Lethe

Lethe (lē`thē), in Greek mythology, river of forgetfulness in Hades. The dead drank from Lethe upon their arrival in the underworld.

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Lethe

Ancient Greek personification of oblivion. She was the daughter of Eris (Strife). Her name was also applied to a river or plain in the realm of the dead. In the Orphic mysteries it was believed that the newly dead who drank from the River Lethe would lose all memory of their past existence. The initiated were taught to drink instead from Mnemosyne, the river of Memory.

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Lethe

river of Hades which induced forgetfulness. [Gk. Myth.: Brewer Dictionary, 687; Br. Lit.: Paradise Lost; Rom. Lit.: Aeneid]

See : Forgetfulness

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Lethe

(Greek for “oblivion”), in ancient Greek mythology a river in the infernal regions. After tasting water from the Lethe, the spirits of the dead would forget their earthly lives. In a figurative sense, the Lethe designates oblivion. In Russian, “disappear in the Lethe” means to sink into oblivion, to be forgotten, or to disappear without a trace.