Minthe(Menthe) was a beautiful water nymph deeply in love with Hades (Pluto), the Greek God of the Underworld.

One day, while Hades' wife Persephone was strolling along the river Acheron (the river of woes), she stumbled upon her husband and his mistress Menthe. Infuriated as she was, she took revenge by transforming Menthe into a herbaceous, tiny plant, with inconspicuous leaves so that she would easily be stepped upon.

Pluto, however, showed mercy for Menthe and, on his try to comfort her, he endowed Menthe with an divine, aromatic scent to last forever.