Nepenthe 597589 224919446 2008-07-11T00:23:17Z 67.170.33.167 wikified '''Nepenthe''' is a drug of forgetfulness mentioned in [[Greek mythology]], depicted as originating in [[Egypt]]. The word "Nepenthe" first appears in the fourth book (vv. 220-221) of the ''[[Odyssey]]'' of [[Homer]]. Literally, it means "the one that chases away sorrow" (''ne'' = not, ''penthos'' = grief, sorrow). In the ''Odyssey'', "Nepenthes pharmakon" (i.e. a [[drug]] that chases away sorrow) is a magical potion given to Helen by an Egyptian queen. It quells all sorrows with forgetfulness. Many scholars think that nepenthe might have been an [[opium]] preparation, perhaps similar to [[laudanum]]. Alternatively, some believe it could have been an Egyptian wormwood elixir.{{Fact|date=January 2008}} (Refer to [[absinthe]], history.) However, the descriptions in literature of the effects of nepenthe are similar to how the effects of opiates are described. The [[carnivorous plant]] [[genus]] ''[[Nepenthes]]'' is named after the drug nepenthe. ==References to nepenthe== ===Poetry=== *In [[Edmund Spenser]]'s ''[[The Faerie Queene]]'', book 4, canto 3, the effect of the drink is extended: "''such as drinck, eternall happinesse do fynd''" (verse 43). Spenser likens Nepenthe to the magic potion from [[Ariosto]]'s ''[[Orlando furioso]]''. *[[George Chapman]] refers to Nepenthe in [[Ovid's Banquet of Sense]], stanza 10, line 1: "''Sacred Nepenthe, purgatiue of care''". *In [[John Milton|Milton]]'s ''[[Comus (John Milton)|Comus]]'', lines 675-8, Comus says of his julep that "''Not that Nepenthes which the wife of Thone/In Egypt gave to Jove-born Helena /Is of such power to stir up joy as this''". *[[Alexander Pope]] made the reference ''"Lulled with the sweet nepenthe of a court"'' in his poem ''[[An Essay on Man]]''. *In "[[The Raven]]", a poem by [[Edgar Allan Poe]] there is a reference to "quaffing nepenthe" in order to forget a lost love: ''"Quaff, oh quaff this kind nepenthe, and forget this lost Lenore!"''. *Lines 358-359 of [[Percy Bysshe Shelley]]'s "The Triumph of Life" read: "In her right hand she bore a crystal glass/ Mantling with bright Nepenthe". *Nepenthe is mentioned in [[George Arnold]]'s poem ''Wool-Gathering''. *Erasmus mentions Nepenthe in the opening paragraphs of ''In Praise of Folly.'' *Nepenthe is employed by [[Charles Baudelaire]] in his poem ''Le Léthe''. *''Nepenthe'' is the name of a collection of [[poetry]] published in [[1921]] by Greek poet [[Kostas Karyotakis]]. It was his second collection. ===Books and novels=== *In chapter 4 of [[Nathaniel Hawthorne]]'s novel, ''[[The Scarlet Letter]]'', Roger Chillingworth claims, "I know not [[Lethe]] nor Nepenthe." *Pliny makes reference to Nepenthe.<ref>21.5.I2</ref> *Nepenthe is also the fictional name of the island in Norman Douglas' novel ''South Wind''. *When the [[Spacer (Asimov)|Spacer]] woman [[Gladia Delmarre]] makes love to the detective [[Elijah Baley]] in [[Isaac Asimov]]'s [[science fiction]] novel ''[[The Robots of Dawn]],'' the exhausted Bailey finds "this utterly soft end of a hard day... as [[soporific]] as the fabled nepenthe...." *In [[Patricia McKillip]]'s novel ''[[Alphabet of Thorn]]'', Nepenthe is the name of the main character. *In [[Alan Moore]]'s graphic novel ''[[Watchmen]]'', Sally Jupiter (the [[Silk Spectre]]) lives in a retirement home named Nepenthe Gardens, an allusion to the painful romantic relationships of her past. *[[H. P. Lovecraft]] referenced nepenthe in one of the famous final lines from his story [[The Outsider (short story)|"The Outsider"]]: ''"For although nepenthe has calmed me, I know always that I am an outsider..."'' ===Lyrics=== *[[USA|American]] [[death metal]] band [[Nile (band)|Nile]] mentions nepenthe in their song "Beneath Eternal Oceans of Sand" from their first album ''[[Amongst the Catacombs of Nephren-Ka]]'': "''In the cosmos / There is balm as well as bitterness / And that balm is Nepenthe''". The song is inspired by Lovecraft's short story. *"Nepenthe" is a song by [[Finland|Finnish]] metal band [[Sentenced]], released on their fourth album, ''[[Amok]]''. Nepenthe is used as a metaphor for alcohol; the song is about drinking to forget one's sorrows. *"The Nepenthes" is a song by the Japanese rock band [[L'Arc~en~Ciel]]. *Songwriter [[Jimmy Webb]] mostly wrote about one lost love. A song on the Webb-produced ''Magic Garden'' album by the Fifth Dimension contains a song called "Dream, Pax, Nepenthe", a bittersweet memory of a time they were together. A southern California resident, Webb may also have referenced the Big Sur restaurant (see below). *In the song "Calgone" on the album ''[[S.C.I.E.N.C.E.]]'' by [[Incubus (band)|Incubus]], the second verse ends with the line "Come sail aboard ''USS Nepenthe''!" ===Popular culture=== *''Nepenthe'' is a restaurant in [[Big Sur]], known for its views of the rugged coastline. An eponymous track on the Mannheim Steamroller album ''[[Fresh Aire VI]]'' was inspired by the view from this restaurant. *Nepenthe Productions was a production company name used by [[Martin Rosen (director)|Martin Rosen]] for several films he directed, two of them (''[[Watership Down (film)|Watership Down]]'' and ''[[The Plague Dogs (film)|The Plague Dogs]]'') adaptations of [[Richard Adams (author)|Richard Adams]] novels. *Nepenthean Music is the publishing company of jazz pianist and composer [[Michael Weiss]]. *In ''[[Mystery Science Theater 3000]]'' episode 901 "[[The Projected Man]]," nepenthe is used (somewhat satirically) to describe a plea from ghosts: ''Observer: "I'm sensing the presence of several disembodied souls... wandering these dark halls in search of surcease, an end to their endless night... a howl of quiet desperation... towards an indifferent universe. Nepenthe! Nepenthe!"'' *Nepente is also the name of a wine produced in the town named [[Oliena]], in [[Sardinia]]. *In [[Kurt Wimmer]]'s 2002 science-fiction film [[Equilibrium (2002 film)|''Equilibrium'']], Nepenthe is used by Father to describe Prozium, the drug used to quell emotion. "Prozium -- the great nepenthe. Opiate of our masses. Glue of our great society. Salve and salvation, it has delivered us from pathos, from sorrow, the deepest chasms of melancholy and hate. With it, we anesthetize grief, annihilate jealousy, obliterate rage. That those sister impulses towards joy, love, and elation are anesthetized in stride, we accept as fair sacrifice. For we embrace Prozium in its unifying fullness and all that it has done to make us great." *In [http://www.acls.org/op17.htm ''A Life of Learning''], [[American Council of Learned Societies]] Occasional Paper No. 17 ([[Charles Homer Haskins]] Lecture for 1991), [[Milton Babbitt]] noted "the subsequent and continuing triumph of what [[Nelson Goodman]] has called the Tingle-Immersion theory, which—when applied to music—demands that music be anyone’s [[anodyne]], a non-habit forming nepenthe." ==References== {{Reflist}} [[Category:Odyssey]] [[Category:Fictional drugs]] [[de:Nepenthes (Mythologie)]] [[la:Nepenthes]]