Hypnos : The Greek God of Sleep
Will you stay awake or fall into a deep slumber?
Aksarayin Hüznü-noota music by Classical Music
Personal Information
- He is the Greek God of Sleep.
- He is depicted as a young man with wings coming out of his temple or back.
- Unlike other gods, he does not live on Mt. Olympus. He lives in a cave that can be reached by the Lethe River in Hades.
- His mother is Nyx, the dark Goddess of Night and his father is Erebus, the God of Darkness.
- He has a twin brother named Thanatos, the God of Death. He also has many other brothers and sisters.
- He is married to Pasithea.
- They have three sons named Morpheus, Phantasus and Phobetor. Phobetor is known by the gods as Icleus. The three together are called the Oneiroi.
- Zeus was his enemy at one time but he feared the wrath of Nyx and forgave him and he is known to be friends with the Muses.
- There is no known death.
Here is a picture of Hypnos and his mother Nyx.
Morpheus, leader of the Oneiroi.
ZZzzz...
Erebus, father of Hypnos.
Thanatos, the twin brother of Hypnos and God of Death.
Pasithea, wife of Hypnos. She is a Grace and the Goddess of Shining.
Myths
- There is a myth in from the Illiad where the Goddess Hera asks for Hypnos' help. She wants to distract her husband, Zeus, so he won't interfere in the Trojan War. The hesitant Hypnos did not agree to do it until Hera offered him Pasithea. He then made the mighty Zeus fall asleep for a while.
- Another myth from the Illiad is when Hypnos and Thanatos worked together. The hero Serpedon had been killed in battle. Hypnos and Thanatos came to carry his body away. They respectfully took the body away from the disturbing scenes on the battlefield.
- Hypnos joined the adventures of Jason and the Argonauts when they were trying to take the Golden Fleece from Colchis. King Aeetes promises Jacob the Golden Fleece if he survived a confrontation against some bulls and warriors. Jacob successfully does this with the help of Medeia but King Aeetes does not honor his promise. Jacob then has to steal the Golden Fleece which is guarded by a dragon that never sleeps. Medeia calls upon Hypnos and he puts the dragon to sleep so Jacob can take the Golden Fleece.
- There was a very handsome man named Endymion. Hypnos gave him the gift of being able to sleep with his eyes open. He did this so that Endymion could always see his beloved Selene, Goddess of the Moon. But it is also said that he did this so he could always see his beautiful eyes.
Hypnos visiting Zeus.
Endymion sleeping.
Jason holding the Golden Fleece.
Fun Facts!
- Poppies are plants that made people sleep.
- Oneiroi means dreams in Greek.
- Somnus is his roman counterpart.
- Hypnosis comes comes from Hypnos.
- The Lethe River is known as the River of Forgetfulness.
- The Oneiroi come out of the Gates of Ivory and Horn. Deceptive dreams come from the Gate of Ivory and true dreams come from the Gate of Horn.