Both Uses of
labyrinth
in
Paradise Lost
- Far off from these, a slow and silent stream,
Lethe, the river of oblivion, rolls
Her watery labyrinth, whereof who drinks
Forthwith his former state and being forgets—Forgets both joy and grief, pleasure and pain.†Book 2 *
- So saying, through each thicket dank or dry,
Like a black mist low-creeping, he held on
His midnight-search, where soonest he might find
The serpent; him fast-sleeping soon he found
In labyrinth of many a round self-rolled,
His head the midst, well stored with subtile wiles:
Not yet in horrid shade or dismal den,
Nor nocent yet; but, on the grassy herb,
Fearless unfeared he slept: in at his mouth
The Devil entered; and his brutal sense,
In heart or head, possessing, soon inspired
With act intelligential; but his sleep
Disturbed not, waiting close the approach of morn.†Book 9
Definitions:
-
(1)
(labyrinth) a maze (a complex system of paths or tunnels in which it is easy to get lost)
or (figuratively): anything so complicated that it is extremely confusingThe word "labyrinth" comes from the name of the maze of passages where, in Greek mythology, Theseus had to escape from the Minotaur. -
(2)
(meaning too rare to warrant focus) meaning too rare to warrant focus:
Less commonly, labyrinth can refer to a complex anatomical system of interconnecting cavities -- especially the inner ear