Minthe

In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, Minthe (also spelled Menthe, Mintha or Mentha; Μίνθη or Μένθη or Μίντη) is an Underworld Naiad nymph associated with the river Cocytus. She was beloved by Hades, the King of the Underworld, and became his mistress, but she was transformed into a mint plant by his wife Persephone. The plant was also called by some as Hedyosmos (ἡδύοσμος), which means "sweet-smelling". The ancient Greek noun μίνθη or μίνθα 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, labyrinthos, Korinthos, and hyakinthos. The word has been also found in a Bronze Age tablet, spelled in Linear B as (mi-ta). The Naiad nymph Minthe, daughter of the infernal river-god Cocytus, became concubine to Hades, the lord of the Underworld and god of the dead. In jealousy, his wife Persephone intervened and metamorphosed Minthe, in the words of Strabo's account, "into the garden mint, which some call hedyosmos (lit. 'sweet-smelling')". A mountain near Pylos was named after Minthe, where one of the few temples of Hades in Greece was situated: 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, 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. Ovid also briefly mentions Minthe and her transformation at the hands of Persephone in his Metamorphoses, but neglects to mention the story behind it. According to Oppian, Minthe had been Hades' mistress before he abducted and married Persephone, but he set her aside once he carried off and married his queen.