Homer's epic poem the 'Odyssey,' composed around 800 BCE, contains one of the earliest literary references to a drug-like substance. Helen of Troy is described as having brought 'nepenthe,' a potion that could erase sorrow and anger, from Egypt. Scholars have debated whether nepenthe was opium, marijuana, or another psychoactive compound, but its inclusion highlights the ancient association between drugs and poetic storytelling.

The 'Odyssey' is foundational to Western literature, and its mention of nepenthe establishes a trope of drugs as a source of forgetfulness and escape that would recur throughout literary history. This concept would be revisited by Romantic poets like John Keats and Alfred Lord Tennyson, who explored the allure and danger of substances that could 'dull the sharp tooth of care.'