Saturday, July 09, 2005

Lethe


Lethe, n. An infernal river whose waters caused those who drank them to forget all they knew; whereas the drinker of Spring Valley forgets nothing but the third commandment and the pious precepts of a sainted mother.


Matelda (Immersion in Lethe) by Gustave Dore

2005 Update: According to Dante, the river dividing Purgatory from Terrestrial Paradise. Manhattanites claim to have identified this as the Harlem although the consensus in the Quad Cities has the Mississippi.

21 comments:

Anonymous said...

Drink favored by politicians and CEO's.

Sar said...

Piggybacking Weirsdo's comment...perhaps true origin of the phrase "don't drink the water".

Unknown said...

Now I really do understand why Evian spelled backward is naive....

Doug The Una said...

Weirsdo and Sar, that's why in small companies we use Lethal Kool-Aid.

a4g, you must be right. I can never remember why I buy that stuff.

Spriritdancer, you think someone forgot how to print the label?

Jamie Dawn said...

Love the comments, so far. Bright and witty people!
I think I unknowingly drank some of that water, because I forgot what I was going to say.

TLP said...

Which third commandment?
For Catholics and Lutherans, the third commandment is
"Remember to keep holy the Lord's Day."

For Jews, and for Protestants other than Lutherans, the third commandment is "Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain."

But I've forgotten where I was going with this... I think maybe I've been drinking too much.

Unknown said...

water water everywhere and not a drop to drink

Tom & Icy said...

Heck, it's just fun to roll in that Mississippi mud!

Doug The Una said...

Jamie Dawn, I have clever friends. You're an example.

Tan Lucy, I'm sure he meant the latter, But I'm glad you brought it up. I've been trying to figure the Sunday angle.

Karma, dear, the Melville site is two over :-)

You bet, Icy, from either side,

Lila said...

Who knew?

Cooper said...

I knew. My grandmother told me one day as we were sitting beside the Potomac River looking, from a distance, at the Washington monument.


"
If the river leaves a lot of trash, it will come back some time soon to get it."

author unknown"

Doug The Una said...

Aral, don't listen to Alice. I'm pretty sure it isn't the potomac.

Doug The Una said...

I take that back. Isn't Potomac Fever memory loss?

Anonymous said...

Doug: What's this Melville business? Karma's quoting from Coleridge.

Doug The Una said...

&*^%&^#$@#^!!!!, Weirsdo, I was afraid of that. Look, all I know about Coleridge I learned from Iron Maiden Happy?

Actonbell, Dogs and Dougs are affected the worst.

Anonymous said...

It is just plain ole tap water Doug!

Anonymous said...
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Anonymous said...

Hey that was me...hit enter way to fast! In a hurry I guess!

haven't seen u ! u mad?

Doug The Una said...

Morningdew! Tap water and oxygen both make me forgetful. Never mad at you. Be right over.

Minka said...

Lethe is also called the River of Oblivion...in that sense I can see the connection between politics and Greek mythology :)

Doug The Una said...

Right, Monika. To paraphrase our President "You're either with us or oblivious"