Greece is home to some of the world’s most famous mythological beings - Zeus, Poseidon, Hades, Hera, Athena, Pegasus to name but a few. However, there are dozens of other gods and goddesses that are not as well known, but still play an important role in ancient Greek religion and society.

The goddess Lethe is one of these, although there are two Lethe’s in Greek mythology. One is the female personification of forgetfulness and oblivion, the child of Eris or of Aither and Gaia. The second is a river and its goddess in the underworld that bore the same name. Although it has not been recorded, it is not unlikely that she, like many river and water deities, was the offspring of the Titan Oceanus. Although it may appear from this that these two deities are the same, it should be noted that there were several characters from Greek mythology that shared the same name that were often associated with each other.

The former goddess is known as a personification, which is defined as a person who reflects an abstract quality. For the ancient Greeks there many of these personifications, both male and female. According to some sources, Lethe was the mother of the Charities and Dionysus, although there are other more popular versions of both their parentage.

Hesiod is one of the earliest references to the goddess Lethe. According to his Theogony, he states “But abhorred Eris (Strife) bare painful Ponos (Toil), and Lethe (Forgetfulness), and Limos (Starvation), and the Algea (Pains), full of weeping, the Hysminai (Fightings) and the Makhai (Battles), the Phonoi (Murders) and the Androktasiai (Man-slaughters), the Neikea (Quarrels), the Pseudo-Logoi (Lies), the Amphillogiai (Disputes), and Dysnomia (Lawlessness) and Ate (Ruin), who share one another’s natures, and Horkos (Oath).”

The river Lethe was one of several rivers that ran through the underworld; these included the Styx (hatred), the Acheron (pain), Pyriphlegethon (fire) and Cocytus (wailing). Hers was the river of oblivion and was also known as Ameles potamos (river of unmindfulness) where it could make one drowsy. Her waters were believed to circle around the cave of Hypnos, the god of sleep. Shades that had been sent to the underworld were said to have drunk from her waters in order to forget their mortal lives.

However, according to the Apollonius Rhodius, even Lethe could not wash away the memory of Aithalides, a son of Hermes, when he drank from her waters. “He [Aithalides, son of Hermes, gifted with unfailing memory] has long since been lost in the inexorable waters of the Akheron, yet even so, Lethe (Forgetfulness) has not overwhelmed his soul [i.e. unlike the other dead he remembers his past lives and retains his memory in the underworld].”

Although often overshadowed by the more famous River Styx, Lethe was often used as a reference by Greek and Latin poets for Hades as a whole. She was the goddess, both as a river and as a personification, that could ease the minds of the deceased by erasing their memories of their former lives and allow them to enjoy their afterlife.

Bibliography:

The Theoi Project (2000 - 2008) http://www.theoi.com/