#64 Wed (8/24/22) - Hypnos, the personification of sleep, in the Deipnosophistae

In Greek mythology, Hypnos is the personification of sleep; the Roman equivalent is known as Somnus.

Hypnos is usually the fatherless son of Nyx ("The Night"), although sometimes Nyx's consort Erebus ("The Darkness") is named as his father. His brother is Thanatos ("Death"). Both siblings live in the underworld (Hades). According to rumors, Hypnos lived in a big cave, which the river Lethe ("Forgetfulness") comes from and where night and day meet. His bed is made of ebony, on the entrance of the cave grow a number of poppies and other soporific plants. No light and no sound would ever enter his grotto. According to Homer, he lives on the island Lemnos, which later on has been claimed to be his very own dream-island. He is said to be a calm and gentle god, as he helps humans in need and, due to their sleep, owns half of their lives.

Hypnos lived next to his twin brother, Thanatos in the Underworld, where the rays of the sun never reach them.

Hypnos' mother was Nyx (Νύξ, "Night"), the goddess of Night, without a father. However, sometimes he was the son of Nyx and Erebus, the god of Darkness. Nyx was a dreadful and powerful goddess, and even Zeus feared to enter her realm.

    According to a passage in Deipnosophistae, the sophist and dithyrambic poet Licymnius of Chios[14] tells a different tale about the Endymion myth, in which Hypnos, in awe of his beauty, causes him to sleep with his eyes open, so he can fully admire his face.

 

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