Lethaea is a mythological character briefly mentioned in

Ovid Pūblius Ovidius Nāsō (; 20 March 43 BC – 17/18 AD), known in English as Ovid ( ), was a Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus. He was a contemporary of the older Virgil and Horace, with whom he is often ranked as one of the th ...

's ''

Metamorphoses The ''Metamorphoses'' ( la, Metamorphōsēs, from grc, μεταμορφώσεις: "Transformations") is a Latin narrative poem from 8 CE by the Roman poet Ovid. It is considered his ''magnum opus''. The poem chronicles the history of the ...

''.Ovid ''Metamorphoses'' 10.68 - 71

Mythology

Due to her vanity, Lethaea was turned into stone at Ida by the gods. Her lover

Olenus In Greek mythology, Olenus (; Ancient Greek: Ὤλενος ''Olenos'') was the name of several individuals: *Olenus, son of Hephaestus and father of Helike and Aex, two nurses of infant Zeus. A city in Aulis was named for him. *Olenus, son of Ze ...

wished to share in the blame, and so shared her fate. The story is used as a metaphor for how stunned

Orpheus Orpheus (; Ancient Greek: Ὀρφεύς, classical pronunciation: ; french: Orphée) is a Thracian bard, legendary musician and prophet in ancient Greek religion. He was also a renowned poet and, according to the legend, travelled with J ...

was after a failed attempt to bring back his wife from the underworld. It was as if he too were turned to stone.

References

{{Metamorphoses in Greco-Roman mythology Metamorphoses into inanimate objects in Greek mythology Women in Greek mythology Metamorphoses characters