron: not that he left the sun behind and found there the halls of Lethe, but that he has left behind Megisteus, graceful among the youths, and Smerdies, his Thracian passion. But he does not cease from his honey-sweet song: even after death he still has not put to sleep in Hades that lyre of his.
- Λήθην τε τὴν <τὰ> πάντ᾿ ἀπεστερημένην,
- κωφήν, ἄναυδον
- And Forgetfulness that is deprived of all things, dumb, speechless . . .
- 10.89–90
- limen opaca Quies et pigra Oblivio servant
- et numquam vigili torpens Ignavia volta.
- The threshold [of Sleep] is guarded by shady Quiet [Quies] and dull Forgetfulness [Oblivio and torpid Sloth with ever drowsy countenance.
Modern
[edit]Athanassakis and Wolkow
[edit]- In Orphic eschatology Mnemosyne—or rather her lake–played a significant role. A number of Bacchic gold tablets mention this geographical feature in instructions that are intended to remind the soul of the initiate what to do in the underworld. Indeed the first line of the first one states "this is the work of Mnemosyne," ... our hymn, too, shows concern for combatting oblivion. The first reference speaks in general terms (line 3); at the end, the prayer is particularized to the "sacred rite". ... Finally, of interest, though not directly connected with our hymn, is that Pausanias explains that before one goes to consult the hero of Trophonios, he is first required to drink from the fountain of Lethe (Oblivion) to clear the mind of all things before encountering the god and then from the fountain of Mnemosyne to remember what the oracle states (9.39.8); ...
- to Death. However, forgetfulness also has relevance to the living. In the hymn to Mnemosyne, "evil oblivion" is said to be "alien to her" (OH 77.3), and the goddess is asked to "ward off oblivion" so that the rite might not be forgotten (OH 77.9–19). On the other hand, oblivion may have a positive connotations. In the hymn to Night, the goddess is said to "free us from cares" (OH 3.6), which is a translation of a Greek word that literally means "causing to forget cares." This is comparable to the "free us of cares" in line 5 (a more literal translation of a different Greek word), and is notable that the "sweet respite from toil" in this line is almost exactly parallel to the "you offer us welcome respite from toil" in the hymn to Night (OH 3.6).
Caldwell
[edit]p. 40
- 212-232 The remaining children of Night are personifications ... The children of Eris are Hardship [Ponos], Forgetfulness (Lethe), Starvation [Limos], Pains [Algea], Battles [Hysminai], Wars [Machai], Murders [Phonoi], Manslaughters [Androktasiai], Quarrels [Neikea] Lies [Pseudea], Stories [Logoi], Disputes [Amphillogiai], Anarchy [Dysnomia], Ruin [Ate], Oath [Horkos].
s.v. ἀλήθεια (Vol 1 p. 57)
- ...1 absence of concealment (of the facts); truth Hom. Hes. Sol. A. Pi, B ... (personif.) Truth Pi.
- 2 truth, reality (opp. what is only apparent, imagined or simulated) Simon. Parm. E. Antipho Th. Pl. +; (personify.) Truth Parm.
s.v. λήθη (Vol 2 p. 869)
- λήθη ης, ... f. ... 4 (personified., as a deity) Lethe, Forgetfulness, Neglect Hes. 5 (as the name of a plain in the underworld) Lethe Ar. Pl.
Graf
[edit]- s.v. Gold Tablets
- ...
- Ritual Background
- Furthermore, the Hipponion tablet calls itself a “work of Memory,” and Memory plays a role in this and other texts as the key to a blessed afterlife. This not only ties into Greek eschatological mythology about the role of the water of Forgetfulness (Lethe) ...
- Fritz Graf
- Published online: 26 October 2017
Campbell
[edit]- Epigrams
- The following epigrams ... the remainder [those after LVIII] although bearing his name [Simonides], are also likely to be spurious.
Grimal
[edit]s.v. Lethe
- (Λήθη) Oblivion, the daughter of Eris (Discord), and according to one myth the mother of the Charites (The Graces). She gave her name to the river of Oblivion in the Underworld. ... Lethe [the spring?] became a personification of Oblivion, sister of Death and Sleep. It is by this title that poets often refer to her. [Hesiod, Theog 227ff.; schol. on Hom. Il. 14.276; schol. on Od. 11.51; Anth. Pal. 7.25; Plato, Rep. 10.621a; Virgil, Ten. 6.705ff.; Ovid Ex Post. 2.4.23; Paus. 9.39.8]
- ἀλήθ-εια [α^λ], ἡ, Dor. ἀλάθεια (also
A.“ἀλαθεία_” B.12.204); “ἀλάθεα” Alc.57, Theoc.29.1 is neut. pl. of ἀλα_θής; Ep. (and Farly Att. acc. to Hdn.Gr.2.454) ἀληθεία_; Ion. ἀληθείη :
- I. truth, opp. lie or mere appearance:
- A.forgetting, forgetfulness, personified in Hes. Th.227; ...
- II. after Hom., of a place of oblivion in the lower world, “Λήθης δόμοι” Simon.184.6; “τὸ Λήθης πεδίον” Ar.Ra.186; “τὸ τῆς Λ. π.” Pl.R.621a, D.H.8.52; “Λ. ὕδωρ” Luc.DMort.13.6, Paus.9.39.8, Aesop.168; also, ὁ τῆς Λήθης ποταμός, of the river Λιμαίας in Lusitania, Str.3.3.4, 5, cf. App.Hisp.73 (71). (Λήθη as pr. n. of a river is not found.)
Scott
[edit]Smith
[edit]- (Λήθη), the personification of oblivion, is called by Hesiod (Hes. Th. 227) a daughter of Eris. A river in the lower world likewise bore the name of Lethe. [HADES.]
Walde
[edit]- s.v. Mneme
- (Μνήμη/Mnḗmē, lat. Memoria). In literary sources, starting with the Hellenistic period, personified memory, with Lethe as its counterpart (Anth. Pal. 10,67). M. is largely identical to Mnemosyne (Phil. De plantatione 129 Wendland), but is rarely more than an abstraction (cf. relief of Homer by Archelaus [9] of Priene, where she is portrayed next to Physis, Arete, Pistis and Sophia [1]). In Ascra, the cult association of the Aloads worshipped her, together with Melete (‘diligence’) and Aoide (‘song’), as a Muse (Paus. 9,29,2). In the magical papyrus P Lond. 46,115 (= 5,416 Preisendanz) she is invoked as the mother of Hermes and in Pl. Euthd. 275cd instead of the Muses.
- Walde, Christine (Basle)
- First-online: 01 Oct 2006
West
[edit]p. 231 on 227 Λήθην
- ... [Orph.] H.77.3 (Mnemosyne) ἐκτὸς ἐοῦσα κακῆς [evil] λήθης βλαψίφρονος αἰεί, ... 9 ἀλλά, μάκαιρα θεά, μύσταις μνήμην ἐπέγειρε | εὐιέρου τελετῆς, λήθην δ’ ἀπὸ τῶνδ’ ἀπόπεμπε. The meaning of the word may have been influenced by its often felt antithesis with ἀλήθεια, cf. on 233.