Nepenthe /nɪˈpɛnθi/ (Ancient Greek: νηπενθές, nēpenthés) is a possibly fictional medicine for sorrow – a "drug of forgetfulness" mentioned in ancient Greek literature and Greek mythology, depicted as originating in Egypt.[1]
The carnivorous plant genus Nepenthes is named after the drug nepenthe.
In the Odyssey
[edit]The word nepenthe first appears in the fourth book of Homer's Odyssey:
ἔνθ᾽ αὖτ᾽ ἄλλ᾽ ἐνόησ᾽ Ἑλένη Διὸς ἐκγεγαυῖα:
αὐτίκ᾽ ἄρ᾽ εἰς οἶνον βάλε φάρμακον, ἔνθεν ἔπινον,
νηπενθές τ᾽ ἄχολόν τε, κακῶν ἐπίληθον ἁπάντων.
Analysis
[edit]Figuratively, nepenthe means "that which chases away sorrow". Literally it means 'not-sorrow' or 'anti-sorrow': νη-, nē-, i.e. "not" (privative prefix),[3] and πενθές, from πένθος, pénthos, i.e. "grief, sorrow, or mourning".[4]
In the Odyssey, νηπενθές φάρμακον : nēpenthés phármakon (i.e. an anti-sorrow drug) is a magical potion given to Helen by Polydamna, the wife of the noble Egyptian Thon; it quells all sorrows with forgetfulness.
References
[edit]- ^ νηπενθές. Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; A Greek–English Lexicon at the Perseus Project.
- ^ Homer (1919). "4.219-221". Odyssey. Translated by Murray, A.T.; from Homer. Odyssey (in Greek) – via Perseus Project.
- ^ νη-. Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; A Greek–English Lexicon at the Perseus Project
- ^ πένθος. Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; A Greek–English Lexicon at the Perseus Project.
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