the very antithesis of lethe

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Lethe: The Spirit and River of Forgetfulness

Wait, what is this page about? Oh right! Today we are talking all about Lethe, the sense of forgetfulness in Greek mythology!

The word lethe in ancient Greek is usually translated as “forgetfulness.” Its meaning, however, was much more exact than simple moments of thoughtlessness that are common to us all.

Lethe meant not just the forgetting of a single fact or event, but a complete loss of all memory and the concealment of truth.

Lethe was embodied in mythology by not one, but two figures. Often confused for one another, the goddess Lethe and the River Lethe both had the power to bring about forgetfulness on both large and small scales.

Lethe, particularly the river, was so powerful that it could make you forget yourself, your life, and even your understanding of the world around you.

Keep reading and hopefully you will remember everything about Lethe in Greek mythology!

The Meaning of “Lethe”

The Greek word lethe has many approximate translations in modern English. These include “oblivion,” “concealment,” or “forgetfulness.”

Most English translators use the last of these as the standard meaning for the word, especially as it was used in mythology. The other definitions are important, however, for understanding the full impact of lethe .

The word was related to aletheia , which meant “truth.” The prefix – a , however, more properly makes this word the exact opposite of its root, lethe.

Truth was thus an opposite of oblivion or concealment. It was “un-forgetfulness,” or “un-concealment.” The opposite of truth was not a lie, it was a concealment or erasure.

Lethe , therefore, did not just refer to the forgetting of certain facts or events. It meant the concealment or negation of truth itself.

Lethe went beyond absentmindedness . It was the loss of fundamental truths about oneself, the world, and the natural order.

The Greeks viewed truth as one of the most important principles in life. It dictated their laws, religion, and social norms.

Without truth, Greek life was meaningless. Lethe , the absence of truth, could have serious consequences on a large enough scale.

The Personification of Forgetting

Like many abstract ideas in the Greek world, lethe was personified as a minor goddess. The daimona , or spirit, Lethe was not just the goddess of forgetfulness, she was the state of mind itself.

The daimones had no real characterization beyond the role they played. Lethe had no mythology, known loves, or conflicts – she simply existed as the embodiment of a state of being.

This minor goddess was named among the offspring of Eris, the personification of strife. Like most of the children of Eris, she was seen as hateful and abhorrent.

Her siblings included Ponos (Toil), Ate (Ruin), and Limos (Starvation). The personifications of murder and lies were among the family of Eris.

Like most of the despised children of Eris, Lethe was rarely prayed to or invoked in hymns.

In fact, it was often taboo to even say the names of these deities. It was hoped that by never mentioning them, people could avoid attracting their unwanted attention.

In short, the Greeks hoped that Lethe would, herself, forget all about them.

The River Lethe

There was another use of the name Lethe, however. In addition to the goddess, it could also refer to a place.

The River Lethe was one of the five waterways of the underworld. It flowed through the realm of Hades, among the souls of the dead.

The Lethe was more than just an underworld landmark, however. As its name suggested, the waters of the river had the power to make a soul forget everything it once knew.

The Greek underworld was a dismal place. The souls of the dead wandered without purpose, the vast majority receiving neither punishment nor reward after they had died.

The realm of Hades was a place of shadow and mist, populated by souls with no direction. To make things even more bleak, many ancient writers believed that the souls of the dead were made to drink from the waters of the River Lethe.

The water made them forget everything about their former life. The souls were truly lost, not even remembering their own identities.

The few mortals who entered the realm of Hades also had to be wary of the River Lethe. Drinking from it, or even touching its surface, could trap them in the underworld forever.

The idea of forgetting one’s life and self was so closely identified with death that poets used the River Lethe as a metaphor for the underworld in general. The realm of the dead was defined by forgetfulness and, in the full meaning of the word lethe , the loss of the truths known in life.

The river could touch the living as well even if they were far from it. In its course it wound around the cave of Hypnos (Sleep), causing the forgetful oblivion of drowsiness.

The sound of the river lulled people while Hypnos, the brother of Thanatos (Death) came to them in the night.

As time went on, the Greek view of the afterlife changed. No longer was every soul doomed to wander without an identity for all eternity.

The Elysium Fields emerged as a more pleasant and happy afterlife for those who were truly deserving of reward. The River Lethe formed the boundary between Elysium and the rest of the underworld, ensuring that no unworthy souls could wander into a more comfortable existence.

As could be expected given their shared name, the goddess Lethe and the River Lethe were often confused for one another. The river was sometimes described as having its own nymph to personify it, who took on the same role as the daimone born to Eris.

The Waters of the Underworld

The Lethe one of five rivers that flowed through the realm of Hades. Each had its own role in the land of the dead.

• The River Styx – This river separated the lands of the living and the dead. It was also personified by an ancient river goddess.
• The River Phlegethon – The river of fire, it coiled around the earth before emptying its hot fires into the depths of Tartarus .
• The River Cocytus – Meaning “lamentation,” this river encircled the underworld.
• The River Acheron – The river or sorrow or woe, it was described as the primary waterway that flowed through the realm. It was said that Acheron was once the son of Helios who was punished for providing water to the Titans during their war with the gods of Mount Olympus.

It was a common belief that when a soul reached the underworld it was ferried into the realm of the dead by Charon. While modern readers often identify the river Charon worked on as the Styx, the Greeks actually believed it was the Acheron that one crossed by ferry.

The Styx was important in its own way, though. It could grant invulnerability and it was said to have been the river Achilles was dipped in as a child to make him almost entirely immortal.

The rivers of the underworld were said to converge in its center, forming a great swampland that encompassed much of the realm.

Lethe and the Oracles

While forgetfulness and oblivion were unwelcome by the Greeks, there were also times when they were seen as potentially beneficial.

Lethe and her counterpart, Mnemosyne, played an important role at certain oracle sites, Working together, it was believed that they could reveal truths that could not ordinarily be seen.

Whether the oracles in Boeotia worked under the influence of the goddess Lethe or the river is unclear at best. Mnemosyne is typically recognized as one of the Titan goddesses , but a description of the oracle’s working said that the petitioner drank from the waters of each.

It is possible that two springs or streams near the site of the oracle were given the names in the belief that they provided a link to the underworld.

A person first drank from the waters of Lethe, forgetting their current concerns and preoccupations. Mnemosyne, the goddess of memory, then entered their mind.

The process could be said to work in much the same way as certain types of meditation. By clearing the mind, the petitioner could see greater truths in his or her memories and perhaps even understand the future.

Some mystery cults seemed to have believed that rivers of both Lethe and Mnemosyne existed in the afterlife. By choosing to drink of Mnemosyne one could retain one’s mental facilities and learn a great deal in the realm of Hades.

Ameles Potamos

The River Lethe was also called Ameles potamos , or the river of unmindfulness. Later philosophers believed that, with self-control and care, it was possible to control how the water affected the mind.

They believed that the water of the Lethe wore away at the mind. By drinking only a little, being mindful of one’s consumption, one could mitigate the water’s effects.

Plato described the journey into the underworld as a trek across a vast plain. As one crossed, it was necessary to drink a certain amount from the River Lethe.

Those who were wise drank only a small amount so that they retained most of their memories, and thus their sense of self, in the afterlife. The foolish, however, took great draughts of the water and completely forget everything about themselves by the time they crossed the plains.

Only by drinking the water, however, could one be reincarnated. The idea of reincarnation had some following throughout Greek history, but in later eras it became especially popular.

Some philosophers believed that a soul could not be reincarnated and retain all its past memories. By drinking wisely from the River Lethe, however, the soul might retain some of its knowledge or skills in the next life.

This retention was especially true for those seeking entrance to the Isles of the Blessed. Only by reaching Elysium through three consecutive reincarnations could one achieve true bliss on the immortal islands, so any amount of retained wisdom would be helpful in that pursuit.

Lethe and Forgetfulness

In conclusion, the word lethe is generally translated as “forgetfulness” in modern English. In Greek, however, it contained deeper meanings of oblivion, concealment, and the loss of truth.

Lethe was both a goddess and place in Greek mythology, although there was a great deal of overlap between the two.

The goddess Lethe was a personification of the idea. One of the children of Eris , the goddess of strife, she was almost universally seen as a negative influence in life.

The other Lethe was one of the five rivers of the underworld. Its water had the power to induce forgetfulness, to the point that souls who drank from it lost all memories of life and sense of self.

The river and the goddess were often conflated. Often, both were seen in the form of a river nymph .

Lethe could be beneficial in certain contexts, however. In the tradition of the oracles of Boeotia, the combination of water from Lethe and Mnemosyne, who was also believed by some mystery cults to be a river as well as a goddess, could induce a trance-like state in which higher truths could be revealed by wiping the mind clean of preoccupations.

It was later believed that souls could choose to drink less of the water, retaining some of their memories in the afterlife. As belief in reincarnation grew, this meant that some souls could return with skills or wisdom they had learned in another lifetime.

My name is Mike and for as long as I can remember (too long!) I have been in love with all things related to Mythology. I am the owner and chief researcher at this site. My work has also been published on Buzzfeed and most recently in Time magazine. Please like and share this article if you found it useful.

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Antithesis Definition

What is antithesis? Here’s a quick and simple definition:

Antithesis is a figure of speech that juxtaposes two contrasting or opposing ideas, usually within parallel grammatical structures. For instance, Neil Armstrong used antithesis when he stepped onto the surface of the moon in 1969 and said, "That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind." This is an example of antithesis because the two halves of the sentence mirror each other in grammatical structure, while together the two halves emphasize the incredible contrast between the individual experience of taking an ordinary step, and the extraordinary progress that Armstrong's step symbolized for the human race.

Some additional key details about antithesis:

• Antithesis works best when it is used in conjunction with parallelism (successive phrases that use the same grammatical structure), since the repetition of structure makes the contrast of the content of the phrases as clear as possible.
• The word "antithesis" has another meaning, which is to describe something as being the opposite of another thing. For example, "love is the antithesis of selfishness." This guide focuses only on antithesis as a literary device.
• The word antithesis has its origins in the Greek word antithenai , meaning "to oppose." The plural of antithesis is antitheses.

How to Pronounce Antithesis

Here's how to pronounce antithesis: an- tith -uh-sis

Antithesis and Parallelism

Often, but not always, antithesis works in tandem with parallelism . In parallelism, two components of a sentence (or pair of sentences) mirror one another by repeating grammatical elements. The following is a good example of both antithesis and parallelism:

To err is human , to forgive divine .

The two clauses of the sentence are parallel because each starts off with an infinitive verb and ends with an adjective ("human" and "divine"). The mirroring of these elements then works to emphasize the contrast in their content, particularly in the very strong opposite contrast between "human" and "divine."

Antithesis Without Parallelism

In most cases, antitheses involve parallel elements of the sentence—whether a pair of nouns, verbs, adjectives, or other grammar elements. However, it is also possible to have antithesis without such clear cut parallelism. In the Temptations Song "My Girl," the singer uses antithesis when he says:

"When it's cold outside , I've got the month of May ."

Here the sentence is clearly cut into two clauses on either side of the comma, and the contrasting elements are clear enough. However, strictly speaking there isn't true parallelism here because "cold outside" and "month of May" are different types of grammatical structures (an adjective phrase and a noun phrase, respectively).

Antithesis vs. Related Terms

Three literary terms that are often mistakenly used in the place of antithesis are juxtaposition , oxymoron , and foil . Each of these three terms does have to do with establishing a relationship of difference between two ideas or characters in a text, but beyond that there are significant differences between them.

Antithesis vs. Juxtaposition

In juxtaposition , two things or ideas are placed next to one another to draw attention to their differences or similarities. In juxtaposition, the pairing of two ideas is therefore not necessarily done to create a relationship of opposition or contradiction between them, as is the case with antithesis. So, while antithesis could be a type of juxtaposition, juxtaposition is not always antithesis.

Antithesis vs. Oxymoron

In an oxymoron , two seemingly contradictory words are placed together because their unlikely combination reveals a deeper truth. Some examples of oxymorons include:

• Sweet sorrow
• Cruel kindness
• Living dead

The focus of antithesis is opposites rather than contradictions . While the words involved in oxymorons seem like they don't belong together (until you give them deeper thought), the words or ideas of antithesis do feel like they belong together even as they contrast as opposites. Further, antitheses seldom function by placing the two words or ideas right next to one another, so antitheses are usually made up of more than two words (as in, "I'd rather be among the living than among the dead").

Antithesis vs. Foil

Some Internet sources use "antithesis" to describe an author's decision to create two characters in a story that are direct opposites of one another—for instance, the protagonist and antagonist . But the correct term for this kind of opposition is a foil : a person or thing in a work of literature that contrasts with another thing in order to call attention to its qualities. While the sentence "the hare was fast, and the tortoise was slow" is an example of antithesis, if we step back and look at the story as a whole, the better term to describe the relationship between the characters of the tortoise and the hare is "foil," as in, "The character of the hare is a foil of the tortoise."

Antithesis Examples

Antithesis in literature.

Below are examples of antithesis from some of English literature's most acclaimed writers — and a comic book!

Antithesis in Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities

In the famous opening lines of A Tale of Two Cities , Dickens sets out a flowing list of antitheses punctuated by the repetition of the word "it was" at the beginning of each clause (which is itself an example of the figure of speech anaphora ). By building up this list of contrasts, Dickens sets the scene of the French Revolution that will serve as the setting of his tale by emphasizing the division and confusion of the era. The overwhelming accumulation of antitheses is also purposefully overdone; Dickens is using hyperbole to make fun of the "noisiest authorities" of the day and their exaggerated claims. The passage contains many examples of antithesis, each consisting of one pair of contrasting ideas that we've highlighted to make the structure clearer.

It was the best of times , it was the worst of times , it was the age of wisdom , it was the age of foolishness , it was the epoch of belief , it was the epoch of incredulity , it was the season of Light , it was the season of Darkness , it was the spring of hope , it was the winter of despair , we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven , we were all going direct the other way —in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.

Antithesis in John Milton's Paradise Lost

In this verse from Paradise Lost , Milton's anti-hero , Satan, claims he's happier as the king of Hell than he could ever have been as a servant in Heaven. He justifies his rebellion against God with this pithy phrase, and the antithesis drives home the double contrast between Hell and Heaven, and between ruling and serving.

Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven.

Antithesis in William Shakespeare's Othello

As the plot of Othello nears its climax , the antagonist of the play, Iago, pauses for a moment to acknowledge the significance of what is about to happen. Iago uses antithesis to contrast the two opposite potential outcomes of his villainous plot: either events will transpire in Iago's favor and he will come out on top, or his treachery will be discovered, ruining him.

This is the night That either makes me or fordoes me quite .

In this passage, the simple word "either" functions as a cue for the reader to expect some form of parallelism, because the "either" signals that a contrast between two things is coming.

Antithesis in William Shakespeare's Hamlet

Shakespeare's plays are full of antithesis, and so is Hamlet's most well-known "To be or not to be" soliloquy . This excerpt of the soliloquy is a good example of an antithesis that is not limited to a single word or short phrase. The first instance of antithesis here, where Hamlet announces the guiding question (" to be or not to be ") is followed by an elaboration of each idea ("to be" and "not to be") into metaphors that then form their own antithesis. Both instances of antithesis hinge on an " or " that divides the two contrasting options.

To be or not to be , that is the question: Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune Or to take arms against a sea of troubles, And by opposing end them ...

Antithesis in T.S. Eliot's "Four Quartets"

In this excerpt from his poem "Four Quartets," T.S. Eliot uses antithesis to describe the cycle of life, which is continuously passing from beginning to end, from rise to fall, and from old to new.

In my beginning is my end . In succession Houses rise and fall , crumble, are extended, Are removed, destroyed, restored, or in their place Is an open field, or a factory, or a by-pass. Old stone to new building , old timber to new fires ...

Antithesis in Green Lantern's Oath

Comic book writers know the power of antithesis too! In this catchy oath, Green Lantern uses antithesis to emphasize that his mission to defeat evil will endure no matter the conditions.

In brightest day , in blackest night , No evil shall escape my sight. Let those who worship evil's might Beware my power—Green lantern's light!

While most instances of antithesis are built around an "or" that signals the contrast between the two parts of the sentence, the Green Lantern oath works a bit differently. It's built around an implied "and" (to be technical, that first line of the oath is an asyndeton that replaces the "and" with a comma), because members of the Green Lantern corps are expressing their willingness to fight evil in all places, even very opposite environments.

Antithesis in Speeches

Many well-known speeches contain examples of antithesis. Speakers use antithesis to drive home the stakes of what they are saying, sometimes by contrasting two distinct visions of the future.

Antithesis in Patrick Henry's Speech to the Second Virginia Convention, 1775

This speech by famous American patriot Patrick Henry includes one of the most memorable and oft-quoted phrases from the era of the American Revolution. Here, Henry uses antithesis to emphasize just how highly he prizes liberty, and how deadly serious he is about his fight to achieve it.

Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take: but as for me, give me liberty or give me death .

Antithesis in Martin Luther King Jr.'s Oberlin Commencement Address

In this speech by one of America's most well-known orators, antithesis allows Martin Luther King Jr. to highlight the contrast between two visions of the future; in the first vision, humans rise above their differences to cooperate with one another, while in the other humanity is doomed by infighting and division.

We must all learn to live together as brothers —or we will all perish together as fools .

Antithesis in Songs

In songs, contrasting two opposite ideas using antithesis can heighten the dramatic tension of a difficult decision, or express the singer's intense emotion—but whatever the context, antithesis is a useful tool for songwriters mainly because opposites are always easy to remember, so lyrics that use antithesis tend to stick in the head.

Antithesis in "Should I Stay or Should I Go" by The Clash (1981)

In this song by The Clash, the speaker is caught at a crossroads between two choices, and antithesis serves as the perfect tool to express just how confused and conflicted he is. The rhetorical question —whether to stay or to go—presents two opposing options, and the contrast between his lover's mood from one day (when everything is "fine") to the next (when it's all "black") explains the difficulty of his choice.

One day it's fine and next it's black So if you want me off your back Well, come on and let me know Should I stay or should I go ? Should I stay or should I go now? Should I stay or should I go now? If I go, there will be trouble If I stay it will be double ...

Antithesis in "My Girl" by the Temptations (1965)

In this song, the singer uses a pair of metaphors to describe the feeling of joy that his lover brings him. This joy is expressed through antithesis, since the singer uses the miserable weather of a cloudy, cold day as the setting for the sunshine-filled month of May that "his girl" makes him feel inside, emphasizing the power of his emotions by contrasting them with the bleak weather.

I've got sunshine on a cloudy day When it's cold outside I've got the month of May Well I guess you'd say, What can make me feel this way? My girl, my girl, my girl Talkin' bout my girl.

Why Do Writers Use Antithesis?

Fundamentally, writers of all types use antithesis for its ability to create a clear contrast. This contrast can serve a number of purposes, as shown in the examples above. It can:

• Present a stark choice between two alternatives.
• Convey magnitude or range (i.e. "in brightest day, in darkest night" or "from the highest mountain, to the deepest valley").
• Express strong emotions.
• Create a relationship of opposition between two separate ideas.
• Accentuate the qualities and characteristics of one thing by placing it in opposition to another.

Whatever the case, antithesis almost always has the added benefit of making language more memorable to listeners and readers. The use of parallelism and other simple grammatical constructions like "either/or" help to establish opposition between concepts—and opposites have a way of sticking in the memory.

Other Helpful Antithesis Resources

• The Wikipedia page on Antithesis : A useful summary with associated examples, along with an extensive account of antithesis in the Gospel of Matthew.
• Sound bites from history : A list of examples of antithesis in famous political speeches from United States history — with audio clips!
• A blog post on antithesis : This quick rundown of antithesis focuses on a quote you may know from Muhammad Ali's philosophy of boxing: "Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee."

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A Short Analysis of John Keats’s ‘Ode on Melancholy’

By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)

Being depressed from time to time is a fact of life. But should we deal with feeling down, a case of the blues, or – as John Keats calls it – ‘melancholy’? In his ‘Ode on Melancholy’ (written in 1819), the poet offers some advice on how to deal with a dose of the doldrums. In this post, we’re going to offer an analysis of ‘Ode on Melancholy’ and the language Keats uses in this poem.

In summary, we might paraphrase Keats’s argument in the poem as follows:

‘Ode on Melancholy’: summary

Make not your rosary of yew-berries, Nor let the beetle, nor the death-moth be Your mournful Psyche, nor the downy owl A partner in your sorrow’s mysteries; For shade to shade will come too drowsily, And drown the wakeful anguish of the soul.

When you feel a fit of the blues coming over you, don’t turn to drugs: these will help you to forget (hence the reference to ‘Lethe’ in the first stanza – the Ancient Greek river associated with forgetfulness), but you shouldn’t seek to ‘drown’ your senses in drugs. Nor should you seek to escape melancholy by committing suicide (‘nightshade’ suggests deadly nightshade; ‘Proserpine’ summons the underworld).

Then glut thy sorrow on a morning rose, Or on the rainbow of the salt sand-wave, Or on the wealth of globed peonies; Or if thy mistress some rich anger shows, Emprison her soft hand, and let her rave, And feed deep, deep upon her peerless eyes.

Instead, when a fit of melancholy descends, drown out the melancholy with beautiful things. Go out and observe something beautiful: flowers, rainbows, your beloved. Why?

She dwells with Beauty – Beauty that must die; And Joy, whose hand is ever at his lips Bidding adieu; and aching Pleasure nigh, Turning to poison while the bee-mouth sips:

Because beauty and delight are closely connected with melancholy. (Keats deftly suggests this with the ambiguous ‘She’ that heads this final stanza: it refers to both Melancholy, which is personified as female, and to the ‘mistress’ mentioned in the previous stanza.) ‘Melancholy’ (the Ancient Greek personification of the emotion) has her ‘sovran shrine’ in ‘the temple of Delight’.

Pleasure and pain are both intricately and intimately related. Even while the bee is sipping at the nectar of a fresh flower, that pleasant nectar is turning to poison. Given that joy is so short-lived, it makes it all the more delicious – like squeezing a grape or sloe between your tongue and your palate until it bursts, releasing the bitter fluid within, you need to work at it in order to ‘taste’ the true nature of melancholy, namely that sadness which lurks at the heart of delight.

‘Ode on Melancholy’: analysis

In other words, what Keats is saying in the final stanza of ‘Ode on Melancholy’ is that looking upon pleasurable things and reflecting that they will soon die will, surprisingly, cheer us up: it is like an injunction to ‘live each day as if it were your last’, and stop moping about (though admittedly Keats’s way of putting it is considerably more poetical).

We cease to appreciate joy when we’re happy, because we take it for granted, much as we take our health for granted – until we fall ill, that is. Then health seems like a precious thing to us – and is even more precious when we reflect that we will not be in good health for long. Indeed, our lives are but a blink of an eye: ‘life is but a day’, as Keats puts it in another poem, ‘ Sleep and Poetry ’.

Look at the way Keats opens the poem: ‘No, no, go not to Lethe, neither twist …’ Eight words, half of which are negatives. Immediately, we are being entreated to do something (or rather not to do something), but more than this, Keats is assuming that the natural impulse when melancholy grips us is to seek to eradicate it.

This is what makes his poem a fine example of what has been called Keats’s Stoicism: rather than seeking to lament the onset of this depressing emotion, Keats encourages us to ride it out, and to turn it to our advantage by acknowledging that, whilst we cannot change it (it’s natural to feel down sometimes, and impossible to avoid altogether), we should seek to change our attitude towards it.

But this surprising attitude to melancholy is also part of Keats’s wider concern with what he called Negative Capability : as he wrote in a letter of December 1817:

several things dovetailed in my mind, & at once it struck me, what quality went to form a Man of Achievement especially in Literature & which Shakespeare possessed so enormously – I mean  Negative Capability , that is when a man is capable of being in uncertainties, Mysteries, doubts, without any irritable reaching after fact & reason – Coleridge, for instance, would let go by a fine isolated verisimilitude caught from the Penetralium of mystery, from being incapable of remaining content with half knowledge.

Keats’s Negative Capability is evident in ‘Ode on Melancholy’, which sees the poet exhorting us to revel in melancholy’s contradictory and complex aspect, rather than seeing it as irredeemably negative, something to be swept aside as an inconvenience. Instead, to banish it, one should see it as an opportunity to remind oneself of the transience of all joys, and to embrace them all the more  because  they are transient.

Nor should their short-lived nature necessarily be seen as a disadvantage: in the line, ‘She dwells with Beauty – Beauty that must die’, note that Keats uses  must  rather than  shall . It is not only inevitable, but perhaps even  imperative  that beauty will die. Although a thing of beauty is a joy forever, as Keats had it elsewhere , its everlasting joy often hinges on the thing itself not being beautiful, or around, for ever.

But what is less well-known is that the poem originally had an additional stanza, and that this little-known extra stanza opened the poem. If Keats hadn’t removed it, ‘Ode on Melancholy’ would have opened like this:

Though you should build a bark of dead men’s bones, And rear a phantom gibbet for a mast, Stitch creeds together for a sail, with groans To fill it out, bloodstained and aghast; Although your rudder be a Dragon’s tail, Long sever’d, yet still hard with agony, Your cordage large uprootings from the skull Of bald Medusa; certes you would fail To find the Melancholy, whether she Dreameth in any isle of Lethe dull.

The opening of the following stanza – ‘No, no, go not to Lethe…’ – then makes more sense, given that it followed the above words. The final version of ‘Ode on Melancholy’, with that initial opening stanza removed, plunges us straight into Keats’s instructions for how to deal with melancholy.

A few words of analysis regarding Keats’s word choices: ‘peonies’ are flowers, so ‘globed peonies’ suggests their rounded appearance. Why ‘cloudy trophies’ in the final line? It looks back to the first stanza, and Keats’s reference to the melancholy fit falling ‘Sudden from heaven like a weeping cloud’, and is almost an example of an oxymoron: trophies we tend to think of as shining and bright.

But that’s precisely the point: this ‘trophy’ is about melancholy, about dark clouds and sad contemplations rather than bright suns and happiness. But having attained the trophy, we will be able to face sadness full-on next time: like all the joys in the world, like our deepest and brightest delights, this too shall pass.

Continue to explore Keats’s poetry with this wonderful short verse-fragment , our analysis of his sonnet about reading Chapman’s translation of Homer , and our analysis of one of his finest sonnets .

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4 thoughts on “A Short Analysis of John Keats’s ‘Ode on Melancholy’”

Your reading of this poem is commendable but discussion could take many turns. Keats wrote many odes in 1819, one of which is the, “Ode to Psyche,” and I feel this poem is tied up with the story on which that was based. Not using Psyche as a term for the spirit or soul. Any views?

Reblogged this on Manolis .

Thoughtful advice for those affected by a mild case of the doldrums. However, a friendly reminder that “the blues” is a very different beast to clinical depression, which requires professional medical and psychological intervention. Too often the distinction is not made, but it is an important one.

definitely a positive way to deal with :the blues”.

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Definition of Antithesis

Antithesis is a literary device that refers to the juxtaposition of two opposing elements through the parallel grammatical structure. The word antithesis, meaning absolute opposite, is derived from Greek for “ setting opposite,” indicating when something or someone is in direct contrast or the obverse of another thing or person.

Antithesis is an effective literary and rhetorical device , as it pairs exact opposite or contrasting ideas by utilizing the parallel grammatical structure. This helps readers and audience members define concepts through contrast and develop an understanding of something through defining its opposite. In addition, through the use of parallelism , antithesis establishes a repetitive structure that makes for rhythmic writing and lyrical speech.

For example, Alexander Pope states in  An Essay on Criticism , “ To err is human ; to forgive divine.” Pope’s use of antithesis reflects the impact of this figure of speech in writing, as it creates a clear, memorable, and lyrical effect for the reader. In addition, Pope sets human error in contrast to divine forgiveness, allowing readers to understand that it is natural for people to make mistakes, and therefore worthy for others to absolve them when they do.

Examples of Antithesis in Everyday Speech

Antithesis is often used in everyday speech as a means of conveying opposing ideas in a concise and expressive way. Since antithesis is intended to be a figure of speech, such statements are not meant to be understood in a literal manner. Here are some examples of antithesis used in everyday speech:

• Go big or go home.
• Spicy food is heaven on the tongue but hell in the tummy.
• Those who can, do; those who can’t do, teach.
• Get busy living or get busy dying.
• Speech is silver but silence is gold.
• No pain, no gain.
• It’s not a show, friends; it’s show business.
• No guts, no glory.
• A moment on the lips; a lifetime on the hips.
• If you fail to plan, then you plan to fail.

Common Examples of Antithesis from Famous Speeches

Antithesis can be an effective rhetorical device in terms of calling attention to drastic differences between opposing ideas and concepts. By highlighting the contrast side-by-side with the exact same structure, the speaker is able to impact an audience in a memorable and significant way. Here are some common examples of antithesis from famous speeches:

• “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character .” (Martin Luther King, Jr. “I Have a Dream”)
• “The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here.” (Abraham Lincoln “The Gettysburg Address”)
• “‘Some men see things as they are and say why. I dream things that never were and say why not.'” (Edward Kennedy quoting Robert F. Kennedy during eulogy )
• “We observe today not a victory of party, but a celebration of freedom, symbolizing an end as well as a beginning, signifying renewal as well as change.” (John F. Kennedy “Presidential Inaugural Speech”)
• “You see, for any champion to succeed, he must have a team — a very incredible, special team; people that he can depend on, count on, and rely upon through everything — the highs and lows, the wins and losses, the victories and failures, and even the joys and heartaches that happen both on and off the court.” (Michael Chang “ Induction Speech for Tennis Hall of Fame”)

Examples of Proverbs Featuring Antithesis

Proverbs are simple and often traditional sayings that express insight into truths that are perceived, based on common sense or experience. These sayings are typically intended to be metaphorical and therefore rely on figures of speech such as antithesis. Proverbs that utilize antithetical parallelism feature an antithesis to bring together opposing ideas in defined contrast. Therefore, antithesis is effective as a literary device in proverbs by allowing the reader to consider one idea and then it’s opposite. It also makes for lyrical and easily remembered sayings.

Here are some examples of proverbs featuring antithesis:

• Cleanliness is next to godliness.
• Beggars can’t be choosers.
• Easy come, easy go.
• Hope for the best; prepare for the worst.
• Keep your friends close; keep your enemies closer.
• Like father, like son.
• Where there’s smoke, there’s fire.
• An ounce of protection is worth a pound of cure.
• Be slow in choosing, but slower in changing.
• Give them an inch and they’ll take a mile.
• If you can’t beat them, join them.
• Keep your mouth closed and your eyes open.
• One man’s junk is another man’s treasure.
• Out of sight, out of mind.
• Where there’s a will, there’s a way.

Utilizing Antithesis in Writing

As a literary device, antithesis allows authors to add contrast to their writing. This is effective in terms of comparing two contrasting ideas, such as a character’s conflicting emotions or a setting’s opposing elements. In literature, antithesis doesn’t require a pairing of exact opposites, but rather concepts that are different and distinct. In addition, since antithesis creates a lyrical quality to writing through parallel structure , the rhythm of phrasing and wording should be as similar as possible. Like most literary and rhetorical devices, overuse of antithesis will create confusion or invoke boredom in a reader as well as make the writing seem forced.

Antithesis and Parallelism

Both terms demonstrate a fundamental difference. An antithesis comprises two contradictory ideas and parallelism does not necessarily comprise opposite ideas or persons. It could have more than two ideas or persons. As the name suggests that parallelism is a condition where is an antithesis is an opposition. For example, man proposes, God disposes, has two contradictory ideas. However, it is also a parallel sentence . Furthermore, parallelism occurs mostly in structure and less in ideas. Even similar ideas could occur in parallelism, while an antithesis has only dissimilar ideas.

Antithesis and Juxtaposition

As far as juxtaposition is concerned, it means placing two ideas together that are dissimilar. They need not be opposite to each other. In the case of antithesis, they must be opposite to each other as in the case of man proposes, God disposes. Not only these two ideas are dissimilar, but also they are opposite. In the case of juxtaposition, a poet only puts two ideas together and they are not opposed to each other.

Use of Antithesis in Sentences  

• As soon he dies, he becomes a dead living.
• Most people do not understand the value of money when the poor put money ahead of them.
• Some people make money, while some waste it.
• Although they have gone leaps ahead, they have also stepped back just in the nick of time.
• The public comes forward when there is prosperity and moves back when there is adversity.

Examples of Antithesis in Literature

Antithesis is an effective literary device and figure of speech in which a writer intentionally juxtaposes two contrasting ideas or entities. Antithesis is typically achieved through parallel structure, in which opposing concepts or elements are paired in adjacent phrases , clauses , or sentences. This draws the reader’s attention to the significance or importance of the agents being contrasted, thereby adding a memorable and meaningful quality to the literary work.

Here are some examples of antithesis in well-known works of literature:

Example 1:  Hamlet (William Shakespeare)

Give every man thine ear, but few thy voice ; Take each man’s censure, but reserve thy judgment.

In Shakespeare’s well-known play , he utilizes antithesis as a literary device for Polonius to deliver fatherly advice to his son before Laertes leaves for France. In these lines, Polonius pairs contrasting ideas such as listening and speaking using parallel structure. This adds a lyrical element to the wording, in addition to having a memorable and foreboding impact on the characters and audience members with the meaning of each line.

Despite the attempt by Polonius to impart logical thinking, measured response, and wise counsel to his son through antithesis, Laertes becomes so fixated on avenging his father’s death that his actions are impulsive and imprudent. Polonius’s antithetical words are not heeded by his son, resulting in the death of several characters including Hamlet and Laertes himself.

Example 2:  Paradise Lost  (John Milton)

Here at least We shall be free; the Almighty hath not built Here for his envy, will not drive us hence: Here we may reign secure, and in my choice To reign is worth ambition though in Hell: Better to reign in Hell, than serve in Heaven.

In Milton’s epic poem , he explores the Fall of Satan as well as the temptation and subsequent Fall of Man. This passage is spoken by Satan after he has been condemned to Hell by God for attempting to assume power and authority in Heaven. Satan is unrepentant of his actions, and wants to persuade his followers that Hell is preferable to Heaven.

Satan utilizes antithesis in the last line of this passage to encourage his rebellious followers to understand that, in Hell, they are free and rule their own destiny. In this line, Milton contrasts not just the ideas of Hell and Heaven, but also of reign and servitude as concepts applied to the angels , respectively. Pairing these opposites by using this literary device has two effects for the reader. First, Satan’s claim foreshadows his ability to use his words describing independence to tempt Eve, resulting in her and Adam’s expulsion from the Garden of Eden. Second, this antithesis invites the reader to consider Satan’s thought-process and experience to gain a deeper understanding of his motives in the poem.

Example 3:  Fire and Ice  (Robert Frost)

Some say the world will end in fire, Some say in ice. From what I’ve tasted of desire I hold with those who favor fire. But if it had to perish twice, I think I know enough of hate To say that for destruction ice Is also great And would suffice.

In his poem, Frost utilizes antithesis to contrast fire and ice as elements with devastating and catastrophic potential to end the world. Frost effectively demonstrates the equal powers for the destruction of these elements, despite showcasing them as opposing forces. In this case, the poet’s antithesis has a literal as well as figurative interpretation. As the poem indicates, the world could literally end in the fire as well as ice. However, fire and ice are contrasting symbols in the poem as well. Fire represents “desire,” most likely in the form of greed, the corruption of power, domination, and control. Conversely, ice represents “hate” in the form of prejudice, oppression, neglect, and isolation.

The presence of antithesis in the poem is effective for readers in that it evokes contrasting and powerful imagery of fire and ice as opposing yet physically destructive forces. In addition, the human characteristics associated with fire and ice, and what they represent as psychologically and socially destructive symbols, impact the reader in a powerful and memorable way as well. Antithesis elevates for the reader the understanding that the source of the end of the world may not be natural causes but rather human action or behavior; and that the end of the world may not be simply the destruction of the earth, but rather the destruction of humankind.

Example 4: The Gettysburg Address by Abraham Lincoln

We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives so that nation might live.

The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract.

The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here.

These three examples from the address of Abraham Lincoln show the use of contradictory ideas put together in one sentence. They show how he mentions living and dead putting them side by side. This antithesis has helped Lincoln as well as America to come out of the ravages of the Civil War.

Function of Antithesis

An antithesis helps make an idea distinct and prominent when it contradicts another idea in the first part of the argument . This contrastive feature helps make readers make their argument solid, cogent, and eloquent. Sentences comprising anthesis also become easy to remember, quote, and recall when required. When an antithesis occurs in a text, it creates an argumentative atmosphere where a dialectic could take place and helps writers and speakers hook their audience easily with antithetical statements.

Synonyms of Antithesis

Antithesis has no exact synonyms but several words come closer in meanings such as opposite, reverse, converse, reversal, inverse, extreme, another side of the coin, or flip side or contrast.

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What is Antithesis? Definition, Usage, and Literary Examples

Antithesis definition.

Antithesis  (ann-TIH-thuh-suhs), put simply, means the absolute opposite of something. As a literary term, it refers to the juxtaposition of two opposing entities in parallel structure. Antithesis is an effective literary device because humans tend to define through contrast. Therefore, antithesis can help readers understand something by defining its opposite.

Antithesis  comes from the Latin word, via Greek, for “to place against.” It was first used in English in the 1520s as rhetorical term, but the concept goes back at least as far as Aristotle, who believed an argument could be strengthened by illustrating it with contrast.

Examples of Antithesis

• “Spicy food is heaven on the tongue but hell in the tummy.” The concepts of heaven and hell are opposites—the former being very pleasant and ideal, the latter being highly undesirable. This antithetical statement is using these concepts to convey that spicy food is delicious, but it can lead to an unfortunate digestive reaction.
• “I’m either an impressive vegetarian or a disappointing vegan.” On the scale between vegetarianism and the stricter veganism, the speaker’s current diet lies somewhere in the middle. So, while a vegetarian might applaud their efforts, a vegan might berate them for being so lax.
• “Psychiatrists write prescriptions, therapists prescribe writing.” This example includes a humorous inversion to explain the difference between psychiatrists and therapists. The former prescribes medicine to address mental issues on a biological level, while the latter might suggest a more psychologically focused approach, like journaling, as a way of easing mental stress.

Antithesis vs. Other Comparative Terms

There are several literary terms that, like antithesis, make comparisons between two things or concepts that are opposites or contrast in some way. Three such terms are  dichotomy ,  oxymoron , and foil.

Dichotomy is a division between two entities, whereas antithesis pits two opposing entities against each other. For example, the colors black and white are considered opposites, but they are not in opposition; they can’t be in conflict nor do they cancel each other out. The concepts of war and peace, on the other hand, are at odds and can’t be reconciled.

An oxymoron is a contradiction in terms, but unlike antithesis, these terms are working together. The basic oxymoron construction is a word + an antonymic modifier, and the two essentially function as a single unit. For example, calling something a “minor crisis” is an oxymoron because  minor  implies something insignificant, while  crisis  means it requires immediate attention. Based on this, an oxymoron can’t be a component of antithesis because the point of the latter is to pit two things against each other.

Where antithesis is a verbal or written opposition, a foil is a literary opposition, usually embodied by a character in a narrative. For example, Draco Malfoy can be considered Harry Potter’s foil in the  Harry Potter  series because where Harry is honorable and loyal, Draco is somewhat corrupt and unfaithful.

Antithesis Outside of Literature

A common theme in American popular music is the difference between the middle and lower classes. In “Men of Good Fortune” by Lou Reed, the singer describes all the things rich men can do that poor men cannot:

Men of good fortune

Often cause empires to fall

While men of poor beginnings

Often can’t do anything at all

Antithesis is common in political speeches, particularly when it comes to the underrepresented pushing for equitable policies. In Malcolm X’s famous “ Ballot or the Bullet ”  speech, he discusses how America was built by Black and indigenous people for white people’s benefit, saying, “We didn’t land on Plymouth Rock; the rock was landed on us.”

Examples of Antithesis in Literature

1. Charles Dickens,  A Tale of Two Cities

This classic tale of love and sacrifice features the French Revolution as its backdrop. In this tumultuous era, where the differences between the haves and the have-nots was at its starkest, Dickens illustrates the antithetical concepts that existed simultaneously:

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way […]

2. William Shakespeare,  The Merchant of Venice

At the beginning of this romantic comedy, chatty lout Gratiano wants to understand why his friend Antonio is so down—and why anyone would ever be down at all:

And let my liver rather heat with wine

Than my heart cool with mortifying groans.

Gratiano is implying that he’d rather experience life through a chemically altered (and therefore unreliable) lens than face any ordeals, even though they would be truer to reality.

3. John Milton,  Paradise Lost

Milton’s epic poem explores many facets of the Christian bible and belief systems—including the concept of free will. When Lucifer, once one of God’s brightest angels, is cast into Hell, he says, “Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven.” This leads the reader to question whether anyone is truly free, though ultimately the Bible’s core argument is that willingly giving over control to God is what will leads to a happy life.

Further Resources on Antithesis

MasterClass’s  How to Use Antithesis in Your Writing  course is a concise guide on the mechanics of antithesis and when to use it.

This excerpt from  Hegel for Beginners  by Lloyd Spencer is a handy introduction to antithesis as a component of dialectics (a system for pursuing truth by way of logical argument).

Related Terms

• Juxtaposition

• Greek Creatures
• Greek Concepts
• Norse Creatures
• Norse Concepts
• Egyptian Gods
• Egyptian Creatures
• Roman Creatures
• Japanese Gods
• Japanese Creatures
• Hindu Creatures
• Mythical Creatures

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Wouldn’t it be a relief to simply press a button and erase the abhorrent memories in your mind? Or would you rather confront the truth, whatever it may be, and learn from it instead? In Greek mythology, you were presented with a choice. You could either remember all your knowledge and experiences when you passed into the afterlife, or forget everything. What would you choose?

What is Lethe?

Lethe (pronounced: lee-thee ) is one of the five rivers in Hades , the underworld in Greek mythology. In classic Greek, Lethe means oblivion, forgetfulness or concealment. In keeping with classical mythology, Lethe was also the name of a Greek spirit: the spirit of forgetfulness and oblivion.

Where is Lethe?

The Lethe River is believed to have flowed through the caves of Hypnos , the god of sleep, in the underworld. The entrance to the cave was said to be populated with poppies and other hypnotic plants. No light or sound ever entered the cave. The river bordered Elysium, the paradise where only heroes, and mortals related to gods, were sent to live an immortal life of happiness. The names of all five rivers in Hades reflected the emotions associated with death: the Styx – the river of hatred, Acheron – the river of pain, Cocytus – the river of wailing, Phlegethon – the river of fire, and Lethe – the river of forgetfulness.

What Happened to Those Who Drank from Lethe?

All those who drank from the river experienced forgetfulness, and Lethe’s murmuring sound would induce drowsiness. When the souls of the dead passed into the afterlife, they had to drink from the river in order to forget their past life and be ready for their reincarnation.

The Myth of Er gives the account of a man who died in battle and his vivid experience of the afterlife and the Lethe River. Ten days after the battle, when the dead bodies were being collected, his body remained undecomposed! Er had travelled to the afterlife with many other souls from the battle and came across an extraordinary place with four mysterious openings. One set of openings went into and out of the sky, and the other set into and out of the ground. Judges directed the approaching souls, sending the immoral downward and the virtuous up into the sky. When Er approached the judges, they told him to wait and watch so he could report back what he had seen.

The souls that emerged from the sky opening recounted the joyous, uplifting sights and feelings they experienced, while those returning from below told of the despair and malevolence they endured. After seven days, Er travelled with the other souls to a place where an incandescent rainbow ruled the sky. Here, he and his fellow travelers were given a numbered ticket. When their number was announced, they were called forth to choose their next life. Er noticed they all chose an antithetical existence to their previous life. One soul who had been good chose to be a dictator, one who had been an animal chose to be a human, and others that were bad chose a humble, virtuous life.

From there, Er and his cohorts travelled to the plane of Oblivion , where the river Lethe flowed. Each traveler was required to drink a certain amount from the river. Er was only allowed to watch as each soul drank, forgot their previous existence and was sent off to begin their journey anew. Er had no recollection of being sent back to Earth, but woke up lying on top of the funeral pyre and able to recall his whole expedition through the afterlife! Since he had not drunk from the Lethe River, he did not have a blank slate like his fellow travelers.

The river was unable to stem the memories of one figure in Greek Mythology: Aethalides. Aethalides was the mortal son of Hermes and a member of the Argonauts. Though he drank from the river and was reincarnated as Euphorbus, Hermotius, Pyrrhus and then Pythagoras, he was still able to remember his previous lives and the knowledge he had gained in those incarnations. He was gifted with unfailing memory that not even the Lethe could conquer!

A River to Forget and Another to Remember

A similar concept existed in the mystery religion Orphism. The Orphic religion was thought to be based on the teachings and songs of the mythical poet and musician, Orpheus. The teachings introduced the existence of another important river, the Mnemosyne . Followers were taught they would have a choice of two rivers to drink from when they passed into the afterlife. They were not to drink from the Lethe, but rather from the Mnemosyne, as they would then remember everything. Orphics were taught of the divinity of the human soul and how the soul is trapped in a never-ending cycle of death and rebirth into a body. They believed they could obtain omniscience and ultimately end the transmigration of their soul through living an ascetic life! Followers of the religion were buried with gold-leaved tablets providing instructions after death. One of the common messages presented to the rulers of the afterlife stated:

“I am parched with thirst and am dying; but quickly grant me cold water from the Lake of Memory to drink.”

Lethe Literary Influences

The river Lethe influenced not only the philosophers, but also writers and poets from the classical period, like Dante, Keats and Byron, through to contemporary works by writers such as Sylvia Plath, and even Stephen King. In Keats’ work, Ode to Melancholy , he wishes those suffering from sadness not to forget their suffering:

“No, no, go not to Lethe, neither twist Wolf’s-bane, tight-rooted, for its poisonous wine; Nor suffer thy pale forehead to be kiss’d By nightshade, ruby grape of Proserpine;”

Real Rivers of Forgetfulness

The river Limia, between Spain and Portugal, was thought to be the Lethe, as it allegedly brought about similar memory loss. This legend persisted until 138 BC. The Roman General Decimus Junius Brutus then had a war to win and didn’t have time for local myth to impede his victory. He disproved the legend by crossing to the river’s far shore and calling his soldiers over one by one, by name!

In Spain, another river, the Guadalete, was originally called the Lethe by local colonists from Greece and Phoenicia. The two groups were about to go to war, but instead settled their differences amicably by naming the river the Lethe and thereby forgetting their former quarrel. The river was renamed the Guadalete when the Arabs conquered the region later, but Guadalete nonetheless means ‘River Lethe’ in Arabic.

Deciphering the mysteries of death and rebirth was the purview of the ancient philosophers and formed the basis for many religious doctrines. By not drinking from the Lethe River, the soul could be saved from the frustrating cycle of death, forgetfulness and rebirth, and a state of religious awakening realized. But for those that thirst for a blank slate and wish to continue on a path of sweet ignorance, the refreshing waters of the Lethe await.

you should put where the river is located

• Literary Terms
• Definition & Examples
• How to Use Antithesis

I. What is an Antithesis?

“Antithesis” literally means “opposite” – it is usually the opposite of a statement, concept, or idea. In literary analysis, an antithesis is a pair of statements or images in which the one reverses the other. The pair is written with similar grammatical structures to show more contrast. Antithesis (pronounced an-TITH-eh-sis) is used to emphasize a concept, idea, or conclusion.

II. Examples of Antithesis

That’s one small step for a man – one giant leap for mankind .  (Neil Armstrong, 1969)

In this example, Armstrong is referring to man walking on the moon. Although taking a step is an ordinary activity for most people, taking a step on the moon, in outer space, is a major achievement for all humanity.

To err is human ; to forgive , divine . (Alexander Pope)

This example is used to point out that humans possess both worldly and godly qualities; they can all make mistakes, but they also have the power to free others from blame.

The world will little note , nor long remember , what we say here, but it can never forget what they did  (Abraham Lincoln, The Gettysburg Address )

In his speech, Lincoln points out that the details of that moment may not be memorable, but the actions would make history, and therefore, never entirely forgotten.

Antithesis can be a little tricky to see at first. To start, notice how each of these examples is separated into two parts . The parts are separated either by a dash, a semicolon, or the word “but.” Antithesis always has this multi-part structure (usually there are two parts, but sometimes it can be more, as we’ll see in later examples). The parts are not always as obvious as they are in these examples, but they will always be there.

Next, notice how the second part of each example contains terms that reverse or invert terms in the first part: small step vs. giant leap; human vs. divine; we say vs. they do. In each of the examples, there are several pairs of contrasted terms between the first part and the second, which is quite common in antithesis.

Finally, notice that each of the examples contains some parallel structures and ideas in addition to the opposites. This is key! The two parts are not simply contradictory statements. They are a matched pair that have many grammatical structures or concepts in common; in the details, however, they are opposites.

For example, look at the parallel grammar of Example 1: the word “one,” followed by an adjective, a noun, and then the word “for.” This accentuates the opposites by setting them against a backdrop of sameness – in other words, two very different ideas are being expressed with very, very similar grammatical structures.

To recap: antithesis has three things:

• Two or more parts
• Reversed or inverted ideas
• (usually) parallel grammatical structure

III. The Importance of Verisimilitude

Antithesis is basically a complex form of juxtaposition . So its effects are fairly similar – by contrasting one thing against its opposite, a writer or speaker can emphasize the key attributes of whatever they’re talking about. In the Neil Armstrong quote, for example, the tremendous significance of the first step on the moon is made more vivid by contrasting it with the smallness and ordinariness of the motion that brought it about.

Antithesis can also be used to express curious contradictions or paradoxes. Again, the Neil Armstrong quote is a good example: Armstrong is inviting his listeners to puzzle over the fact that a tiny, ordinary step – not so different from the millions of steps we take each day – can represent so massive a technological accomplishment as the moon landing.

Paradoxically, an antithesis can also be used to show how two seeming opposites might in fact be similar.

IV. Examples of Verisimilitude in Literature

(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); Forgive us this day our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us . (The Lord’s Prayer)

The antithesis is doing a lot of work here. First, it shows the parallel between committing an evil act and being the victim of one. On the surface, these are opposites, and this is part of the antithesis, but at the same time they are, in the end, the same act from different perspectives. This part of the antithesis is basically just an expression of the Golden Rule.

Second, the antithesis displays a parallel between the speaker (a human) and the one being spoken to (God). The prayer is a request for divine mercy, and at the same time a reminder that human beings should also be merciful.

All the joy the world contains has come through wanting happiness for others . All the misery the world contains has come through wanting pleasure for yourself . (Shantideva, The Way of the Bodhisattva )

The antithesis here comes with some pretty intense parallel structure. Most of the words in each sentence are exactly the same as those in the other sentence. (“All the ___ the world contains has come through wanting ____ for ____.”) This close parallel structure makes the antithesis all the more striking, since the words that differ become much more visible.

Another interesting feature of this antithesis is that it makes “pleasure” and “happiness” seem like opposites, when most of us might think of them as more or less synonymous. The quote makes happiness seem noble and exalted, whereas pleasure is portrayed as selfish and worthless.

The proper function of man is to live , not to exist . I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong  (Jack London, Credo )

The opening antithesis here gets its punch from the fact that we think of living and existing as pretty similar terms. But for London, they are opposites. Living is about having vivid experiences, learning, and being bold; simply existing is a dull, pointless thing. These two apparently similar words are used in this antithesis to emphasize the importance of living as opposed to mere existing.

The second antithesis, on the other hand, is just the opposite – in this case, London is taking two words that seem somewhat opposed (waste and prolong), and telling us that they are in fact the same . Prolonging something is making it last; wasting something is letting it run out too soon. But, says London, when it comes to life, they are the same. If you try too hard to prolong your days (that is, if you’re so worried about dying that you never face your fears and live your life), then you will end up wasting them because you will never do anything worthwhile.

V. Examples of Verisimilitude in Pop Culture

Everybody doesn’t like something, but nobody doesn’t like Sara Lee. (Sara Lee pastry advertisement)

This classic ad uses antithesis to set up a deliberate grammatical error. This is a common technique in advertising, since people are more likely to remember a slogan that is grammatically incorrect. (Even if they only remember it because they found it irritating, it still sticks in their brain, which is all that an ad needs to do.) The antithesis helps make the meaning clear, and throws the grammatical error into sharper relief.

What men must know , a boy must learn . (The Lookouts)

Here’s another example of how parallel structure can turn into antithesis fairly easily. (The structure is noun-“must”-verb. ) The antithesis also expresses the basic narrative of The Lookouts , which is all about kids learning to fend for themselves and become full-fledged adults.

Shut Your Mouth and Open Your Eyes (the band “AFI” – album title)

The antithesis here is a juxtaposition of two different actions (opening and shutting) that are actually part of the same sort of behavior – the behavior of somebody who wants to understand the world rather than be the center of attention. It’s basically a restatement of the old adage that “those who speak the most often have the least to say.”

VI. Related Terms

• Juxtaposition

Antithesis is basically a form of juxtaposition . Juxtaposition, though, is a much broader device that encompasses any deliberate use of contrast or contradiction by an author. So, in addition to antithesis, it might include:

• The scene in “The Godfather” where a series of brutal murders is intercut with shots of a baptism, juxtaposing birth and death.
• “A Song of Ice and Fire” (George R. R. Martin book series)
• Heaven and Hell
• Mountains and the sea
• Dead or alive
• “In sickness and in health”

Antithesis performs a very similar function, but does so in a more complicated way by using full sentences (rather than single words or images) to express the two halves of the juxtaposition.

Here is an antithesis built around some of the common expressions from above

• “ Sheep go to Heaven ; goats go to Hell .”
• “Beethoven’s music is as mighty as the mountains and as timeless as the sea .”
• “In sickness he loved me; in health he abandoned ”

Notice how the antithesis builds an entire statement around the much simpler juxtaposition. And, crucially, notice that each of those statements exhibits parallel grammatical structure . In this way, both Juxtaposition and parallel structures can be used to transform a simple comparison, into antithesis.

List of Terms

• Alliteration
• Amplification
• Anachronism
• Anthropomorphism
• Antonomasia
• APA Citation
• Aposiopesis
• Autobiography
• Bildungsroman
• Characterization
• Circumlocution
• Cliffhanger
• Comic Relief
• Connotation
• Deus ex machina
• Deuteragonist
• Doppelganger
• Double Entendre
• Dramatic irony
• Equivocation
• Extended Metaphor
• Figures of Speech
• Flash-forward
• Foreshadowing
• Intertextuality
• Literary Device
• Malapropism
• Onomatopoeia
• Parallelism
• Pathetic Fallacy
• Personification
• Point of View
• Polysyndeton
• Protagonist
• Red Herring
• Rhetorical Device
• Rhetorical Question
• Science Fiction
• Self-Fulfilling Prophecy
• Synesthesia
• Turning Point
• Understatement
• Urban Legend
• Verisimilitude
• Essay Guide
• Cite This Website

Literary Devices

Literary devices, terms, and elements, definition of antithesis.

Antithesis is the use of contrasting concepts, words, or sentences within parallel grammatical structures. This combination of a balanced structure with opposite ideas serves to highlight the contrast between them. For example, the following famous Muhammad Ali quote is an example of antithesis: “Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee.” This is an antithesis example because there is the contrast between the animals and their actions (the peaceful floating butterfly versus the aggressive stinging bee) combined with the parallel grammatical structure of similes indicated by “like a.” Ali is indicating the contrasting skills necessary to be a good boxer.

Difference Between Antithesis and Juxtaposition

Antithesis is very similar to juxtaposition, as juxtaposition also sets two different things close to each other to emphasize the difference between them. However, juxtaposition does not necessarily deal with completely opposite ideas—sometimes the juxtaposition may be between two similar things so that the reader will notice the subtle differences. Juxtaposition also does not necessitate a parallel grammatical structure. The definition of antithesis requires this balanced grammatical structure.

Common Examples of Antithesis

The use of antithesis is very popular in speeches and common idioms, as the inherent contrasts often make antithesis quite memorable. Here are some examples of antithesis from famous speeches:

• “We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.
• “And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you — ask what you can do for your country. My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man.” –John F. Kennedy Jr.
• “We will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist.” –Barack Obama
• “Decided only to be undecided, resolved to be irresolute, adamant for drift, solid for fluidity, all-powerful to be impotent.” –Winston Churchill
• “The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here.” –Abraham Lincoln

Significance of Antithesis in Literature

Antithesis can be a helpful tool for the author both to show a character’s mindset and to set up an argument. If the antithesis is something that the character is thinking, the audience can better understand the full scope of that character’s thoughts. While antithesis is not the most ubiquitous of literary devices, some authors use antithesis quite extensively, such as William Shakespeare. Many of his sonnets and plays include examples of antithesis.

Examples of Antithesis in Literature

HAMLET: To be, or not to be, that is the question— Whether ’tis Nobler in the mind to suffer The Slings and Arrows of outrageous Fortune, Or to take Arms against a Sea of troubles, And by opposing, end them?

( Hamlet by William Shakespeare)

Arguably the most famous six words in all of Shakespeare’s work are an example of antithesis. Hamlet considers the important question of “to be, or not to be.” In this line, he is considering the very nature of existence itself. Though the line is quite simple in form it contrasts these very important opposite states. Hamlet sets up his soliloquy with this antithesis and continues with others, including the contrast between suffering whatever fortune has to offer or opposing his troubles. This is a good example of Shakespeare using antithesis to present to the audience or readers Hamlet’s inner life and the range of his thinking.

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way…

( A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens)

The opening paragraph of Charles Dickens’s A Tale of Two Cities employs many different literary devices all at once. There are many examples of antithesis back-to-back, starting with the first contrast between “the best of times” and “the worst of times.” Each pair of contrasting opposites uses a parallel structure to emphasize their differences. Dickens uses these antithetical pairs to show what a tumultuous time it was during the setting of his book. In this case, the use of antithesis is a rhetorical device that foreshadows the conflicts that will be central to the novel.

There was only one catch and that was Catch-22, which specified that a concern for one’s own safety in the face of dangers that were real and immediate was the process of a rational mind. Orr was crazy and could be grounded. All he had to do was ask; and as soon as he did, he would no longer be crazy and would have to fly more missions. Orr would be crazy to fly more missions and sane if he didn’t, but if he was sane he had to fly them. If he flew them he was crazy and didn’t have to; but if he didn’t want to he was sane and had to. Yossarian was moved very deeply by the absolute simplicity of this clause of Catch-22 and let out a respectful whistle.

( Catch-22 by Joseph Heller)

In Joseph Heller’s classic anti-war novel Catch-22 , Heller uses a specific type of humor in which antithetical statements show the true absurdity of war. This very famous quote explains the concept of the “Catch-22,” which became a popular idiomatic expression because of the book. In fact, this example is not so much an antithetical statement but instead an antithetical situation. That is to say, the two possible outcomes for Orr are opposite: either he’s deemed crazy and would thus not be forced to fly any more combat missions, or he’s sane and then would indeed have to fly them. However, the one situation negates the possibility of the other, as only a sane man would be clear-headed enough to ask not to fly more missions.

This case is not a difficult one, it requires no minute sifting of complicated facts, but it does require you to be sure beyond all reasonable doubt as to the guilt of the defendant.

( To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee)

In Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird , Atticus Finch is a lawyer representing Tom Robinson. Atticus presents the above statement to the jury, setting up an antithesis. He asserts that the case is not difficult and yet requires the jury to be absolutely sure of their decision. Atticus believes the case to have a very obvious conclusion, and hopes that the jury will agree with him, but he is also aware of the societal tensions at work that will complicate the case.

Test Your Knowledge of Antithesis

1. What is the correct antithesis definition? A. Using two very similar concepts and showing their subtle differences. B. Setting up a contrast between two opposite ideas or phrases in a balanced grammatical structure. C. Using words to convey an opposite meaning to their literal sense. [spoiler title=”Answer to Question #1″] Answer: B is the correct answer. A is one possible definition of juxtaposition, while C is one possible definition of irony.[/spoiler]

2. What is the difference between antithesis and juxtaposition? A. They are exactly the same device. B. They are completely different literary devices. C. Antithesis parallels opposite concepts, while juxtaposition sets up a comparison and contrast between two concepts that can be either similar or different. [spoiler title=”Answer to Question #2″] Answer: C is the correct answer.[/spoiler]

3. Which of the following quotes from Shakespeare’s Macbeth contains an example of antithesis? A. 

WITCHES: Fair is foul, and foul is fair: Hover through the fog and filthy air.

MACBETH: Is this a dagger which I see before me, The handle toward my hand?

WITCHES: Something wicked this way comes.

[spoiler title=”Answer to Question #3″] Answer: A is the correct answer.[/spoiler]

4. Which of the following quotes from Heller’s Catch-22 contains an example of antithesis? A. There are now fifty or sixty countries fighting in this war. Surely so many counties can’t all be worth dying for. B. He had decided to live forever or die in the attempt, and his only mission each time he went up was to come down alive. C. You’re inches away from death every time you go on a mission. How much older can you be at your age? [spoiler title=”Answer to Question #4″] Answer: B is the correct answer.[/spoiler]

Lethe | Greek Goddess

In Ancient Greece, Lete or Léthê (in Ancient Greek λήθη; [ˈlεːt̪ʰεː], Modern Greek: [ˈliθi]) literally means "forgetfulness." Its opposite is the Greek word for "truth" - Aleteia. In Greek mythology, Lethe is one of the rivers of Hades. Those who drank from its water or even touched its water would experience complete oblivion. Lete is also one of the Naiads, daughter of the goddess Eris, mistress of discord, sister of Algea, Limos, Horcos and Ponos. Some esoteric religions taught that there was another river, the Mnemósine, and drinking from its waters would make one remember everything and achieve omniscience.

Initiates were taught that if given the choice of which river to drink from after death, they should drink from the Mnemosyne instead of the Lethe. The two rivers appear in various verses inscribed on gold plates from the 4th century B.C. onward, in Tury, in the southern Italian peninsula, and throughout the Greek world.

River Lethe

The river Lete (from the Greek Λήθη Lếthê, "forgetfulness" or "concealment") is a river of Hades where anyone who drank from its waters forgot past lives. Soon, Lete came to symbolize forgetfulness. Its location in the Lower World (Hades domain) is contradictory. In some versions, the Lethe is in the Elysian Fields, its inhabitants would stay in Paradise for 1,000 years until everything earthly in them was erased; then, drinking from the waters of the Lethe, they would forget all their lives and reincarnate or perform metempsychosis (reincarnation, in beings of the same or other species).

In other versions, the Lethe was in the field of the Asphodel in the Underworld, a place of melancholy, where the dead did not suffer torment. Its most accepted location is in the Elysian Fields.

The River Lethe in the Divine Comedy

The Divine Comedy, by Dante Alighieri, involves pagan Greek traditions and Catholic traditions. In the second part of the work, Purgatory, the Lethe appears as a river from whose waters sinners had to drink in order to erase from memory their sins committed - and already erased by the purifying punishments of Purgatory - and enter Heaven.

About Lethe – River of Forgetfulness in Greek Mythology

Written by Greek Boston in Greek Mythology Comments Off on About Lethe – River of Forgetfulness in Greek Mythology

All About Lethe – River and Goddess

Lethe was sometimes described as being located in a dreary and barren plain with the same name. The river was often described as being near the Elysian Fields, where the most virtuous and heroic souls spent their afterlife. These souls would drink from the river Lethe in order to forget their previous existence. Other writers maintained that all of the souls had to drink from the river Lethe.

Some mystery religions held that the underworld had a sixth river called the Mnemosyne that enabled the dead to retain their memories and even gain omniscience. Followers of these religions believed that the dead would be allowed to choose which river to drink from, and they advised people to drink from the Mnemosyne.

Lethe was also described as flowing around a cave where Hypnos, the god of sleep, lived. The river made a characteristic murmuring sound that made listeners feel drowsy.

Lethe was also the name of a goddess who overlooked the Lethe River. Some sources actually describe the goddess as the personification of oblivion and forgetfulness. In his “Theogony,” Hesiod (circa 700 BC) described Lethe as a daughter of Eris, the goddess of discord. Lethe had countless siblings including Ponos (Hardship), Dysnomia (Lawlessness), Horkos (Oath), and Limos (Starvation).

Who was Trophonius?

Trophonius was the center of a cult that had an oracle at Lebadaea (present-day Livadeia). Consulting his oracle involved a days-long ritual that included bathing in a river called Herkyna and sacrificing animals to a series of gods. The person consulting the oracle would then drink from both the Lethe and the Mnemosyne and go down into a cave.

The waters of Lethe would cause the visitor to forget whatever they had been thinking about, while the waters of Mnemosyne ensured they would remember their sojourn in the cave. After returning to the surface, they would sit on a chair consecrated to Mnemosyne where a priest of the oracle wrote down everything they said and composed them into an oracle.

Get to Know the Myth of Er

The Myth of Er is a legend that Plato (428 – 348 BC) recounted at the end of his “Republic.” Er was a soldier who is believed to have been slain. He does visit the underworld but then returns to life in order to warn people about what the afterlife has in store for them. He describes an afterlife where the good are rewarded while the wicked are punished.

The Myth of Er also describes the process of reincarnation. The souls eligible for reincarnation could choose a new life, and their choices reflected the state of their soul. A person disenchanted with the human condition might choose to be reincarnated as an animal. People could also return as the opposite gender or in a different social or financial status. Regardless of their choices, everybody had to drink from the river Lethe before being reborn.

Lethe is a setting with an interesting and unusual concept, especially since there is a goddess associated with it. It is, however, largely treated as a feature of the underworld.

Lethe – Wikipedia 

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The very antithesis of Lethe as a literary device Crossword Clue

Definition of "stream of consciousness".

a person's thoughts and conscious reactions to events, perceived as a continuous flow. The term was introduced by William James in his Principles of Psychology (1890).

• a stream-of-consciousness monologue

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What is Antithesis ?

From the Greek antitithena, meaning “to oppose” or set opposite.” Antithesis is a powerful writing tool that sets two opposing or contrasting works, phrases, or ideas against each other.  It juxtaposes two contrasting ideas against each other in what is commonly referred to as a parallel sentence. An example of what this means is,  “Go big or go home.” Note how in this common example, two contrasting ideas are set in opposition creating a balanced, rhythmic sentence. And if in doubt, always remember that its name may be intimidating but, antithesis is a remarkably easy tool to master.

How to pronounce Antithesis ?

When do writers use antithesis .

Writers use Antithesis to make their writing more memorable by creating rhythmic structure. The juxtapositions of opposing ideas also make writing more believable or authoritative. Antithesis is a rhetorical device that allows writers to create a rhetorical effect and elicit an emotional response in readers. But remember:

 Use antithesis to create contrast . Ideally, you want to use opposites to create contrast . However, you will find that you can often get away with contrasting “implied” opposites.

Use antithesis to create parallel structure as in the example, “Go big or go home.” Parallel structure creates

The 3 Golden Rules

• Focus on Contrast .
• Read your writing out loud.
• Use antithesis sparingly (unless you’re Robert Frost and kind of a poetic genius).

Antithesis in Literature 📚

Literature is ripe with examples of antithesis. Two of its most famous kings will always be William Shakespeare and William Blake. Please note the examples below:

• “To be, or not to be: that is the question” – William Shakespeare, Hamlet
• “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times” – Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities
• “Better to reign in Hell, then serve in Heav’n” – John Milton, Paradise Lost
• “Fair is foul, and foul is fair” – William Shakespeare, Macbeth
• “The path of excess leads to the palace of wisdom” – William Blake, The Marriage of Heaven and Hell

Antithesis in Children Literature 🧸

• “The more you give, the more you get” – Dr. Seuss , The Cat in the Hat
• “Where the sidewalk ends, the grass begins” – Shel Silverstein, “ Where the Sidewalk Ends ”
•  “The more things change, the more they stay the same” – Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince

Antithesis in Songs 🎧

“You say yes, I say no” (But really the entire song) –  The Beatles, “Hello, Goodbye”

Antithesis in Poetry ✍🏽

Always a personal favorite of those who favor antithesis, Robert Frost, “ Fire and Ice ”

Some say the world will end in fire, Some say in ice. From what I’ve tasted of desire I hold with those who favor fire. But if it had to perish twice, I think I know enough of hate To say that for destruction ice Is also great And would suffice.

“Good we must love, and must hate ill,” – John Donne, “ Community ”

“To err is human, to forgive divine” – Alexander Pope “ An Essay on Criticism ”

Antithesis in Movie Dialogue 🎥

• The Dark Knight (2008): “You either die a hero or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain .”
• The Lion King (1994): “Oh yes, the past can hurt. But you can either run from it or learn from it”
• The Shawshank Redemption (1994): “Get busy living or get busy dying”
• Forrest Gump (1994): “Stupid is as stupid does”

Antithesis Throughout History

• “Patience is bitter, but it has a sweet fruit.” –  Aristotle
• “Folks who have no vices have very few virtues.” – Abraham Lincoln
•  “We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.
•  “Unlike short-sighted, egocentric humans, God ‘sees with equal eye’ the fall of a hero and a sparrow, the destruction of an atom or a solar system.” – Alexander Pope

Often Mistaken for … 👥

Juxtaposition – The act or instance of placing two things side-by-side. This does not mean opposites or in contrast or even in comparison. It simply means placing them next to each other, “juxtaposed.” Example: Night , day; light, dark; good, evil; or holiday, break. Note that in these examples, the words are placed next to each other with no other information. That is juxtaposition . Oxymoron – A figure of speech that combines words with opposite meaning into new words with a new meaning. Example: virtual + reality = “virtual reality”.

What is antithesis in literature?

Antithesis is a literary device that juxtaposes opposing or contrasting ideas within a parallel grammatical structure. This contrast of ideas is used to highlight differences, emphasize a point, or create a stark distinction between two concepts, enhancing the text’s rhetorical effect.

How does antithesis enhance a text?

Antithesis enhances a text by creating a clear contrast that can make arguments more persuasive and memorable. It emphasizes the difference between two ideas, making the message more striking and engaging for the reader. The parallel structure often used with antithesis also adds a rhythmic and balanced quality to the writing.

Can antithesis be found in both poetry and prose?

Yes, antithesis can be found in both poetry and prose . In poetry, it contributes to the poem’s aesthetic and thematic depth. In prose , especially in speeches and persuasive writing, it is used to articulate strong contrasts and make arguments more compelling.

Why do speakers and writers use antithesis?

Speakers and writers use antithesis to clarify complex ideas by contrasting them with their opposites, making the distinctions clearer to the audience. This device is effective in persuasion , as the stark comparison between opposing ideas can influence readers’ or listeners’ opinions and emotions, making the message more impactful.

How can I identify antithesis in a text?

To identify antithesis, look for sentences or phrases where two opposing ideas are presented in a parallel manner, often within the same sentence or in adjacent sentences. This device is characterized by a clear and contrasting relationship between the ideas, emphasized by similar grammatical structures.

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Aletheia (Ancient Greek: ἀλήθεια ) is truth or disclosure in philosophy. It was used in Ancient Greek philosophy and revived in the 20th century by the philosopher Martin Heidegger.

Aletheia is variously translated as " unconcealedness ", " disclosure ", " revealing ", or " unclosedness ". It is also sometimes treated as "truth", but Heidegger himself later argued against this. The literal meaning of the word ἀ–λήθεια is "the state of not being hidden; the state of being evident." It also means factuality or reality. It is the opposite of lethe, which literally means "oblivion", "forgetfulness", or "concealment" according to Pindar's First Olympian Ode.

Aletheia , the name of a Greek goddess (also known as Veritas , the Roman goddess of truth), is the daughter of Zeus , while Aesop 's Fables state she was crafted by Prometheus .

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Boston, Massachusetts: October 1846

Boston, massachusetts: november 1846, the origin of the name letheon, lethe: the river, a goddess, and a butterfly, lethean in the lexicon, lethean in the language of everyday life.

• The Coinage: Lethe, Lethean, Letheon

Was Letheon Coined Before 1846?

Reported dates of the meeting to select a name.

• Letheon: A Primer for the Present Day
• Appendix: Letheon, Lycophron, and the Classical Canon

Etymology of Letheon : Nineteenth-century Linguistic Effervescence

Submitted for publication February 21, 2019. Accepted for publication August 7, 2019.

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Rajesh P. Haridas , Michael Gionfriddo , George S. Bause; Etymology of Letheon : Nineteenth-century Linguistic Effervescence . Anesthesiology 2019; 131:1210–1222 doi: https://doi.org/10.1097/ALN.0000000000002969

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In late 1846, following his successful public demonstrations of surgical anesthesia, Boston dentist William T. G. Morton selected Letheon as the commercial name for the ether-based “preparation” he had used to produce insensibility to pain. We have not identified a first-hand account of the coinage of Letheon . Although the name ultimately derives from the Greek Lēthē , the adjective Lethean , much in use in the mid-19th century, may have influenced Morton and those he called on to assist in finding a commercial name. By one unverified account, the name Letheon might have been coined independently by both Augustus Addison Gould, M.D., and Henry Jacob Bigelow, M.D.

Speed on the ship! But let her bear No merchandise of sin, No groaning cargo of despair Her roomy hold within; No Lethean drug for Eastern lands, Nor poison-draught for ours; But honest fruits of toiling hands And Nature’s sun and showers. —“The Ship-Builders” (1846), by John Greenleaf Whittier (1807–1892).

Seeking to commercialize the discovery of etherization in 1846, Boston dentist William T. G. Morton (1819–1868; fig. 1 ) 1   applied for a patent and then selected the trade name Letheon for his narcotic preparation. Letheon was essentially sulfuric (diethyl) ether, with a fragrance and a coloring agent. Almost from the outset, questions arose about the validity of Morton’s patent and whether he should profit from it.

William T. G. Morton, M.D. (1819–1868). An engraved portrait published in 1847 in the first edition of Edward Warren’s pamphlet Some Account of the Letheon; Or, Who was the Discoverer? 1   Image reproduced with the permission of Yale University, Harvey Cushing/John Hay Whitney Medical Library, New Haven, Connecticut.

Historians have focused a good deal on Morton’s character, his patent, and his disputes with dentists and physicians. Relatively little has been written about the coinage of the word Letheon itself, probably because its easy derivation from the Greek lēthē (forgetfulness, oblivion) has long been assumed. But who actually coined the name, when, and under what circumstances? What lay behind this particular linguistic tease? In fact, the mid-19th century was alive with language study, wordplay, neologisms, and inquiries into the origins of language itself. When Morton sought to advertise his discovery to a surprised and curious public, he welcomed the help of physicians who were trained in the classical canon. They presented Morton with a signature term designed to turn heads and arrest attention. We offer here an examination of the etymology of Letheon in light of 19th-century notions of verbal play and linguistic inquiries.

On October 16, 1846, Morton administered his then-undisclosed anesthetic preparation to a surgical patient at the Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts. The hospital’s senior visiting surgeon, John Collins Warren, M.D. (1778–1856; Hersey Professor of Anatomy and Surgery, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts), operated on a congenital vascular malformation in the neck of his patient, Edward Gilbert Abbott. 2   According to Henry Jacob Bigelow, M.D. (1818–1890), a recently appointed surgeon at the hospital, the patient “muttered, as in a semi-conscious state,” afterward stating that “the pain was considerable, though mitigated…as though the skin had been scratched with a hoe.” 3   The etherization for this relatively minor operation was nevertheless considered a partial success. This was the first public demonstration of surgical etherization.

Although some observers of Morton’s historic demonstration had detected the smell of sulfuric ether, they were not certain that it was the active ingredient in Morton’s preparation. Most would have known, of course, that ether was a widely used chemical solvent. Bigelow reported he himself “undertook a number of experiments, with the view of ascertaining the nature of this new agent,” going on to say the “first experiment was with sulphuric ether, the odor of which was readily recognized in the preparation employed by Dr. Morton.” 3   We should note, though, that Bigelow’s article on etherization was published in mid-November when the surgeons at the Massachusetts General Hospital were aware of the identity of Morton’s preparation.

On October 27, just eleven days after Morton’s demonstration, a joint patent application was signed by Morton and Charles T. Jackson, M.D. (1805–1880; Boston physician, chemist, and geologist). Immediately thereafter, Jackson assigned his financial rights in the patent to Morton. Although Jackson was no longer working as a physician (he had ceased practicing medicine a decade earlier), he continued to instruct medical students. As a member of the Massachusetts Medical Society, Jackson was not permitted to deal in secret remedies or profit from medical inventions. The initial agreement was for Morton to pay Jackson $500 for assistance and advice rendered. 4  

Contrary to claims in some historical accounts, Morton did not attempt to disguise the preparation he used on October 16, 1846, by calling it Letheon . The word Letheon does not appear in United States Patent No. 4848 (“Improvement in Surgical Operations”), which was granted to Jackson and Morton on November 12, 1846. This suggests that the name was adopted after the patent application had been signed on October 27, 1846.

Morton’s patent lawyer, Robert H. Eddy (1812–1887), received official notice of the granting of the patent on Saturday, November 14, 1846. 4   The next day, Eddy attended a meeting at the Tremont Street home of Augustus Addison Gould, M.D. (1805–1866; Boston physician, entomologist, and conchologist). Also present were Bigelow, Morton, and Jackson. 4   Bigelow’s manuscript, “Insensibility During Surgical Operations Produced by Inhalation,” which he intended to place in The Boston Medical and Surgical Journal , received the approval of both Morton and Jackson; the manuscript would be published three days later. 3   As in the patent application, the name Letheon does not appear in Bigelow’s article. Eddy commented that Bigelow, even at this late date, did make some changes “particularly at the latter part of the article” 4   ; presumably, he could have included the name Letheon at that point had the name been decided. In fact, Bigelow skirts mentioning any particular name, saying only that the “application of the process to the performance of surgical operations, is, it will be conceded, new” before entering into a defense of patent rights and “the actual position of this invention as regards the public.” 3   Speaking to the testy relationship between Morton and Jackson, Eddy reported departing with Jackson, leaving Gould, Morton, and Bigelow behind. Though there is nothing to indicate that they discussed a name for Morton’s new preparation, the possibility exists that Morton, Bigelow, or Gould might have broached the subject after Eddy and Jackson departed.

Soon thereafter, hoping to advertise the success of his endeavors, Morton enlisted the help of physician friends to come up with a commercial name for his preparation. He approached Bigelow and Gould, and probably consulted Oliver Wendell Holmes, M.D. (1809–1894), a Boston physician, poet, and author. In their published accounts of Morton’s activities, neither Edward Warren ( Some Account of the Letheon , 1847) nor Nathan P. Rice, M.D. ( Trials of a Public Benefactor , 1859) recorded the date on which Morton selected the name Letheon . The two accounts differ in some particulars and neither hints at the full list of names that might have been proposed for Morton’s new preparation. Later reminiscences penned by Gould’s daughter 5   and Morton’s wife 6   do little to illuminate the matter. Regardless, though, of who might have proposed or advanced one name or another, all were willing to participate in what would essentially be a commercial venture, even if no one other than Morton might actually profit from it. Further, all would have known by then that the prime constituent of Morton’s preparation was sulfuric ether.

By the month’s end, readers of The Boston Medical and Surgical Journal would see a short notice posted by Morton advising that “a name for this new operation” ( i.e. , the administration of his “compound” to produce insensibility to pain) would shortly be forthcoming. Moreover, Morton would enter a short-lived partnership with the esteemed Boston physician and dentist Nathan C. Keep, M.D., D.D.S. (1800–1875). Both Morton’s notice and his alliance with Keep bear on our present inquiries.

It is by now a critical commonplace to note that the name Letheon derives from the Greek word Λήθη , transliterated as Lēthē (pronounced LEE-thee ) or simply Lethe , the name in Greek mythology of both the river of forgetfulness ( fig. 2 ) and the goddess of forgetfulness. Such a notion suffices well enough. But while Lēthē was undoubtedly the foundational root of Letheon , other factors might have informed the 19th-century coinage, chief among them the common adjective Lethean (inducing forgetfulness and oblivion), a word that enjoyed great currency at the time but is largely forgotten today.

Dante submerged in the River Lethe by Matilda. Illustration by Gustave Doré (1832–1883) for Dante’s The Divine Comedy : Purgatory , Canto XXXI. From: Purgatory and Paradise . Translated by Henry Francis Cary. Edited by Henry C. Walsh. Philadelphia: Henry Altemus, [no publication or copyright date; ca. 1889], opp. p. 148. Image source Internet Archive. Book source University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Illinois.

Lethe is defined by Liddell and Scott (1889, p. 889) as “ a forgetting, forgetfulness ” and, in the post-Homeric period, “ a place of oblivion in the lower world.” A Greek fragment sometimes attributed to Simonides of Cos (ca. 556–467 B.C.E.) refers to “the house of Lethe” ( www.attalus.org/poetry/simonides.html ) near the Acheron, the underworld River of Pain or Woe. The concluding section of Plato’s Republic (ca. 400 B.C.E.), sometimes referred to as the Myth of Er (Book 10, parts 614a–621d), identifies Lethe as the plain of forgetfulness through which flowed the river of Lethe or Ameles potamos , the river of “unmindfulness” (forgetfulness). The well-sourced online “Theoi Project” ( www.theoi.com ) notes that “LETHE was the underworld river of oblivion and its goddess. The shades of the dead drank of its waters to forget their mortal lives…. The river-goddess Lethe was sometimes identified with the daimona [or ‘spirit’] Lethe, forgetfulness personified.” Louise H. Pratt, Professor of Classics at Emory University, usefully extends the discussion, observing how, besides amnesia, Lethe can be associated more broadly with “an absence of awareness.” 7   But keeping within the groupings of Greek gods and goddesses, Lethe (a child of Eris, or Strife) came to be associated with the minor Olympian god Nyx (Night), the latter’s consort Erebus (Darkness), and their children Hypnos (Sleep) and Thanatos (Death). In a well-known engraving for Homer’s Iliad prepared by Tommaso Piroli (ca. 1752–1824) after the design by British sculptor and illustrator John Flaxman (1755–1826), Hypnos and Thanatos convey the body of the slain Sarpedon, son of Zeus and distinguished protector of Troy, to his homeland of Lycia ( fig. 3 ).

Sleep [Hypnos] and Death [Thanatos] conveying the body of Sarpedon to Lycia. Engraved by Tommaso Piroli (ca. 1752–1824) from a drawing by John Flaxman (1755–1826) for Homer’s Iliad . From: Church AJ. Stories from Homer . London: Seeley, Jackson and Halliday, 1878, opp. p. 116. Image source Hathi Trust. Book source University of California Libraries. Digitized by Internet Archive.

The works of Greek and Roman writers, with which 19th-century literati like Drs. Gould, Bigelow, and Holmes would have been more than familiar, refer more to the river Lethe than to the goddess. The Roman poet Ovid (43 B.C.E. to 17/18 C.E.), for instance, finds the river flowing through the cave of Hypnos, god of sleep: “There silence dwells: only the lazy stream / Of Lethe… / O’er pebbly shallows trickling lulls to sleep.” ( Metamorphoses , Bk. XI, lines 604–606, trans. Melville, 1986). The reference is echoed by Geoffrey Chaucer (ca. 1343–1400), who, in his poem, “The House of Fame” (“Hous of Fame”, ca. 1379), invokes “the god of slepe anoon, / That dwelleth in a cave of stoon / Upon a streem that comth fro Lete, / That is a flood of helle unswete;” (Bk.1, lines 69–72, ed. Walter W. Skeat, 1899).

The reading public would more likely have encountered allusions to Lethe in everything from Shakespearean plays to homespun stories and poems. William Shakespeare (1564–1616) used the word at least half a dozen times, playing on its meaning to gain a richly lyrical quality as he moves from mention of “a Lethe’d dullness” ( Anthony and Cleopatra 2.1.27) to “the Lethe of thy angry soul” in which to drown one’s sad remembrance ( Richard III 4.4.252) to “duller shouldst thou be than the fat weed / That roots itself in ease on Lethe wharf” ( Hamlet 1.5.32–33). The celebrated Washington Irving (1783–1859), in Abbotsford and Newstead Abbey (1835), includes a character who implores, “Away! away! my early dream / Remembrance never must awake: / Oh! where is Lethe’s fabled stream?” Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804–1864), in his tale, “A Select Party,” from the popular Mosses from an Old Manse (1846), describes how, at the behest of a congenial host, “the love-lorn, the care-worn, and the sorrow-stricken, were supplied with brimming goblets of Lethe.” The narrator of a poem by Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849) sketches a typically dark landscape while standing “beneath the mystic moon”: “Looking like Lethe, see! the lake / A conscious slumber seems to take, / And would not, for the world, awake. / All Beauty sleeps!” (“The Sleeper,” 1845 version). Not all references were as innocent. A bit of dully feather-brained erotica, the comic novel entitled A Voyage to Lethe (1741), authored by the redoubtable “Capt. Samuel Cock, sometime commander of the good ship the Charming Sally,” and published in London by “J. Conybeare in Smock-Ally near Petticoat Lane in Spittlefields,” appropriated the word as a simple place name, its meaning implied but unimportant, just one stop on a tour of sexual shenanigans disguised as all-but-impenetrable metaphors.

Nathan P. Rice, M.D., Morton’s authorized biographer, had written in Trials of a Public Benefactor that the provenance of the word Letheon was the Greek Lēthē . 8   “The term,” Rice noted, “was derived from the name of the river Lethe, said in mythology to be one of the rivers in the infernal regions,” going on to note the association of the waters of the river with forgetfulness and oblivion. 8   Perhaps Rice was relying on received wisdom or perhaps he simply assumed the derivation based on his own familiarity with mythologic associations. Such associations, however, did not stop with the forgetfulness and benign oblivion of anesthesia.

The coinage could not play on the Greek Lēthē without at least a sidelong glance at its Latin cognate lētum , meaning “death” (which more directly gives us our word lethal ). But it did so in a way that emphasized a more benign state, not Chaucer’s “helle unswete,” but Shakespeare’s “Lethe’d dullness” stirred up from Hawthorne’s “brimming goblets.” A near-cadaveric repose, properly managed and contrary to anyone’s experience to date, was now a consummation devoutly to be wished. In his “Ode on Melancholy” (1819, published 1820), the English poet John Keats (1795–1821) had warned off readers with the striking “No, no, go not to Lethe, neither twist / Wolf’s-bane, tight-rooted, for its poisonous wine,” proceeding to a litany of images equally associated with death (toxic nightshade and yew-berries, the beetle, and the owl): “Nor let the beetle,” he wrote, “nor the death-moth be / Your mournful Psyche…/ For shade to shade will come too drowsily, / And drown the wakeful anguish of the soul.” He argues here against the melancholy afforded by contemplation of a too-easy death, and he does so in terms that Gould, Holmes, and Bigelow, for instance, might readily have embraced. With Letheon , we proceed across or on Lethe (“Lethe” + “on”), appearing insensate, dead, but tricking perception by overturning it. Proceed, they might have been thinking, across Lethe as you would on the wings of the “death-moth” ( i.e. , become the soul taking leave of the body), but consider how, through the careful ministrations of the dentist or surgeon, the soul will return unchanged to the body and a deep sleep of forgetfulness need no longer be thought the sleep of oblivion (death).

Still other things may yet have been at play. Augustus Gould, one of Morton’s intimates, had been a zoology instructor at Harvard before focusing on entomology and then conchology. Using his knowledge of Latin and Greek, Gould either coined or sought consensus on generic and specific names for novel or redundantly referenced species by the hundreds. Familiar with the seminal work of the entomologists Jacob Hübner (1761–1826) of Germany and Johan(n) Christian Fabricius (1745–1808) of Denmark, he would have been acquainted with the shade-seeking Lethe genus of butterfly, several species of which are now considered native to New England. By a short imaginative leap, Gould, the etymologist–entomologist, might easily have reimagined shade-seeking butterflies as shade-seeking souls—men and women, that is, troubled by disease or injury and nervously contemplating surgery, now at last without an expectation of pain unto death but rather the restful dark shade of amnesia offered by the new compound with the winking name of Letheon .

Gould in particular might have touched Keats’ rather startling imagery with a scientist’s hand, alighting on the mention of the “death-moth” and letting his fancy roam. (Fabricius noted, in 1798, the genus Acherontia lachesis , the death’s-head hawk-moth, of which Keats might or mightn’t have been aware; tellingly, A. lachesis takes its name in part from Acheron, the underworld River of Pain or Woe noted above.) And any learned punster might have done him one better, recognizing that the Greek Lēthē finds a Latin equivalent not only in lētum but also in mors, -tis (which yields, for instance, the English “mortal” and “mortician”). A poetic jocularity attends the recognition that were the Latin root substituted for the Greek, Letheon ( Lēthē + the common suffix -on ) becomes “Morton” ( mort - + -on ). Or perhaps the play worked in reverse, the surname of the eager young dentist suggesting, along classical lines almost too faint to trace, the product name with which to promote the new anodyne gas. As we discuss below (“The Coinage: Lethe , Lethean , Letheon ”), the Latin phrase lucus a non lucendo (meaning, via an imaginative and twisting translation, an “illogic explanation” or “absurd derivation”) was well enough known to the polyglot Holmes in particular to have bounded into view for just enough time to leave its mark.

Morton, whose educational pedigree was not nearly as distinguished as that of the physicians with whom he associated, was probably unfamiliar with etymologic niceties, and none but specialists like Gould would have known of the butterfly genus Lethe. But all would have recognized the importance of presenting not only a new product but also a name with commercial appeal. If the “Lethe” of the poets carried unwanted hints of mortal demise, the adjective Lethean —fortuitously already alive and abroad—stopped just short of an underworld passage harboring rank oblivion. Definitions of Lethean initially drew from both the Greek Lēthē and its Latin cognate lētum (death). The Anglicized Lethean (generally capitalized) likely entered the English vernacular at some point in the 16th or early 17th century.

The earliest dictionaries were little more than bilingual compilations of words with simple definitions. Medulla Grammatice [Marrow (Core) of Grammar] (Pepys Library MS 2002, ca. 1480), carries not only the entry Lethe , with a simple comment (“grece an[gli]ce forgettyng[e]”) that translates as “Greek; in English, forgetting”, but also the Latin Letu[m] listed with no more than an analogous word “ mors ”. Similarly, Ortus Vocabulorum [A Garden of Words] , a Latin-English dictionary first printed in 1500, includes both Lethe (“grece. angl′. forgetynge”) and Letum (with a notation roughly translating as “equivalent to mors which in English means ‘deth’.”). John Withals (d. ca. 1556) produced, in 1553, A shorte Dictionarie for yonge begynners , which became a standard instructional work. His note for Lethargus translates as “forgetfulness, a disease that compels one to sleep”; our modern word lethargy carries the medical connotation even now.

In 1604, Robert Cawdrey (ca.1538 to ca.1604) assembled the first monolingual English dictionary, A Table Alphabeticall , providing definitions for lethall (“mortall, deadly”) and lethargie (“a drowsie and forgetfull disease”) but no related words. A few years later, Randle Cotgrave (ca. 1569–1634?), in his Dictionarie of the French and English Tongues (1611), noted the French forms lethean (masc.) and letheanne (fem.), most likely imported from the French Les Épithètes [Special Words] (1571) compiled by Maurice de La Porte (1531–1571). Cotgrave’s definition of Lethean , the earliest we have found in an English dictionary, was “deadlie, mortall, pestilent, death-inflicting”; his listing included Lethe (“death; mortalitie; obliuion”), and the allied words lethal (“deadlie, mortall; pestiferous”), lethargie (“a drowsie, and forgetfull sicknesse”), and lethargique (“sicke of a Lethargie, or of the drowsie ill”).

Thomas Blount (1618–1679), in Glossographia (1656), offered “forgetful” as his first definition of Lethean (from the Latin letheus ), and secondarily “deadly, mortal, pestiferous” (from the Latin Lætheus ). Lethe was “a feigned [ i.e ., imaginary, fictional] River of Hell, the water whereof being drunk, causeth forgetfulness of all that is past; Hence it is used for Oblivion or forgetfulness.” Drawing heavily from Blount, Edward Phillips (1630 to ca.1696), in The New World of English Words: Or, a General Dictionary (1658), defined Lethean only as “forgetful,” with a note on its derivation “from Lethe a River of Hell, which the Poets feign [ i.e ., imagine] to be of that nature that the water of it being drunk, causeth oblivion or forgetfulnesse.” A 1706 revision of Phillips’ dictionary by John Kersey the younger (b. ca. 1660 – d. in or after 1721), entitled The New World of Words: Or, Universal English Dictionary , omitted the word Lethean . By the mid-18th century, Samuel Johnson (1709–1784) would include lethargick (“sleepy”), lethargickness (“sleepiness; drowsiness”), lethargy (“a morbid drowsiness”), lethargied (“laid asleep; entranced”), and lethe (“oblivion; a draught of oblivion”), but not Lethean in his monumental Dictionary of the English Language (two vols., 1755). Elsewhere in the dictionary, Johnson quoted sources using the word Lethean , among them John Dryden’s translation, published in 1697, of Virgil’s Aeneid (“Whole Droves of Minds are, by the driving God, / Compell’d to drink the deep Lethæan Flood”; vi, 1016–17), and Richard Crashaw’s “Sospetto d’Herode” (published in Steps to the Temple , 1646), a translation of the first book of a sacred poem by Giovan Battista Marino, with the lines, “the Night’s companion…kindly cheating them / Of all their cares…/ Sealing all brests in a Lethæan band” (verse 49).

Johnson had overlooked Lethean but he could assume educated readers would be aware of its meaning. The 1828 revision by Walker and Jameson, a more streamlined one-volume text more handily used by students and others, expanded its list of definitions to include both Lethean (“oblivious; causing oblivion”) and lethiferous (“deadly; bringing death”). In his encyclopedic 1828 American Dictionary of the English Language , Noah Webster (1758–1843), citing Greek and Latin roots, included Lethean (“inducing forgetfulness or oblivion”) as well as lethal (“deadly; mortal; fatal”) and lethiferous (“deadly; mortal; bringing death or destruction”); Joseph E. Worcester (1784–1865) followed suit in compiling A Universal and Critical Dictionary of the English Language (1846).

The word Lethean (an adjectival form of Lethe ) entered the language in the 16th century or early 17th century (probably via the French lethean, -anne ) as Middle English and Middle French forms were expanded and simplified. By the 19th century, readers would have encountered it as part of the language of everyday life.

As its earliest example, the Oxford English Dictionary (1879–1928) cited James Howell (ca.1594–1666), who in his oft-reprinted Familiar Letters (1647) writes, “I did not think Suffolk Waters had such a Lethean Quality in them as to cause such an Amnestia in him of his Friends here upon the Thames ” ( The Familiar Letters of James Howell , 1890 reprint, pp. 520–521). An even earlier source is “Holy Sonnet IX” (ca. 1610, first published in 1633 as “Holy Sonnet V”) by John Donne (1572–1631), which implores God to make of the poet’s tears “a heavenly Lethean flood” in which to drown his “sinnes blacke memorie.” John Milton (1608–1674), in Paradise Lost (1667), speaks of how the damned “ferry over this Lethean Sound” in their progress through the underworld (Bk. 2, line 604).

In citing John Dryden (1631–1700) and the 1697 publication of his translation of Virgil’s Georgics (“Nine Mornings thence, Lethean Poppy bring,” iv. 787) along with a few more recent examples, the Oxford English Dictionary barely hints at how much the word flourished as a favorite with 19th-century writers of all stripes. An unattributed poem in London’s The Sporting Magazine (January 1800, Vol. 15, p. 216), speaks ominously of “names ignoble, born to be forgot,” who “Drop one by one, from Frame’s neglecting hand; / Lethean gulphs receive them as they fall, / And dark oblivion soon absorbs them all.” An anonymous reflection entitled “The Meditation of an Interesting Moment” in The Evangelical Magazine (London, 1806; Vol. 14, p. 27) provides this awful thought: “In Hell they feel again stings which they thought blunted, and are haunted with recollections for which they hoped to have found Lethean draughts.” In his lyric “Song,” John Keats (1795–1821) remarks “night’s sleepy eye” that “Closes up, and forgets all its Lethean care” (1818, published 1848), while Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792–1822), in the Gothic novel Zastrozzi (1810), writes, “A Lethean torpor crept upon his senses…a total forgetfulness of every former event of his life swam in his dizzy brain.”

As in England, so in America: John Greenleaf Whittier (1807–1892), one of America’s popular “Fireside Poets,” published his widely disseminated anti-slavery poem, “The Ship-Builders,” in 1846. Reprinted often, Whittier’s poem would have been circulating at the time of Morton’s demonstration and the events occurring soon thereafter. “Speed on the ship!” it commands, “But let her bear / No merchandise of sin, / No groaning cargo of despair / Her roomy hold within; / No Lethean drug for Eastern lands, / Nor poison-draught for ours; / But honest fruits of toiling hands / And Nature’s sun and showers.” Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849), in his poem “Ulalume” (1847), invoked the “Lethean peace of the skies,” and Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862), in a lecture entitled “Walking” (first delivered in 1851; published posthumously in The Atlantic Monthly in 1862) noted, “The Atlantic is a Lethean stream, in our passage over which we have had an opportunity to forget the Old World and its institutions.” Herman Melville (1819–1891) followed with “Into that Lethean canal…fell many a poor soul that night; fell, forever forgotten” ( Israel Potter , 1855; serialized in Putnam’s Monthly , 1854–1855). The adjective’s place in the parlance of the day is reflected in its appearance in popular magazines such as Putnam’s Monthly, Godey’s Lady’s Book , and The Knickerbocker ; Or New-York Monthly Magazine . The latter had published, for example, the minor but much admired American novelist F.W. Shelton (1814–1881), whose early story, “The Death Bed,” made full use of a classical allusion for a popular audience, drawing on Shelley’s Zastrozzi to boot. The narrator notes that for those blessed with Virgil’s dulcis vita (“the sweet life”), existence was not “a vulgar sensuality, a Lethean torpor” (February 1844, Vol. 23, p. 129).

In another sense entirely, “Lethean torpor” was exactly what Morton wished to induce in dental and surgical patients, a fact probably not lost on shrewd readers such as Gould and Bigelow, who might have given voice to the thought; and all the better if the effect—this “Lethean torpor”—was achieved by the application of something strangely familiar. Though the poet Whittier’s “Lethean drug” probably referred to opium, his phrase, much in the air in 1846, might easily be appropriated and extended.

The Coinage: Lethe , Lethean , Letheon

Gould, Holmes, and Bigelow, all educated at Harvard, were extremely well-versed in Greek and Latin and likely conversant with French and German; they seem gladly to have participated in the search for a new word to name Morton’s “preparation.” Indeed, they were the beneficiaries not only of a rich classical education but also the spirit of an age in which wordplay and language studies were very much in vogue. “But while schoolrooms taught parsing, they also sparked nationwide punning,” writes the noted literary scholar Michael West of the University of Pittsburgh. He explores our forbears’ “curiosity about foreign languages and the ancient, hidden meaning of words” and goes on to describe at length the “linguistic effervescence” of mid-19th-century America, a time when both scholarly and popular enthusiasms “focused attention on the origins of words.” 9   The title page of Webster’s immense American Dictionary (1828) notes that the work was intended to include “The Origin, Affinities and Primary Signification of English Words, as Far as They Have Been Ascertained…[as well as] Accurate and Discriminating Definitions…to Which are Prefixed, an Introductory Dissertation on the Origin, History and Connection of the Languages of Western Asia and of Europe.” The dictionary reflected expansive lexicographical exploration as well as ordinary readers’ wide-ranging enthusiasms. It is hardly a surprise, then, to learn that a small band of accomplished physicians leapt at the opportunity to suggest original, even fanciful names for a novel “preparation” or “nostrum,” that someone like Gould might have been attempting a play on something as unusual as a shade-seeking butterfly, or that they would have favored a name so similar to a word already in circulation, one that might have played well in the popular imagination. “Lethean torpor,” by verbal sleight of hand, becomes “Letheon torpor,” a physiologic imperative if surgery and dentistry were to involve anesthetic insensibility.

For his part, Oliver Wendell Holmes went to some pains to come up with a name, though it was for the change effected in those to whom Morton’s new compound was administered. On November 21, 1846, he wrote what appears a rather straightforward letter to Morton, arguing that the “state” be called anæsthesia : “This signifies,” he said, “insensibility—more particularly (as used by Linnæus and Cullen) to objects of touch. (See Good—Nosology, p. 259.).” 8 , 10–13   He went on to elaborate, “Thus we might say the state of Anæsthesia, or the anæsthetic state,” before advising Morton that “it might be allowable to say anæsthetic agent, but this admits of question.” And Holmes didn’t stop there. “The words,” he says, “anti-neuric, aneuric, neuro-leptic, neuro-lepsia, neuro-stasis, etc ., seem too anatomical; whereas the change is a physiological one. I throw them out for consideration.” Morton, he must have known, was likely not to parse the language so finely, and Holmes, for all his sobriety of address, might have been having a bit of fun: anyone checking John Mason Good’s A Physiologic System of Nosology (1823) would have been greeted by more than 500 pages of taxonomic complexity with language notations not only in English and Latin, but also in Greek, German, French, and Arabic. 14  

Just four months earlier, on July 22, 1846, the poet and wit John Godfrey Saxe (1816–1887) had recited a comic satirical poem to the Associated Alumni of Middlebury College. He called the poem “Progress” and dedicated it to none other than his friend Oliver Wendell Holmes for his “fine Poetical Genius” and “His Unequalled Power of Playful Satire”—traits perhaps in evidence in Holmes’ letter to Morton. On October 16, 1846, the day of Morton’s historic demonstration of etherization, one short stanza of Saxe’s long poem appeared by chance in the Boston Post under the title, “Ingenious Recipe for making a Science.” Little could Holmes have known that he’d feel the urge, a month hence, to help “make” (or, more precisely, “name”) a science, but that in part is what his letter purported to do. The recipe, joked Saxe, involved combining “three stale ‘truths;’ a dozen ‘facts,’ assumed; / Two known ‘effects,’ and fifty more, presumed; / ‘Affinities’ a score, to sense unknown, / And, just as ‘ lucus , [a] non lucendo ’ shown, / Add but a name of pompous Anglo-Greek, / And only not impossible to speak, / The work is done; a ‘science’ stands confest, / And countless welcomes greet the queenly guest.” No stale truths here, but “effects,” those demonstrated as well as those presumed? Yes, indeed: Morton’s compound surely produced effects in need of explanation, in need even of a name.

As announced by Morton, the word Letheon (initially printed as “Lethēon” or “Lethéon”), the subject today of much speculation, would at the time have been a revelation—a novelty word perhaps, but also a tribute to imaginative reach. Johnson’s Dictionary (rev. 1828), Webster’s (1828, rev. 1848), and Worcester’s Dictionary (1846) all include Lethean with the stress on the second syllable (“Lethē´an”); in the latter issues of Warren’s Some Account , Morton’s new compound is variously printed with the lengthened or accented second “e” (“Lethēon” and “Lethéon”). This perhaps signaled an intended similarity in pronunciation.

We do not know whether the name came easily to Gould or to Bigelow and, given Holmes’ rather extravagant exercise in naming, we might suppose some head-scratching before Letheon presented itself ready-made. We have noted that the suggestive verbal similarity to the adjective Lethean had a part to play, and that Gould might have gone so far as to consider the shade-seeking Lethe genus of butterfly as a corroborative source. Could other factors have been at play? The mythologic River Lethe commands a first look always, but given the 19 th -century educational emphasis on classical forms generally, at least two more possibilities—one from the Latin, another from the Greek—are worth reviewing.

In The Origins of Anesthesia (1983), the surgeon and medical historian Sherwin B. Nuland, M.D. (1930–2014), implicitly discarded the Greek root (the river Lethe, vialēthē , “oblivion, forgetfulness”) suggested by Nathan P. Rice and adopted a more direct Latin line of descent: “The writers of antiquity,” he wrote, “commonly referred to poppy-induced sleep with a term used by Virgil: Letheon .” 15   He repeated the claim in Doctors: The Biography of Medicine (1988), colorfully describing how, two weeks after the first pain-free amputation at the Massachusetts General Hospital (the etherization event of November 7, 1846), Morton “met with two representatives of the hospital, Henry Jacob Bigelow and Oliver Wendell Holmes, and gave the name Letheon to sulfuric ether…. The term was borrowed, at the suggestion of Holmes, from the writings of Virgil, who had, as noted earlier, applied it to the restful sleep induced by the tears of the poppy plant.” 16   There is, however, no evidence at all that Holmes ever propounded a Virgilian source or that such a meeting ever took place. The distinguished anesthesiologist Norman Bergman, M.D. (1926–1999), in The Genesis of Surgical Anesthesia (1998), also attributed the word Letheon to Virgil. “The deep sleep,” he wrote, “associated with opium came to be described by many writers using Virgil’s word ‘letheon’; a word which was to assume great significance in more modern times.” 17   Bergman, though, cited a 1946 article by G. K. Tallmadge, where we find this: “Poppy was known to produce sleep, to relieve cough, to stop the bowels, and to alleviate pain, and on the last score it was employed medically in very many diseases. The sleep it caused was described by most writers in Virgil’s word, Lethean.” 18  

Letheon or Lethean ? Virgil (70 B.C.E.–19 B.C.E.), of course, wrote in Latin, the Eclogues , Georgics , and the Aeneid comprising his major works. In six instances, four in the Aeneid and two in the Georgics , he employs forms of the adjective lethaeus , which translates as lethean (“causing forgetfulness, of Lethe, of the Underworld”). No inflected Latin form of lethaeus reads as letheon (in the neuter singular nominative case, the word is spelled “lethaeum,” as it is in the accusative and vocative cases). In the Georgics , for example, Bk. 1, line 78 reads in part “lethaeo perfusa papavera somno,” which translates as “poppies drenched in Lethean sleep.” Ovid (43 B.C.E. to 17/8 C.E.), in his Metamorphoses (ca. 8 C.E.), used the word in a similar fashion: the phrase “Lethaei gramine succi” (Bk. VII, line 152) translates roughly as “using an herb of lethean juice.” Such examples are plentiful. Letheon , in fact, is not a Latin form, nor can we locate any translator who used it to construe anything in Virgil or other writers of the time.

Bergman, consulting Tallmadge, possibly looked past the word Lethean , relying on the mind’s eye to supply Letheon where it did not exist. Lethean was as unusual to late 20th-century scholars as it continues to be today. Nuland, tumbling into and out of an apocryphal story about the naming experience generally, has more to answer for. Both, though, point us to more expansive terrain, that of the classical canon generally and works more familiar to our learned 19th-century counterparts than to most of us today.

By 1846, when Gould, Bigelow, and Holmes joined with Morton in a rather hurried attempt to name his compound, the word Letheon had in fact been neatly (if rather quietly) embedded in the French language if not the English for well over a century ( fig. 4 ). Might Gould have heard or read of a mountain or perhaps a high hill named Letheon, to which at least three 18th-century French geographers, drawing on the work of master cartographer Abraham Ortelius (1527–1598), had directed their readers? And what possible significance might that outcropping have had as Gould gave some thought to names for Morton’s “preparation”? This Italian mountain, located in the Campania region of Italy, is not found on any map we have been able to locate, though Ortelius gave his readers to think such a place might indeed have existed, at least according to Lycophron ( fig. 5 ). And who, we ask, was Lycophron?

The name Letheon in an 18th-century French dictionary. Translated into English as: “Letheon, a high mountain in Italy, according to Lycophron. Ortelius believes it was in Campania.” From: Antoine-Augustin Bruzen la Martinière’s Le Grand Dictionnaire Géographique et Critique. Tome Cinquiéme. Premiere Partie. K. L. , 1735, p. 169. Image source gallica.bnf.fr / Bibliothèque Nationale De France (National Library of France), Paris, France.

Abraham Ortelius’ note on Letheon in Thesaurus Geographicus (Antwerp, 1587, unnumbered page): “LETHEON, ληθέων, Italia mons excelsus, (in Campania ut puto) Lycophroni.” Ortelius’ note translates into English as: “LETHEON, a high mountain in Italy (in Campania, or so I think) [according to] Lycophron.” This is the earliest reference we have found in print employing the word Letheon . Image reproduced with the permission of Bayerische Staatsbibliothek (Bavarian State Library), Munich, Germany. Call number: Hbks/B 1 a. urn:nbn:de:bvb:12-bsb10801539-7. Image 347.

Gould would likely have had an answer. Attributed to the Hellenistic scholar Lycophron of Chalcides (ca. 320 B.C.E. to ca. 280 B.C.E.) are the obscurely riddling 1,474 lines of iambic trimeter comprising Alexandra , a poem that had vexed undergraduate readers of Greek for centuries. We can surmise that it was familiar to Gould and his young Harvard contemporaries, who, making their way through the classical canon, might have come across the unusual place-name Lethaiōn (a novel lengthened form of Lēthē existing nowhere else). Noted by 12th-century commentators ( fig. 6 ), and translated into English by the early 19th century as Lethæon , the word identified a spot passed by the wandering Odysseus: “Thence from Lethæon’s hills I mark him fare” (Viscount Royston, Cassandra , 1806, p. 52, line 819). This Lethæon, located near what we know today as Lake Avernus, close to the ancient Greek colony at Cumae, and a cave considered by Virgil as the entrance to the Underworld, shared in a mythology of earthly existence, of the passage between this world and the next. Implicit parallels to the earlier Greek Lethe immediately come to mind, especially when “Lethæon’s hills” are understood to represent a rare restful stop in a troubled landscape of “hoarse-resounding Acherusian waves; /…by where Prosérpine’s grove / With gloomy foliage sheds infernal night; / By the red waves of fiery Phlegethon…/ By black Avernus; by Cocytus’ wave, / Where sobs, and shrieks, and other voice than song / Pierce the dull ear of Night…” (Royston, 1806, lines 810–822). What 19th-century armchair classicists, while helping a young dentist name a new “preparation,” might have made of this is of course unknown but not, we posit, beyond all conjecture. (For more on this particular line of inquiry, see appendix, “ Letheon , Lycophron, and the Classical Canon.”)

Note on Ληθαιωνος (Lethaiōnos) in line 703 of Lycophron’s Alexandra , in Scholia Tzetzae [Commentary of Isaac and Johannes Tzetzes] , edited by Christian Gottfried Müller (Liepzig, 1811). Scholia Tzetzae reads “Lethaiōnos] Lethaiōn, odos hupselon Italias” (“of Lethaiōn] Lethaiōn, a high path or way in Italy”); hence, by extension, a lofty place, a slope, a hill, as reflected in Hornblower’s translation, “the high hill of Lethaion,” or Royston’s “Lethæon’s hills.” Image source Hathi Trust. Book source Columbia University, New York, New York. Digitized by Google.

Recalling the French tradition that finds the word Letheon in 18th-century texts, we are perhaps not as surprised as we otherwise might be at a bit of shipping news twelve years before Morton gave the name to his compound. On August 1, 1834, the Baltimore [Maryland] Patriot and Mercantile Advertiser reported the French brig Armede [ sic ] had cleared the port of Charleston, South Carolina on July 24, having debarked from Senegal, Africa, under Shipmaster or Captain Letheon. On August 7, the New-York Spectator announced that the same French brig L’Armide , under Captain Letheon, out of Senegal, Africa, had cleared the port of Savannah, Georgia. Whoever he was—assuming, that is, the newspapers are correct in their spelling—Captain Letheon is a mystery to us today.

Although we now have more insight into the etymology of Letheon , the date when Morton adopted the name remains elusive. Although dates ranging from November 2 to November 21 have been suggested by anesthesia historians, no definitive citations or original documentation were provided to substantiate the various claims. In fact, no date can be adduced with certainty from 19th-century sources. That no one—not Morton himself, not Gould, Bigelow, or Holmes—seems to have memorialized the date remains a quirk of history. At best, Holmes’ November 21 letter suggesting “anæsthesia” as a name might flag a period around which Morton solicited suggestions for a name.

Letheon : A Primer for the Present Day

The implication that the name Letheon was coined sometime in October 1846 is of course incorrect. Again, the name Letheon was not used by Morton on October 16, 1846, and the name did not appear in the Jackson-Morton patent application on October 27, 1846.

A surprisingly large number of anesthesiologists, historians, and authors have been notably slipshod in referring to Letheon in various essays and reviews, as the following three examples will illustrate.

F. D. Moore, M.D., reviewing the story of J. C. Warren’s “act of conscience” in allowing Morton into the operating theater on November 7, 1846, for a “capital” operation, proceeds carefully enough in telling the story but then muddies the waters: “We realize now that there were two adverse factors at work, two severe problems for Warren to face, over the use of this ‘preparation,’ this ‘invention,’ this ‘Letheon’ of Morton’s on the morning of Friday, Oct. 16, 1846.” 19   This Letheon of Morton’s would not be known by that name for well over a month after the October 16 demonstration of surgical etherization.

James Tayloe Gwathmey, M.D., in his textbook Anesthesia , noted, “On October 27, 1846, Morton and Jackson sought to patent their anesthetic under the name of ‘Letheon.’ From its odor it was soon recognized as ‘sulphuric ether.’” 20  

The journal Anesthesiology , announcing in 2017 its first annual “Letheon” poetry prize, has this: “in 1846 William Morton shiftily attempted to patent the anesthetic as ‘letheon,’ channeling the mystique of classical mythology.” 21  

In a sense, these and others can be forgiven the lapses. The chronology was confused from the outset by careless editors and physician-writers. Very early on, The Boston Medical and Surgical Journal (January 20, 1847) published anonymous correspondence under the banner: “The Patent ‘Letheon.’” 22   Three months later, in an article titled, “The Patent Letheon—Jackson and Morton’s Specification,” an anonymous correspondent identified only as “S” wrote, “It has been repeatedly said that Dr. Jackson is not concerned in the Patent for the Letheon,” before going on to rehearse Jackson’s share in the signal discovery. 23  

The phrase, “The patent for the Letheon,” which confuses discussion to this day, has an obvious appeal to writers old and new. Though a convenient shorthand reference, it does, however, promulgate an historical error. No great harm is done in simplifying what was, at the time, a swirl of both public and private activity. Still, we do well to remember that things do slot into place on a timeline that we ought to correct with each new bit of information we find.

Buoyed by the success of his public demonstration of ether anesthesia on October 16, 1846, at the Massachusetts General Hospital, William T. G. Morton undertook to protect his as yet undisclosed “preparation.” On October 27, 1846, he joined with Dr. Charles T. Jackson in seeking an American patent. In November, or early December, 1846, Morton enlisted the help of some of Boston’s leading physicians regarding a commercial name for his “preparation.” He settled on the neologism Letheon (as suggested by Augustus Addison Gould, M.D., and Henry Jacob Bigelow, M.D.).

The provenance of the name is conjectural. We have not identified a first-hand account of the coinage of Letheon . The primary participants did not leave letters, diaries, or daybooks in which they offered a rationale for the name nor did they reveal any information in their publications on etherization or in the various affidavits published in Morton’s Statements volume. Though the word Letheon undoubtedly has roots in the Greek Lēthē (forgetfulness, oblivion), it may also have stemmed from the common adjective Lethean (causing oblivion or forgetfulness), much in use by 19th-century writers. Possibly, too, an element of wordplay common to the era informed the coinage.

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Support for this study was provided solely from the authors’ personal funds.

Competing Interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

Appendix: Letheon , Lycophron, and the Classical Canon

Augustus A. Gould, Henry J. Bigelow, and Oliver Wendell Holmes were all proficient in Latin and Greek, quizzed since their school days in the classical canon. Perhaps the branding of ether as Letheon owed something to such training beyond the simple note that Lēthē might be adduced as Letheon ’s root. We have already remarked on the misguided notion that Letheon derives from Virgil’s lethaeus (“causing forgetfulness”); one overlooked source for Letheon is the Greek Ληθαιων ( Lethaiōn or Lethæon ), a neologism found in the poem Alexandra , attributed to the 3rd-century-B.C.E. poet and grammarian Lycophron of Chalcides.

Among the most gifted American students to do postgraduate work at the University of Göttingen in central Germany was Harvard’s Edward Everett (1794–1865). After earning his A.B., summa cum laude , in 1811 and his A.M. in Divinity Studies in 1814, he took a doctorate at Göttingen, the first American to do so, in 1817. Installed at Harvard in 1815 as the inaugural Eliot Professor of Greek Literature, he had traveled to Göttingen for two years’ tutoring under the guidance of the distinguished classicist G. Ludolf Dissen (1784–1837) 1 ; Everett toured Europe for two additional years, returning to his post at Harvard in 1819. Dissen screened preceptees like Everett with the same intentionally obscure 1,474 lines of lyric Greek poetry with which the poet John Milton had tested himself: Alexandra , attributed to Lycophron. 2

A daughter of Troy’s King Priam, Cassandra (or “Alexandra”) was blessed by Apollo with the gift of prophecy but was cursed, after rebuffing him, with universal disbelief of her predictions. She even foresaw that Ajax the Lesser would rape her after dragging her from the temple of the goddess Athena when the Greeks sacked Troy. When Ajax avoided punishment for his crime, an enraged Athena condemned the Grecian fleet, even the ships commanded by Odysseus, to destruction or a trying voyage home. On reaching Mycenae with Cassandra now his concubine, the Greeks’ commander-in-chief, Agamemnon, and the hapless Cassandra were murdered by his wife, Clytemnestra, or Aegisthus, her lover.

Riddled with obscurities, Lycophron’s Alexandra , a prophetic pronouncement on various fates of Greek and Trojan warriors, is difficult to follow even in English. “The rivers and lakes of the underworld,” notes Oxford classicist Simon Hornblower, “conventionally located in Campania, are the subject of some powerfully evocative lines,” among them: “He leaves the high hill of Lethaion, / and lake Aornos encircled by a noose, / and the river of Kokytos violently roaring in darkness, / tributary of black Styx…” (lines 703–706). 3 The subject of these lines is Odysseus. But where exactly are we, and what of this “high hill of Lethaion,” an apparent verbal cousin to a Greek place (a plain, a house, a river) of oblivion?

The Greek text of Alexandra contained the hitherto unknown word Ληθαιωνος ( Lethaiōnos ), the genitive (or possessive) case of Ληθαιων ( Lethaiōn or Lethæon ), a lengthened form of Lēthē not found elsewhere in the Greek canon. In an 1811 edition of a standard commentary—that of the Byzantine poet and grammarian Joannes Tzetzes (ca. 1110–1180) and his brother Isaac (d. 1138)—we (as did our 19th-century counterparts) find the word Lethaiōnos (meaning “of Lethaiōn”; i.e ., the genitive singular of the proper noun) set off by a bracket with the foundational Lethaiōn referenced alongside, the latter identified as “a high path or way in Italy” ( fig. 6 ). 4 Hornblower explains, “Lyk[ophron] wished to mention as many of the rivers of the Underworld as possible, but Lethe, River of Forgetfulness, was post-Homeric (it featured most famously in the Myth of Er, Pl[ato]. Rep[ublic] , 621a); so the name, or an enlarged adaptation of it to suit a mountain, could be introduced into the Campanian narrative only by a bold fictional creation.” 5 Lycophron, in effect, imagined the word Lethaiōn as the name of a mountain in the Campania region of Italy when he set his story there.

Back now to American students of Göttingen’s Professor Dissen. Puzzlement, we might imagine, ruled whenever the Alexandra came out. But they had the Tzetzes' commentary for grammatical, geographical, and even thematic help, and it sufficed to a point. They might have been helped as well by a translation by Philip Yorke, Viscount Royston (1784–1808), an 1803 graduate of St. John’s College, Cambridge. Prepared while he was an undergraduate, privately printed in 1806 by the Cambridge University Press, and published posthumously in 1816, Viscount Royston’s rendering reads in part: “Thence from Lethæon’s hills I mark him [ i.e ., Odysseus] fare / By black Avernus; by Cocytus’ wave,” and so on. Royston, following Tzetzes, identifies “Lethæon” simply as “a mountain of Italy,” but tellingly notes of “Avernus or Aornos” that it is “a lake near the Lucrine, and surrounded with woods, according to Virgil….” (Here Royston notes Virgil’s Aeneid , Bk. 3, line 442). 6 In John Dryden’s expansive rendering of Virgil’s epic poem, the speaker warns the Trojan hero Aeneas, “Arriv’d at Cumæ, when you view the flood / Of black Avernus, and the sounding wood, / The mad prophetic Sibyl you shall find, / Dark in a cave, and on a rock reclin’d” ( Aen . Bk. 3, trans. Dryden, Vol. 13, The Harvard Classics, 1909, p. 145). The reference is to the Cumaean Sibyl, guide to the Underworld, to whom Aeneas applies for assistance in finding the spirit of his dead father. To descend is easy, she tells him, “The gates of hell are open night and day; / Smooth the descent, and easy is the way: / But to return, and view the cheerful skies, / In this the task and mighty labor lies” ( Aen . Bk. 6, trans. Dryden, 1909, p. 216).

The Lethaiōn of the Tzetzes’ commentary made its way into at least three 18th-century French geographies, all of which simplified the Latin spelling Lethæon to Letheon . 7–9 The earliest—Antoine-Augustin Bruzen la Martinière’s Le Grand Dictionnaire Géographique et Critique (1735)—announces: “LETHEON, haute montagne d’Italie, selon Lycophron” ( i.e ., “Letheon, a high mountain in Italy, according to Lycophron”; fig. 4 ). 7 In fact, this might more properly have read, “Letheon, a high mountain in Italy, according to a commentary on Lycophron’s Alexandra .”

Bruzen la Martinière continues, “Ortelius croit qu’elle étoit dans la Campanie” or, fleshing it out a bit, “The Brabantian master cartographer and geographer Abraham Ortelius (1527–1598) believes this Letheon was in Campania.” In his Thesaurus Geographicus (1587), Ortelius specifically references the place-name Letheon , identifying it as “ληθέων, Italia mons excelsus, (in Campania ut puto) Lycophroni” or “Letheon, a high mountain in Italy (in Campania, or so I think), [according to] Lycophron” ( fig. 5 ). 10 The substitution of the accented Greek letter epsilon ( έ ) for the Greek diphthong ai perhaps provides a clue to the rendering in the Thesaurus and the simplified spelling thereafter. Whatever the case, we need note only that Ortelius was likely reporting an historical myth; he probably knew of the Tzetzes’ commentary (“Lethaiōn, a high path or way in Italy”), and possibly extrapolated from geographical insights gleaned from Virgil. And as for Bruzen la Martinière, his definition of Aornos (Lake Avernus) relies in part on Virgil, who said the Greeks associated the lake with a Cumaean cave that the Roman’s knew as the entrance to the Underworld ( Aen . Bk. 6, line 239). Tellingly, a century hence, a British geography relying not on a poet of antiquity but on observed realities, the Thesaurus Geographicus. A New Body of Geography: Or, a Compleat Description of the Earth…Collected with great Care from the most approv’d Geographers and Modern Travellers and Discoveries, by several Hands (London: Printed for Abel Swall and Tim. Child, 1695) makes no mention of a mountain named Letheon in Italy.

We cannot know how much of this someone like Edward Everett would have been aware of. Of Lycophron’s Alexandra and Virgil’s Aeneid ? Of course. Of a 12th-century commentary, reprinted in a German edition of 1811, that had introduced the word Lethaiōn ? Yes, more than likely. Of a simplified spelling in French? Possibly. And we cannot know how much of this he imparted to his students, one of whom, Augustus Addison Gould, was a student during Everett’s final years at Harvard as Eliot Professor. We can only speculate whether, in 1846, Gould would have remembered Lycophron or Virgil in attempting a name for Morton’s “preparation.” But Lēthē , the name of a river and goddess, doubtless opened onto thoughts of the common adjective Lethean and possibly to Lethæon , the name of a mythical mountain, a simplified spelling of which Morton would seize on as the commercial name with which to present his preparation to a waiting world. A single verbal thread here ties together the Greek notion of an afterlife as oblivion with the Roman idea of descent into and emergence from a dark place of spirits. And we can only speculate whether, in thinking through the state of insensibility he sought to explain, Gould would have remembered his Aeneid , as versified by Dryden ( Aen . Bk. 6, trans. Dryden, 1909, p. 216): “Smooth the descent…/ But to return, and view the cheerful skies, / In this the task and mighty labor lies.” A few inhalations of the ethereal gas, and smooth the descent into insensibility, then the physician’s fine labor to retrieve the insensible soul so that the cheerful skies should open and a conscious delight be restored.

Varg PA: Edward Everett: The Intellectual in the Turmoil of Politics. Selinsgrove, PA, Susquehanna University Press, 1992, pp. 21–2

Hale JK: Milton’s Languages: The Impact of Multilingualism on Style. Cambridge, UK, Cambridge University Press, 1997, pp. 75–6

Hornblower S: Lykophron’s Alexandra, Rome, and the Hellenistic World. Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2018, p. 110 and p. 110, n.15

Tzetzes I, Tzetzes J: Isaakiou Kai Iōannou Tou Tzetzou Scholia Eis Lykophrona, Volumina Tria [Commentary on Lykophron. In Three Volumes]. Christ[ian] Gottfried Müller, ed. Lipsiae, F.C.G. Vogelii, 1811, p. 748

Hornblower S: Lykophron: Alexandra. Greek Text, Translation, Commentary, and Introduction. Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2015, p. 290

Yorke P (Viscount Royston): Cassandra, Translated from the Original Greek of Lycophron, and Illustrated with Notes. The Classical Journal (London) 1816; 14:16–7

Bruzen la Martinière [A-A]: Le Grand Dictionnaire Géographique et Critique. Tome Cinquiéme. Premiere Partie. K. L. [The Great Geographic and Critical Dictionary, Vol. 5, Part 1, K through L.] 1735, p. 169

Sabbathier [F]: Dictionnaire pour l’Intelligence des Auteurs Classiques, Grecs et Latins, Tant Sacrés que Profanes, Contenant la Géographie, l’Histoire, la Fable, et les Antiquités. Tome Vingt-Cinquieme. [A Dictionary of Things Relating to Greek and Latin Authors, both Sacred and Profane, Containing Geography, History, Folklore, and Fables. Volume 25.] Paris, Chez Delalain, 1778, p. 187

Mentelle [E]: Encyclopédie Méthodique. Géographie Ancienne. Tome Second. [Methodical Encyclopedia. Ancient Geography. Volume II.] Paris, Chez Panckoucke, 1789, p. 270

Ortelius A. Thesaurus Geographicus. Antwerp, Christophori Plantini, 1587

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