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Also known as Menthe, Mint, Mintha, Mentha

In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, Minthe or Mintha () is an 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 mint plant by either his wife Persephone or her mother Demeter. The plant was also called by some as hedyosmos (), which means "sweet-smelling".

Key facts

Deity.type
Greek
Deity.god_of
Chthonic Naiad nymph
Deity.name
Minthe
Deity.image
Minthe-myth.jpg
Deity.caption
Minthe being turned into a Mint-Plant, Johann Ulrich Kraus
Deity.abode
Underworld
Deity.consort
Hades
Deity.symbols
Mint
Deity.script_name
Greek
Deity.script
Μίνθη

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  • Etymology
  • Mythology
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In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, Minthe or Mintha () is an 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 mint plant by either his wife Persephone or her mother Demeter. The plant was also called by some as hedyosmos (), which means "sweet-smelling".

== Etymology == The ancient Greek noun or translates to 'mint'. According to Robert Beekes, it is of undoubtedly pre-Greek origin due to the variant ending in "-ᾰ". The -nth-/-nthos- element in menthe has been described as a characteristic of a class of words borrowed from a Pre-Greek language: compare akanthos, Zakynthos, labyrinthos, Korinthos, and hyakinthos. The word has been also found in a Bronze Age tablet, spelled in Linear B as (mi-ta).

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