Hēdonē is an English transliteration of a Greek

Greek language

Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...

 word meaning pleasure

Pleasure

Pleasure describes the broad class of mental states that humans and other animals experience as positive, enjoyable, or worth seeking. It includes more specific mental states such as happiness, entertainment, enjoyment, ecstasy, and euphoria...

, and is the root of the English word "hedonism". In the philosophy

Epicureanism

Epicureanism is a system of philosophy based upon the teachings of Epicurus, founded around 307 BC. Epicurus was an atomic materialist, following in the steps of Democritus. His materialism led him to a general attack on superstition and divine intervention. Following Aristippus—about whom...

 of Epicurus

Epicurus

Epicurus was an ancient Greek philosopher and the founder of the school of philosophy called Epicureanism.Only a few fragments and letters remain of Epicurus's 300 written works...

, hēdonē was the quest for pleasure that would have only good consequences. This concept strikes a sharp contrast with the words "hedonism" and even "pleasure" in English today; the former implies wanton pursuit of pleasure with disregard to all else, and the latter has no inherent connotations that extend the meaning beyond the immediate experiences it describes.

Hedone is also the Greek name of Voluptas

Voluptas

In Roman mythology, Voluptas or Volupta is the beautiful daughter born from the union of Cupid and Psyche. She is often found in the company of the Charites, or Three Graces, and she is known as the goddess of "sensual pleasures" whose Latin name means "pleasure" or "bliss".Some Roman authors...

, the daughter of the Greek gods Eros

Eros

Eros , in Greek mythology, was the Greek god of love. His Roman counterpart was Cupid . Some myths make him a primordial god, while in other myths, he is the son of Aphrodite....

 (Cupid) and Psyche.