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 ...

'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 Ida or IDA may refer to: Astronomy *Ida Facula, a mountain on Amalthea, a moon of Jupiter *243 Ida, an asteroid * International Docking Adapter, a docking adapter for the International Space Station Computing * Intel Dynamic Acceleration, a tech ...

by the gods. Her lover Olenus 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 Thracians, Thracian bard, legendary musician and prophet in ancient Greek religion. He was also a renowned Ancient Greek poetry, poet and, according to ...

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