Lethal
- PostEagle
- February 21, 2014
- Word Etymology
- 0 Comments
The word for today is LETHAL – which comes from the name of the river that surrounds the underworld of the Greeks and Romans. The name of the mythological river is – LETHE. The departed soul had to drink the water of this river to forget everything in his earthly life. It is known as the river of forgetfulness. The dead could not enter Hades unless they drank from this river. The words – LETHARGY and LETHARGIC which mean – SLUGGISHNESS, APATHY, OBLIVION, or UNUSUAL DROWSINESS also come from the name of this river. There is another river in the underworld which is the river – STYX. Today we have a word derived from this river. The word – STYGIAN – means DARK and GLOOMY.