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{{Short description|River in the Divine Comedy}}
{{about||the genus of marine annelids|Eunoe (annelid)|the Greek mythological figures|Eunoë|and|Eunoë (wife of Bogudes)}}

'''Eunoe'''{{Need-IPA|lang=en}} ({{langx|it|Eunoè}} {{IPA|it|eunoˈɛ|}}; {{langx|grc|Εὐνοη|Eúnoē}}) is a feature of [[Dante]]'s ''[[Divine Comedy]]'' created by Dante as the fifth river of the dead (taking into consideration that [[Cocytus]] was described as a [[lake]] rather than a river). In the ''[[Purgatorio]]'', the second ''cantica'' of Dante's poem, penitents reaching the [[Garden of Eden]] at the top of Mount Purgatory are first washed in the waters of the river [[Lethe]] in order to forget the memories of their mortal sins. They then pass through Eunoe to have the memories of their good deeds in life strengthened.

Upon completing one's sentence in Purgatory, a soul is washed in the rivers Lethe and Eunoe (in that order) by Matelda. It is unclear who Matelda was in real life, but, nonetheless, her function is to cause the penitent to forget his or her sins (now that these sins have been purged) and then sip from the waters of Eunoe so that the soul may enter heaven full of the strength of his or her life's good deeds.

In ''Purg.'' XXXIII, in the concluding lines of that canto and of the entire ''cantica,'' Dante makes particular reference to the ''dolce ber'' ("sweet draught"<ref name = "Longfellow XXXIII">''Purgatorio'', Canto XXXIII, line 138, Longfellow translation</ref>) of Eunoe when he explains that he wished he possessed greater space to write of the water that "ne'er would satiate me."<ref name = "Longfellow XXXIII" />

The word "eunoe" is one of Dante's many [[neologism]]s presumably derived from Greek "[[eu-]]," meaning "good" and "noe," meaning "mind."

==See also==
Other mythological rivers borrowed by Dante from Greek lore:
*[[Acheron]], separating the [[Inferno (Dante)#Vestibule of Hell|Vestibule]] from Hell proper; Dante crosses with the help of [[Charon (mythology)|Charon]] (''Inf.'' III)
*[[Styx]], the [[Inferno (Dante)#Fifth Circle (Wrath)|Fifth Circle]], containing the Wrathful and the Sullen; Dante crosses in [[Phlegyas]]' skiff (''Inf.'' VII-VIII)
*[[Phlegethon]], the [[Inferno (Dante)#Seventh Circle (Violence)|Seventh Circle, Ring 1]], containing the Violent Against Others (''Inf.'' XII)
*[[Cocytus]], the [[Inferno (Dante)#Ninth Circle (Treachery)|Ninth Circle]], the frozen lake of ice containing various traitors and, finally, [[Dante's Satan|Satan]] himself (''Inf.'' XXXI-XXXIV)
*[[Lethe]], in the [[Purgatorio#The Earthly Paradise|Earthly Paradise]] atop the [[Purgatorio|Mountain of Purgatory]]; Dante, held in the arms of Matelda, is immersed in the Lethe so that he may wipe out all memory of sin (''Purg''. XXXI). The Lethe it is mentioned in ''Inf.'' XXXIV.130 as flowing down to Hell to be frozen in the ice around Satan, "the last lost vestiges of the sins of the saved"<ref>[[John Ciardi]], ''Purgatorio'', notes on Canto XXVII, pg. 535</ref>

Eunoë is also the name of a nymph reported in Greek mythology; [[Eunoë]]

==References==
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