Nepenthe

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Nepenthe Template:IPAc-en (Template:Langx, Template:Transliteration) is a possibly fictional medicine for sorrow – a "drug of forgetfulness" mentioned in ancient Greek literature and Greek mythology, depicted as originating in Egypt.<ref name="LSJ">Template:LSJ.</ref>

The carnivorous plant genus Nepenthes is named after the drug nepenthe.

In the Odyssey

The word {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} first appears in the fourth book of Homer's Odyssey:

Analysis

Figuratively, nepenthe means "that which chases away sorrow". Literally it means 'not-sorrow' or 'anti-sorrow': {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}, Template:Transliteration, i.e. "not" (privative prefix),<ref name="LSJ1">Template:LSJ</ref> and {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}, from {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}, Template:Transliteration, i.e. "grief, sorrow, or mourning".<ref name="LSJ2">Template:LSJ.</ref>

In the Odyssey, νηπενθές φάρμακον : Template:Transliteration (i.e. an anti-sorrow drug) is a magical potion given to Helen by Polydamna, the wife of the noble Egyptian Thon; it quells all sorrows with forgetfulness.