Odyssey

Then Zeus’ daughter Helen bethought her of another matter. She drugged the wine with the herb nêpenthes [= anti- penthos ], which banishes all care, sorrow, and anger. Whoever drinks wine thus drugged cannot shed a single tear all the rest of the day, not even though his father and mother both of them drop down dead, or he sees a brother or a son hewn in pieces before his very eyes. This drug, of such sovereign power and virtue, had been given to Helen by Polydamna wife of Thon , a woman of Egypt , where there grow all sorts of herbs, some good to put into the mixing-bowl and others poisonous. Moreover, every one in the whole country is a skilled physician, for they are of the race of Paieon. When Helen had put this drug in the bowl, and had told the servants to serve the wine round, she said:

OdysseyBook 4, Line 219Samuel ButlerEnglishVerse permalinkRead in Book 4

HomerProseID odyssey-odyssey-butler-en-prose-4-219