In the old Greek stories, Lethe is a river in Hades, the land under the ground where the dead were said to go. The dead drank its water and forgot their lives on earth — every name, every hurt, every love. The name itself means forgetfulness.

In the old Greek stories在古希臘故事裡, LetheLethe is a river in Hades是冥府Hades裡的一條河, the land under the ground那個地底下的國度 where the dead were said to go據說死者會去那裡. The dead drank its water死者喝了它的水 and forgot their lives on earth就忘記了他們在人間的一生 — every name, every hurt, every love每一個名字、每一種傷痛、每一段愛. The name itself這個名字本身 means forgetfulness意思就是「遺忘」.

Poets still reach for Lethe when they want a picture of wiping memory clean, or of a sleep so deep it feels like forgetting. You will meet it in myths, in poems, and in notes on ancient Greece, not in the supermarket.

Poets still reach for Lethe詩人還是會用Lethe when they want a picture of想描繪 wiping memory clean把記憶徹底抹去的畫面, or of a sleep so deep it feels like forgetting或是深到像遺忘一樣的睡眠. You will meet it你會在 in myths, in poems, and in notes on ancient Greece神話、詩，以及講古希臘的筆記裡遇到它, not in the supermarket而不是在超市裡.

It is a name, so it takes a capital L. Say it LEE-thee (two beats; th as in think).

It is a name它是一個專有名詞, so it takes a capital L所以字首L要大寫. Say it LEE-thee念作LEE-thee (two beats; th as in think)（兩個音節；th的發音跟think一樣）.

It is easy to look at Lethe and think of lethal (“able to kill”), but that is a different family: lethal comes from a Latin word for death, not from this river. The real relatives in English are lethargy and lethargic, which borrowed the Greek “forgetting / sluggish” root.

It is easy to look at Lethe很容易看到Lethe and think of lethal就聯想到lethal ("able to kill")（意思是「能致命的」）, but that is a different family但那是不同的字族: lethal comes from a Latin word for deathlethal來自一個表示「死亡」的拉丁字, not from this river而不是來自這條河. The real relatives in English英文裡真正的親戚字 are lethargy and lethargic是lethargy和lethargic, which borrowed the Greek "forgetting / sluggish" root它們借用了希臘文「遺忘／遲鈍」這個字根.