Editing Lethe (section)

==Infernal river==
Lethe, the river of forgetfulness, is one of the five rivers of the [[Greek underworld]]; the other four are [[Acheron]] (the river of sorrow), [[Cocytus]] (the river of lamentation), [[Phlegethon]] (the river of fire)  and [[Styx]] (the river that separates Earth and the Underworld). According to [[Statius]], Lethe bordered [[Elysium]], the final resting place of the virtuous. [[Ovid]] wrote that the river flowed through the cave of Hypnos, god of sleep, where its murmuring would induce drowsiness.

The [[Shade (mythology)|shades of the dead]] were required to drink the waters of the Lethe in order to forget their earthly life. In the ''[[Aeneid]]'' (VI.703-751), [[Virgil]] writes that it is only when the dead have had their memories erased by the Lethe that they may be [[reincarnation|reincarnated]].

The river Lethe was said to be located next to [[Hades]]'s palace in the underworld under a cypress tree. [[Orpheus]] would give some shades (the Greek term for ghosts or spirits) a password to tell Hades's servants which would allow them to drink instead from the [[Mnemosyne]] (the pool of memory), which was located under a poplar tree.<ref name=":02">{{Cite book|last=Graves|first=Robert|title=Greek Gods and Heroes|publisher=RosettaBooks|year=2014|pages=16}}</ref> An [https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/G_1843-0724-3 Orphic inscription], said to be dated from between the second and third century B.C., warns readers to avoid the Lethe and to seek the [[Mnemosyne]] instead. Drinkers of the Lethe's water would not be quenched of their thirst, often causing them to drink more than necessary.<ref name=":02" />