The Ancient Mediterranean Religions Index Database

Results for
Please note: the results are produced through a computerized process which may frequently lead to errors, both in incorrect tagging and in other issues. Please use with caution.
Due to load times, full text fetching is currently attempted for validated results only.
Full texts for Hebrew Bible and rabbinic texts is kindly supplied by Sefaria; for Greek and Latin texts, by Perseus Scaife, for the Quran, by Tanzil.net

For a list of book indices included, see here.

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All subjects (including unvalidated):

subject	book bibliographic info
lethe	Edmonds (2019), Drawing Down the Moon: Magic in the Ancient Greco-Roman World, 24 Gazis and Hooper (2021), Aspects of Death and the Afterlife in Greek Literature, 72 Putnam et al. (2023), The Poetic World of Statius' Silvae, 162, 255 Russell and Nesselrath (2014), On Prophecy, Dreams and Human Imagination: Synesius, De insomniis, 63 de Jáuregui (2010), Orphism and Christianity in Late Antiquity, 165, 166, 167, 168, 169, 175, 180
lethe, and isis	Griffiths (1975), The Isis-Book (Metamorphoses, Book XI), 165
lethe, isis, and	Griffiths (1975), The Isis-Book (Metamorphoses, Book XI), 165
lethe, oblivion	Castagnoli and Ceccarelli (2019), Greek Memories: Theories and Practices, 18, 19, 20, 23, 24, 33, 183, 214
lethe, water of	Edmonds (2004), Myths of the Underworld Journey: Plato, Aristophanes, and the ‘Orphic’ Gold Tablets, 51, 52

List of validated texts:

4 validated results for "lethe"

1. None, None, nan (7th cent. BCE - 6th cent. BCE)
Tagged with subjects: • forgetfulness (lethe) • lethe • waters, of forgetfulness (lethe)

Found in books: Gazis and Hooper (2021), Aspects of Death and the Afterlife in Greek Literature, 72; McClay (2023), The Bacchic Gold Tablets and Poetic Tradition: Memory and Performance. 62

2. Plato, Republic, None (5th cent. BCE - 4th cent. BCE)
Tagged with subjects: • Lethe

Found in books: Russell and Nesselrath (2014), On Prophecy, Dreams and Human Imagination: Synesius, De insomniis, 63; de Jáuregui (2010), Orphism and Christianity in Late Antiquity, 165

^621a ἀνάγκης ἰέναι θρόνον, καὶ διʼ ἐκείνου διεξελθόντα, ἐπειδὴ καὶ οἱ ἄλλοι διῆλθον, πορεύεσθαι ἅπαντας εἰς τὸ τῆς Λήθης πεδίον διὰ καύματός τε καὶ πνίγους δεινοῦ· καὶ γὰρ εἶναι αὐτὸ κενὸν δένδρων τε καὶ ὅσα γῆ φύει. σκηνᾶσθαι οὖν σφᾶς ἤδη ἑσπέρας γιγνομένης παρὰ τὸν Ἀμέλητα ποταμόν, οὗ τὸ ὕδωρ ἀγγεῖον οὐδὲν στέγειν. μέτρον μὲν οὖν τι τοῦ ὕδατος πᾶσιν ἀναγκαῖον εἶναι πιεῖν, τοὺς δὲ φρονήσει μὴ σῳζομένους πλέον πίνειν τοῦ μέτρου· τὸν δὲ ἀεὶ πιόντα'' None

^621a And after it had passed through that, when the others also had passed, they all journeyed to the Plain of Oblivion, through a terrible and stifling heat, for it was bare of trees and all plants, and there they camped at eventide by the River of Forgetfulness, whose waters no vessel can contain. They were all required to drink a measure of the water, and those who were not saved by their good sense drank more than the measure, and each one as he drank forgot all things.'' None

3. None, None, nan (5th cent. BCE - 4th cent. BCE)
Tagged with subjects: • Lethe • Lethe, river

Found in books: Waldner et al. (2016), Burial Rituals, Ideas of Afterlife, and the Individual in the Hellenistic World and the Roman Empire, 36; de Jáuregui (2010), Orphism and Christianity in Late Antiquity, 165, 180

4. Pausanias, Description of Greece, 9.39.8 (2nd cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE)
Tagged with subjects: • Lethe • Lethe, water of

Found in books: Edmonds (2004), Myths of the Underworld Journey: Plato, Aristophanes, and the ‘Orphic’ Gold Tablets, 52; de Jáuregui (2010), Orphism and Christianity in Late Antiquity, 180

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9.39.8 ἐνταῦθα δὴ χρὴ πιεῖν αὐτὸν Λήθης τε ὕδωρ καλούμενον, ἵνα λήθη γένηταί οἱ πάντων ἃ τέως ἐφρόντιζε, καὶ ἐπὶ τῷδε ἄλλο αὖθις ὕδωρ πίνειν Μνημοσύνης· ἀπὸ τούτου τε μνημονεύει τὰ ὀφθέντα οἱ καταβάντι. θεασάμενος δὲ ἄγαλμα ὃ ποιῆσαι Δαίδαλόν φασιν—ὑπὸ δὲ τῶν ἱερέων οὐκ ἐπιδείκνυται πλὴν ὅσοι παρὰ τὸν Τροφώνιον μέλλουσιν ἔρχεσθαι— τοῦτο τὸ ἄγαλμα ἰδὼν καὶ θεραπεύσας τε καὶ εὐξάμενος ἔρχεται πρὸς τὸ μαντεῖον, χιτῶνα ἐνδεδυκὼς λινοῦν καὶ ταινίαις τὸν χιτῶνα ἐπιζωσθεὶς καὶ ὑποδησάμενος ἐπιχωρίας κρηπῖδας.'' None

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9.39.8 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.'' None

Please note: the results are produced through a computerized process which may frequently lead to errors, both in incorrect tagging and in other issues. Please use with caution.
Due to load times, full text fetching is currently attempted for validated results only.
Full texts for Hebrew Bible and rabbinic texts is kindly supplied by Sefaria; for Greek and Latin texts, by Perseus Scaife, for the Quran, by Tanzil.net

For a list of book indices included, see here.

Tiresias: The Ancient Mediterranean Religions Source Database