![]() Then, the ghost of Patroclus reproaches Achilles for forgetting his duties towards his dead friend. Sadly, he is slain by Hector, one of King Priam's sons. ![]() Patroclus, the friend of Achilles, puts on his armor and commands the Myrmidons in a battle against the Trojans. It brings rest to the exhausted body and brain and helps to forget sorrows.īut sometimes, sleep can also be dangerous when it occurs at the wrong time and place, especially when action is urgently needed. In the "Iliad," Homeric sleep is a good, sweet, and pleasant thing. Homeric sleep – pleasant but sometimes dangerous Fittingly, Hynos was the son of Nyx, the primordial goddess of the night. The word hypnos meant sleep, and like other daimones he had little characterization beyond his function. He searched for Hypnos and finally found him hiding in the arms of his mother, Nyx. Long before the Trojan War, Hera was angry at Hercules, and she persuaded Hypnos to make Zeus sleep while she tormented the hero. Hypnos masters people's dreams and owns half of their lives, watching over men's dreams and above all over the gods' dreaming. He was a type of minor deity called a daimon that personified his domain. Hypnos (meaning 'sleep') is the Greek god of sleep. The two divine brothers work in good cooperation, and together, they successfully help humans avoid unnecessary suffering and die peacefully during sleep. Oneiroi Dionysus.Hypnos and Thanatos carrying the body of Sarpedon from the battlefield of Troy detail from an Attic white-ground lekythos, ca. Should a dreamer overreach himself, he will attract Hypnos’s attention, and either vanish with the god or be transformed.ĭescription from the British Museum Londonĭreaming Within the Fields of Hypnos See also #HYPNOS SYMBOL GREEK MYTHOLOGY FULL#He lived in a cave next to his twin brother, Thanatos, in the underworld, where no light was cast by the sun or the moon the earth in front of the cave was full of poppies and other sleep-inducing plants. He rules the realm of nightmares, and the boundaries between the waking and dreaming worlds. Hypnos was a primordial deity in Greek mythology, the personification of sleep. ![]() Lord of Sleep: Hypnos is depicted as a smiling, youth crowned with poppies. #HYPNOS SYMBOL GREEK MYTHOLOGY SERIES#This painting shows a wing sprouting from his temple, and his hair elaborately arranged into a series of luxurious locks, some falling freely, others tied in a knot at the back of the head. He was shown running forwards, holding poppies in his right hand and a drinking-horn in his left, from which presumably he poured a sleeping potion. Statue types represented Hypnos either as an adolescent or, in some variants, as an even younger child. The bronze head that inspired this painting belongs with a series of similar heads and figures found mostly in the western Mediterranean, particularly in France, Italy and Spain. His brother was Morpheus, the personification of dreams.Īlthough frequently shown in vase painting, sculptural representations of him were rare. Hypnos’ wings allowed him to move swiftly over land and sea, and to fan the foreheads of the weary until they fell asleep. Like many Greek gods, Hypnos bore children that supported his goals and purpose. Hypnos used the river’s water to induce forgetfulness. These include poppy flowers, a horn of sleep-inducing opium, and was from the River Lethe. The god was frequently mentioned in literary sources, and associated with poppies and sleep-inducing herbs. Hypnos had several symbols, which artists often portrayed alongside the god. Hypnos was, however, generally viewed as benevolent to mankind. ![]() Although initially thought of as the fatherless son of Nyx, Hypnos was later believed to be fathered by Erebus. He was the son of the powerful goddess of the night, who goes by the name of Nyx. He is known as the god of sleep in Greek mythology. He was also often associated with poppies, which were the source of the sleep-inducing drug known as opium. He is associated with both night or darkness and forgetfulness, both of which may be considered elements of sleep. Hypnos first appears in mythology in the works of one of the earliest Greek poets, Hesiod (lived around 700 BC), where Hypnos (Sleep) and Thanatos (Death) were the terrible sons of Nyx (Night). Hypnos is perceived as a calm and gentle god. In Greek mythology, Hypnos symbolizes the peace of sleep without dreams. Inspired by a bronze statue from the British Museum London which I first encountered in the late 1960’s early 70’s. Hypnos, oil on canvas, 16 inches by 20 inches, 2015, SOLD ![]()
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