View source for Minthe

{{Short description|Greek Naiad nymph}}
{{About|the nymph|the plant|Mentha||Minthe (disambiguation)}}
{{Infobox deity
| type = Greek
| god_of = Chthonic Naiad nymph
| name = Minthe
| image = File:Mint-leaves-2007.jpg
| caption = Close-up of mint leaves
| abode = [[Greek Underworld|Underworld]]
| consort = [[Hades]]
| father = [[Cocytus]]
| symbols = [[Mentha|Mint]]
| script_name = Greek
| script = Μίνθη
}}

In [[ancient Greek religion]] and [[Greek mythology]], '''Minthe''' or '''Mintha''' ({{langx|grc|Μίνθη|Mínthē|mint}}) is an [[Greek underworld|underworld]] [[naiad]] associated with the river [[Cocytus]]. She was beloved by and mistress to [[Hades]], the king of the underworld, but she was transformed into a [[mentha|mint]] plant by either his wife [[Persephone]] or her mother [[Demeter]].{{sfn|Smith|1873|loc=s.v. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0104%3Aalphabetic+letter%3DM%3Aentry+group%3D26%3Aentry%3Dmintha-bio-1 Mintha]}}<ref>{{cite web | first = Rosemary M. | last = Wright | title = A Dictionary of Classical Mythology: Summary of Transformations | website = mythandreligion.upatras.gr | url = http://mythandreligion.upatras.gr/english/__trashed/ | access-date = January 3, 2023 | publisher = [[University of Patras]] | archive-date = December 30, 2022 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20221230130135/http://mythandreligion.upatras.gr/english/__trashed/ | url-status = dead }}</ref> The plant was also called by some as hedyosmos ({{langx|grc|ἡδύοσμος}}), which means "sweet-smelling".<ref>[[Strabo]], ''[[Geographica]]'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0198:book=8:chapter=3&highlight=minthe 8.3]</ref>

== Etymology ==
The ancient Greek noun {{lang|grc|μίνθη}} or {{lang|grc|μίνθα}} translates to 'mint'.{{sfn|Liddell|Scott|1940|loc=s.v. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aalphabetic+letter%3D*m%3Aentry+group%3D70%3Aentry%3Dmi%2Fnqa%5E μίνθα]}}{{sfn|Bailly|1935|page=[https://archive.org/details/BaillyDictionnaireGrecFrancais/page/1285/mode/1up?view=theater 1285]}} According to [[Robert S. P. Beekes|Robert Beekes]], it is of undoubtedly [[pre-Greek substrate|pre-Greek]] origin due to the variant ending in "-ᾰ".{{sfn|Beekes|2010|page=955}} The ''-nth-''/''-nthos-'' element in ''menthe'' has been described as a characteristic of a class of words borrowed from a [[Pre-Greek]] language: compare ''[[Acanthus (plant)|akanthos]]'', ''[[Zakynthos]]'', ''[[labyrinth]]os'', ''[[Corinth|Korinthos]]'', and ''[[Hyacinth (plant)|hyakinthos]]''.{{sfn|Colvin|2014|pages = [https://books.google.com/books?id=Wd9nAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA29 29–31]}} The word has been also found in a [[Bronze Age]] tablet, spelled in [[Linear B]] as {{lang|gmy|{{script|Linb|𐀖𐀲}}}} (mi-ta).<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.palaeolexicon.com/Word/Show/16811/ | title = mi-ta | website = www.palaeolexicon.com | access-date = February 8, 2023}}</ref>

== Mythology ==
{{Greek myth (nymph)}}

The [[naiad]] Minthe, daughter of the infernal river-god [[Cocytus]], became concubine to [[Hades]], the lord of the [[Greek underworld|Underworld]] and god of the dead.{{sfn|Grimal|1996|page=286}}<ref>[[Photius I of Constantinople|Patriarch Photius]], ''Lexicon'' [https://books.google.com/books?id=RoRiAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA572 μίνθα]</ref> In jealousy, his wife [[Persephone]] intervened and metamorphosed Minthe, in the words of [[Strabo]]'s account, "into the garden [[mentha|mint]], which some call ''hedyosmos'' (lit. 'sweet-smelling')". A [[Minthi (mountain)|mountain]] near [[Pylos]] was named after Minthe, where one of the few temples of Hades in [[Greece]] was situated:

<blockquote>Near Pylus, towards the east, is a mountain named after Minthe, who, according to myth, became the concubine of Hades, was trampled under foot by Core, and was transformed into garden-mint, the plant which some call Hedyosmos. Furthermore, near the mountain is a precinct sacred to Hades<ref>[[Strabo]], ''[[Geographica]]'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Strab.+8.3.14&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0198 8.3.14].</ref></blockquote>

Similarly to that, a scholiast on [[Nicander]] wrote that Minthe became Hades' mistress; for this Persephone tore her into pieces, but Hades turned his dead lover into the fragrant plant that bore her name in her memory.<ref>[[Scholia]] ad [[Nicander|Nicandri]] ''Alexipharmaca'' [https://books.google.com/books?id=Zy2LWzF4v3oC&pg=PA212 375]</ref>{{sfn|Darthou|2017|page=79}} [[Ovid]] also briefly mentions Minthe and her transformation at the hands of Persephone in his ''[[Metamorphoses]]'', but neglects to mention the story behind it.<ref>[[Ovid]], ''[[Metamorphoses]]'' [https://ovid.lib.virginia.edu/trans/Metamorph10.htm#484521431 10.728].</ref> 

According to [[Oppian]], Minthe had been Hades' mistress before he had abducted and married Persephone, but he set her aside once he carried off and married his queen. Afterwards, she would boast that she surpassed Persephone in beauty and that Hades would soon return to her and banish Persephone from the subterranean halls. In anger over the nymph's [[hubris|insolence]], Persephone's mother [[Demeter]] trampled her in anger, obliterating Minthe, and thus from the earth sprang the mint [[herb]].<ref name="Oppian">[[Oppian]], ''Halieutica'' [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Oppian/Halieutica/3*.html#482 3.485 ff]</ref>

Bell notes that Demeter went through too much pain following Persephone's abduction and partial return to tolerate any adulterous behaviour against her daughter.{{sfn|Bell|1991|page=[https://archive.org/details/womenofclassical00bell/page/308/mode/2up?view=theater 309]}} Oppian writing that she was trampled to death is perhaps an allusion to the verb {{lang|grc|μινύθω}}, ''minytho'', meaning "to reduce".{{sfn|Hopkinson|1994|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=xNzUGMlQM80C&pg=PA193 193]}} [[Orpheus]] wrote that Demeter, seeing the mint sad, hated it, and made it barren.<ref>Etymologicum Graecae Linguae Gudianum, ''Μίνθη''. A small collection of versions of Minthe's story can be found in [[Greek language|Greek]] in [https://books.google.com/books?id=bpgqtcM8R5YC&pg=PA197 here].</ref>{{sfn|Wasson|Hofmann|Ruck|2008|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=lZXpO_3szpsC&pg=PA111 111]}}

According to [[Julius Pollux]]'s ''Onomasticon'', Minthe was mentioned by the poet [[Cratinus]], an Athenian playwright of the Old Comedy, in his lost play ''Nomoi'' ("Laws").{{sfn|Edmonds|1957|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=3sMUAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA62 62]}}

== Culture ==
The word used in ancient Greek texts to describe Minthe in relation to her affair with Hades is {{lang|grc|παλλακή}} (''pallakḗ''), translating to 'concubine' or 'young girl'.{{sfn|Liddell|Scott|1940|loc=s.v. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0057:entry=pallakh/ παλλακή]}}{{sfn|Beekes|2010|page=1147}} In ancient Greek culture, a ''pallake'' referred to a man's unmarried consort; she was of lower status than a legally married wife, but stood higher than a common prostitute or a ''[[hetaira]]''.{{sfn|Babiniotis|2009|loc=s.v. παλλακίδα}}

In ancient Greece, mint was used in funerary rites, together with [[rosemary]] and [[Myrtus|myrtle]], and not simply to offset the smell of decay;{{sfn|Graves|1955|page=[https://archive.org/details/greekmyths0000robe_b5f5/page/122/mode/2up?view=theater 123]}} mint was an element in the fermented [[barley]] drink called the ''[[kykeon]]'' that was an essential preparatory [[entheogen]] for participants in the [[Eleusinian Mysteries]], which offered hope in the [[afterlife]] for initiates.{{sfn|Kerenyi|1967|page=40, 179f}} Minthe might have originated from Demeter's mystery cults, alongside figures like [[Baubo]] and the daughters of [[Celeus]].{{sfn|Hopkinson|1994|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=xNzUGMlQM80C&pg=PA193 193]}} On the other hand, it has been argued that the myth is of Hellenistic (323 BC to 31 BC) origin instead.<ref name=":brill" /> It is probable that it emerged as a local story at Hades's shrine near Mount Minthe due to some special connection between the plant and the god.{{sfn|Forbes Irving|1990|pages=268–269}}

The mint was highly valued due to its aromatic properties and its capacity as a condiment that brings out the flavour of many foods. Mint was used as an appetising spice, for perfume-making, woven in wreaths, and it would be hung up in rooms in order to improve and fresh up the air.<ref name=":brill">{{cite encyclopedia | encyclopedia = [[Brill's New Pauly]] | publisher = Brill Reference Online | last = Hünemörder | first = Christian | location = Hamburg | title = Mint | editor-first1 = Hubert | editor-last1 = Cancik | editor-first2 = Helmuth | editor-last2 = Schneider | translator = Christine F. Salazar | url = https://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/brill-s-new-pauly/mint-e806300# | doi = 10.1163/1574-9347_bnp_e806300 | date = 2006 | access-date = April 8, 2023| url-access = subscription }}</ref> It also was regarded as a powerful [[aphrodisiac]], hence Minthe's role in becoming the lover of Hades; at the same time it was used as a contraceptive method,{{sfn|Cyrino|2010|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=7gyVn5GjXPkC&pg=PA64 64]}} as it was believed that consuming it before the act would prevent a pregnancy.{{sfn|Detienne|1994|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=4r0-EAAAQBAJ&pg=PA74 74]}} Thus the mint, a plant of sterility, was seen as the opponent of Demeter, the goddess of fertility, argues Detienne.{{sfn|Detienne|1994|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=4r0-EAAAQBAJ&pg=PA75 75]}}

Forbes Irving meanwhile disagrees with this interpretation, as Minthe's connection to Demeter is already established via the kykeon, and while it is true that Hades and Minthe's relationship is a barren one, since no children are produced from the couple, the same is true for Hades and Persephone's.{{sfn|Forbes Irving|1990|pages=268–269}} The [[pomegranate]] fruit, central to the myth of Hades and Persephone's marriage, was also both a fertility symbol and a birth control method just like the mint.{{sfn|Cyrino|2010|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=7gyVn5GjXPkC&pg=PA64 64]}}

== See also ==
{{Portal|Ancient Greece|Ancient Rome|Mythology|Religion}}
* [[Adonis]]
* [[Leuce (mythology)|Leuce]]
* [[Leucothoe (daughter of Orchamus)|Leucothoe]]
* [[Niobe]]
* [[Psalacantha]]
* [[Zeus]] and [[Hera]]

== Citations ==
{{reflist}}

== References ==
{{refbegin|30em}}
* {{cite book | author-link = Anatole Bailly | last = Bailly | first = Anatole | date = 1935 | title = Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français | language = French | trans-title = The Grand Bailly: Greek-French Dictionary | location = Paris, France | publisher = Hachette | url = https://archive.org/details/BaillyDictionnaireGrecFrancais/mode/1up?view=theater}}
* {{cite book | first = Georgios | last = Babiniotis | author-link = Georgios Babiniotis | language = Greek | date = 2009 | trans-title = Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek Language | title = [[Babiniotis Dictionary|Ετυμολογικό Λεξικό της Νέας Ελληνικής Γλώσσας]] | edition = 2nd | location = Athens, Greece | publisher = Lexicology Centre}}
* {{cite book | author-link = Robert S. P. Beekes | last = Beekes | first = Robert S. P. | title = Etymological Dictionary of Greek | location = Leiden, the Netherlands | publisher = [[Brill Publications]] | date = 2010 | volume = ΙΙ | isbn = 978-90-04-17419-1 | series = Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series | editor = Lucien van Beek}}
* {{cite book | last = Bell | first = Robert E. | title = Women of Classical Mythology: A Biographical Dictionary | publisher = [[ABC-Clio]] | date = 1991 | isbn = 9780874365818 | url = https://archive.org/details/womenofclassical00bell/mode/2up?view=theater}}
* {{cite book | title = A Brief History of Ancient Greek | first1 = Stephen | last1 = Colvin | date = 2014 | publisher = Wiley Blackwell | isbn = 978-1-4051-4925-9}}
* {{cite book | last = Cyrino | author-link = Monica Cyrino | first = Monica S. | date = June 25, 2010 | title = Aphrodite | series = Gods and Heroes of the Ancient World | location = New York and London | publisher = [[Routledge]] | isbn = 978-0-415-77523-6 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=7gyVn5GjXPkC}}
* {{cite book | first = Sonia | last = Darthou | trans-title = Lexicon of Symbols from Greek Mythology | language = French | location = Paris, France | publisher = [[Presses Universitaires de France]] | series = Que sais-je | title = Lexique des Symboles de la Mythologie Grecque | date = 2017 | isbn = 978-2-7154-0252-2 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=_uvIDwAAQBAJ}}
* {{cite book | title = The Gardens of Adonis: Spices in Greek Mythology | edition = 2 | author-link = Marcel Detienne | first = Marcel | last = Detienne | translator = Janet Lloyd | date = 1994 | publisher = [[Princeton University Press]] | isbn = 0-691-00104-9}}
* {{cite book | last = Edmonds | first = John M. | title = The Fragments of Attic Comedy | volume = I | publisher = Brill publications | date = 1957 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=3sMUAAAAIAAJ}}
* {{cite book | title = Metamorphosis in Greek Myths | first = Paul M. C. | last = Forbes Irving | publisher = [[Clarendon Press]] | date = 1990 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=URvXAAAAMAAJ | isbn = 0-19-814730-9}}
* {{cite book | author-link = Robert Graves | last = Graves | first = Robert | date = 1955 | edition = 3rd 1960 | title = The Greek Myths | location = London | publisher =  Penguin | url = https://archive.org/details/greekmyths0000robe_b5f5/mode/2up?view=theater | volume = I | isbn = 978-0140010268}}
* {{cite book | last = Grimal | first = Pierre | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=iOx6de8LUNAC | title = The Dictionary of Classical Mythology | publisher = Wiley-Blackwell | date = August 27, 1996 | isbn = 978-0-631-20102-1}}
* {{cite book | title = Greek Poetry of the Imperial Period: An Anthology | first1 = Neil | last1 = Hopkinson | date = 1994 | publisher = [[Cambridge University Press]] | isbn = 0-521-41155-6}}
* {{cite book | first = Karl | last = Kerenyi | author-link = Karl Kerenyi | date = 1967 | title = Eleusis: Archetypal Image of Mother and Daughter | publisher = [[Princeton University Press]]: Bollingen | location = [[New York City]], [[New York (state)|New York]] | url = https://archive.org/details/eleusisarchetypa0000kern/mode/2up?view=theater | translator = Ralph Manheim}}
* {{cite book | first1 = Henry George | last1 = Liddell | first2 = Robert | last2 = Scott | title = [[A Greek-English Lexicon]], revised and augmented throughout by Sir Henry Stuart Jones with the assistance of Roderick McKenzie | location = Oxford | publisher = [[Clarendon Press]] | date = 1940 | author1-link = Henry Liddell | author2-link = Robert Scott (philologist)}} [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057 Online version at Perseus.tufts project.]
* {{cite book | chapter = Halieutica | title = Oppian, Colluthus, and Tryphiodorus | translator = A. W. Mair | series = [[Loeb Classical Library]] 219 | location = Cambridge, MA | publisher = [[Harvard University Press]] | date = 1928 | author = Oppian | author-link = Oppian | url = https://topostext.org/work/524}}
* {{cite book | author = Ovid | author-link = Ovid | date = January 1, 2004 | translator = A. S. Kline | isbn = 1587261561 | title = [[Metamorphoses]] | publisher = Borders Classics | location = Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA}}
* {{cite book | author = Strabo | author-link = Strabo | title = The Geography of Strabo, edition by H.L. Jones | location = Cambridge, Mass., London | publisher = William Heinemann, Ltd., [[Harvard University Press]] | date = 1924}} [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0198%3Abook%3D6%3Achapter%3D1%3Asection%3D1 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.]
* {{cite book | title = The Road to Eleusis: Unveiling the Secret of the Mysteries | first1 = R. Gordon | last1 = Wasson | first2 = Albert | last2 = Hofmann | first3 = Carl A. P. | last3 = Ruck | date = 2008 | location = Berkeley, California| publisher = North Atlantic Books | isbn = 978-1-55643-752-6 | edition = 13th}}
* {{cite book | author-link = William Smith (lexicographer) | last = Smith | first = William | title = [[Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology|A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology]] | location = London, UK | date = 1873 | publisher = John Murray, printed by Spottiswoode and Co.}} [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0104%3Aalphabetic+letter%3DA Online version at the Perseus.tufts library.]
{{refend}}

== External links ==
{{Wiktionary|μίνθη}}
* [http://www.theoi.com/Nymphe/NympheMinthe.html MINTHE from The Theoi Project]

{{Greek mythology (deities)|state=collapsed}}
{{Metamorphoses in Greco-Roman mythology}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Children of Greek river gods]]
[[Category:Chthonic beings]]
[[Category:Deeds of Demeter]]
[[Category:Eleusinian Mysteries]]
[[Category:Residents of the Greek underworld]]
[[Category:Mentha]]
[[Category:Metamorphoses characters]]
[[Category:Metamorphoses into flowers in Greek mythology]]
[[Category:Naiads]]
[[Category:Persephone]]
[[Category:Women of Hades]]
[[Category:Hubris myths]]