Hypnos and Thanatos

Hypnos

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  Ηυπνος

  
  

  

  
  

  “O Sleep, vanquisher of woes,
  Rest of the soul, the better part of human life,
  Thou winged son of thy mother Night,
  Sluggish brother of cruel Death,
  Thou who dost mingle false with true,
  Sure yet gloomy guide to what shall be;
  O thou, who art peace after wanderings, haven of life,
  Day’s respite and night’s comrade, who comest alike to king and slave,
  Who doest compel the human race, trembling at death,
  To prepare for unending night."
  —Seneca, Hercules Furens

  
  

  

  
  

  Name: Hypnos. Nature: Personification of Sleep and Drowsiness. Apparent Age: Ephebe (young adolescent). Gender: Male.

  Spouse: Pasithea. Lovers: Selene (the Moon), the Muses, the Erotes. Progenitors: Nyx (Night), Erebos (Darkness). Progeny: None.

  
  Siblings: Thanatos (Death), Akhlys (Mist of Demise), Anaplekte (Swift Demise), Iskhnasia (Wasting Demise), Morpheus (Dreams), Phantasos (Fantasies), Ikelos/Phobetor (Nightmares), Kharon (Taxes), Momos (Blame), Oizys (Pain), Eurynomos/Septos (Decay), Lyssa/Mania (Madness), Epiphron (Shrewdness), Koalemos (Idiocy), Hybris (Insolence), Anaideia (Cruelty), Nemesis (Retribution), Dolos (Treachery), Apate (Deception), Philotes (Affection), Eleos (Mercy), Sophrosyne (Restraint), Geras (Old Age), Eris (Strife).
  
  Epithets: Epidotes (Bountiful), Pannikitis (All-Vanquisher), Melamkhrotos (Black-Skin); Hypnus, Somnus, Sopor (Latin names).
  Titles: Soft-eyed, black-winged, sluggish, drowsy, lazy, bold, youthful, sweet, empty, gloomy, shadowy, vagrant; all-vanquisher, defeater of woes, rest of the soul, balm of the soul, peace of all the world, stranger to anguish, gentlest of the gods, quietest of the gods, god who knows no pain, the blackskin, the painless, son of Night, brother of Death, king of slumber.
  
  

  “Hypnos, quietest of the gods, Hypnos, peace of all the world, balm of the soul, who drives care away, who gives ease to weary limbs after the hard day's toil and strength renewed to meet the morrow's tasks."

  —Ovid, Metamorphoses

  
  Appearance: Hypnos is an eternal youth, his features untroubled by the hard lines of age. He is a paradigm of boyish beauty; slight of build, soft of limb and fair of face. He resembles his brother Thanatos, but lacks the deathly pallor of his otherwise identical twin. In contrast, his flesh is a dusky grey hue, the colour of fine soot. His black hair is unshorn, its curly locks grazing his temples and cheeks, tresses settling carelessly about his neck. His dark eyes are heavy-lidded and a languid little smile never quite abandons his ageless features. Black wings branch out from between his shoulders, wings of night clothed in lustrous sable feathers. When they are not in use, these aerial appendages fold around his slender limbs to form a feathered mantle. Deemed quietest and gentlest of the gods, Hypnos seldom speaks. When he does his velvet voice rarely rises above the din of a whisper. Ease and silence follow after his tread, and his soothing touch is a balm against the many sufferings of the world.
  
  Hypnos clothes himself in simple and comfortable garments, usually of pristine white, but occasionally sombre blacks, subtle purples or shades of grey. He tends to emulate his twin brother in his choice of apparel, and most commonly wears an exomis tunic, fastened at his left shoulder with a thong of leather or a silver brooch. He is not a vain god, shunning jewelled finery except when he must abide by divine etiquette. His feet are strapped into plain leather sandals or left bare. He girds his waist with a leather cord and slings a baldric over his shoulder to bear his sleep-inducing horn. When it strikes his fancy, he wears a wreath of white poppies upon his dark brow. His clothing is always perfumed with a strong, pleasant aroma of opium.
  
  

  “Selene in her rosy chariot was climbing to the height of mid-heaven, when drowsy Hypnos glided down with full sweep of his pinions to earth and gathered a silent world to his embrace."

  —Statius, Achilleid

  
  Personality: Hypnos is a carefree spirit by nature; pleasant, passive and intermittently mischievous. Some might think him apathetic, inarticulate or lazy, but most would simply call him mellow. He delights in his divine vocation, bringing sweet oblivion to troubled minds and wearied bodies. He is well-loved by mortals and immortals alike when they are in need of his comforts. However, it is often forgotten that he is also the source of all weariness, the force that drives others to tire themselves when Strife and Toil have visited their toll. Something of a hedonist, Hypnos indulges in whatever pursuits are of his inclination. To those among the immortals with whom he has dealings, Sleep is always quite amicable, although he tends to be quiet and lethargic. He is willing to provide aid to those who seek it from him, but he will not attempt anything perilous without proper incentive.
  
  By most accounts Hypnos is a docile deity, rarely speaking, preferring to follow in the footsteps of his twin. In many ways, Hypnos is defined by Thanatos. Sleep, the younger brother, tends to imitate his elder. Though kinder by far than Death, even Hypnos can be fickle with his power. In so doing, perhaps he is merely reflecting the unpredictable nature of his brother. Insomnia is a luckless consequence of his particular brand of caprice. Sleep is often called the gentlest of the gods, but no god is blameless. On occasion he will entertain certain impish inclinations which have earned him a somewhat undeserved reputation as a trickster. Unlike Thanatos, Hypnos has a sense of humour and takes everything in good stride, since as a deity his troubles are few. Also unlike Thanatos, Hypnos is no stranger to love or the pleasures of the flesh. His marriage to Pasithea is passionate, and he even accompanies the Erotes themselves in their escapades. Sleep and Love, after all, are activities that both have the bed in common.
  
  

  "Soft-eyed Hypnos came, embracing all his limbs, as a mother on seeing her dear son after a long absence folds him with her wings to her loving breast."

  —Greek Lyric, Anonymous

  
  Associates: Hypnos is beloved by many among the deathless gods, including those who dwell in the heavens far above his subterranean home. But of all the lovely goddesses who caught his eye, his desire burned brightest for Pasithea, youngest of the Kharites. He courted the daughter of Dionysos with all persistence, even though he lived in deep Khthonian gloom while she resided in lofty Olympian heights with the other Graces. After earning a boon from queenly Hera, Hypnos was finally given permission to marry his sweetheart. Though they still live apart, Hypnos flies often to Pasithea’s couch, fleeting away with his Kharis to his Cimmerian retreat so they might know the ardour of love.
  
  The other Kharites are also fond of the god of Sleep, and it is said that the nine Mousai love him best of all gods. He has a powerful ally in Hera, to whom he owes his betrothal to Pasithea. He is a sometime companion of the love-god Eros and his winged cohorts, and from time to time he also acts as an accomplice to the wild wine-god Dionysos, the father of his wife. Selene, goddess of the Moon, owes Hypnos her favour for placing her mortal lover Endymion into an eternal slumber, and it is said that Hypnos is a yoke-fellow of the moon. In the underworld, the three Oneiroi are Sleep's steadfast cohorts, communing regularly with him. He also corresponds with the goddesses Lethe (Forgetfulness), Hesykhia, (Silence) and Aergia (Laziness). But of all his brethren he is closest to his womb-mate, Thanatos. It was ordained that the two should have all things in common, and so Death and Sleep are inseparable.
  
  Although most of the Pantheon have no reason to hate the god of Sleep, Hypnos has incurred the wrath of one especially dangerous deity. Zeus, King of the gods, begrudges Hypnos for once casting a spell of sleep over him at Hera’s behest. He was unable to wreak vengeance on the god of Sleep, as Hypnos fled and found sanctuary in the arms of his mother Nyx. Even Zeus would not dare provoke the displeasure of primordial Night, but he remains disdainful of Hypnos. As well as this, the goddess Aphrodite once disapproved of the courtship between Hypnos the black-skin and Pasithea the lily-white, but relented when Pasithea confessed to share the love of shadowy Sleep.
  
  

  "None of the slumberers lifts his head or turn his gaze, so deep the shade wherewith the winged god broods over the wretched ones, and unseals their eyes but as they die."

  —Statius, Thebaid

  
  Accomplices: Hypnos is attended in his duties by three younger brothers, the dream spirits known collectively as the Oneiroi. Morpheus, Ikelos, and Phantasos fill the minds of sleeping men with dreams, fantasies, nightmares, visions and premonitions. The Oneiroi resemble their older brother, appearing as dusky-skinned youths with black-feathered wings. Stars glimmer in their inky eyes, beneath tangled shocks of sooty hair. Their robes are of nocturnal hue, midnight black and twilight indigo. The dreams they weave take the form of shadowy, batlike phantoms, fluttering out of the underworld through the gates of Horn and Ivory, finding their way into the minds of sleeping creatures.
  
  Morpheus is the chief Oneiros. Of the three dream-brothers he is the most skillful in his shaping arts, for which he is often honoured as the principal god of dreams. He excels at assuming the semblances of human beings and mimicking their mannerisms. The gods consult Morpheus when they wish to send mortals prophetic dreams so that that their wishes are known. Ikelos is the Oneiros of nightmares and black dreams, but only the gods know him by this name. Men call him fearsome Phobetor, or nightmarish Epiales, or Melos Oneiros the black dream. In dreaming minds he takes the form of beasts, birds and monsters, the better to frighten humans. Phantasos is the Oneiros of fantasies and daydreams, most skilled at portraying the inanimate aspects of dreams; lands and waters, trees and buildings, all manner of objects. The dreams of his making are often abstract, surreal and appropriately phantasmagoric.
  
  

  "Two gates there are that give passage to fleeting dreams; one is made of horn, one of ivory. The dreams that pass through sawn ivory are deceitful, bearing a message that will not be fulfilled; those that come out through polished horn have truth behind them, to be accomplished for men who see them."

  —Homer, Odyssey

  
  Powers: Hypnos is a god and thus blessed with unending youth and vitality. He is beyond the touch of his dire siblings, Death, Old Age, Madness and Sickness, yet even the All-vanquishing Sleep is subject to his own nature. When depleted by the toils of his duty, he is replenished by dining on nectar and ambrosia, the sustenance of the gods. Sacrifices and libations made in his name will also reinvigorate him, although he never had an extensive cult and is rarely the receiver of religious offerings. As a deity, Hypnos can alter his shape howsoever he wishes, convey his will through prophetic visions, and invoke curses or blessings upon mortals in such a manner as he sees fit. He is among the swiftest of the gods, his wings bestowing him with a speed and freedom that few Olympian gods could hope to match in their chariots.
  
  As the personification of sleeping, Hypnos presides over the consciousness of gods and men alike. Each and every night Hypnos ascends into the sky with the train of his mother Night, pouring the Fog of Sleep over a weary world. When a more personal touch is required, Hypnos imparts his gift with a gesture, a glance, or more often by a gentle grazing of his wings across a tired brow. Hypnos also possesses a degree of power over the darkness of night and shadow, the domains of his primordial parents. Shadows are his playthings, to be summoned, dispelled or used as a doorway through which he can cross great distances. If he chooses, he can smother any source of light in his presence, save only the imperishable light of Helios, the unconquered Sun.
  
  

  “For Nyx brought me not forth to be the lord of the lyre, nor to be seer or leech, but to lull to rest men’s souls."

  —Hypnos, Aeschylus, Plutarch

  
  Attributes: Hypnos’ sacred plants are the yew (smilos) and the white poppy (anemone) which he shares with his twin. The sheep (ois) is his sacred animal, the butterfly (psykhe) and moth (skoros) are his sacred insects, and his sacred bird is the long-eared owl (otos). As a Khthonic god, Hypnos customarily accepts sacrifices of black animals into a sunken pit rather than a raised altar. He is most receptive to prayers and offerings made to him at night.
  
  A pacifistic spirit, Hypnos carries no sword like his brother. Instead he wields a sleep-inducing sceptre, similar to the Kerykeion of Hermes. This is an ornate rod fashioned from a branch of polished yew. A winged crest of adamant is set upon the crown of the sceptre, while its base is decorated with a lotus bulb. The touch of the crest is as the touch of Hypnos himself, bringing with it the sweet oblivion of sleep. The base of the sceptre has an opposite effect to the crest, dispelling the weight of weariness and clearing the mind of cloudy thoughts with its touch.
  
  The Horn of Hypnos is perhaps the god’s most potent accessory. It is a carved drinking vessel made of sawn ivory and polished horn, ringed and rimmed with adamant. When the god upturns it, the horn pours out the Fog of Sleep, a never-ending bounty of opiate mist which only the gods can see and smell, though scarce even could they resist its somnolent power. If the contents of the horn are directly imbibed, then its drinker falls into an eternal sleep. Such recipients are immortalized in their unconscious state, protected from the ravages of time.
  
  During the War of Ilion, Hypnos braced himself in armour. A breastplate of adamant enclosed his slender torso, chased in silver and engraved with the image of a long-eared owl. White leather pteryges flanked his shoulders and skirted his legs, studded with silver poppy bolts. Over his head and shoulders he draped a white hood, and over that he wore a helmet in the Corinthian style, ornamented with elegantly wrought silver wings outstretched over his temples. The gods marvelled to behold him as he brought restful sleep to the wearied soldiers on both sides of the conflict.
  
  

  "Hypnos, shrouded in the gloom of his brother Thanatos and dripping with Stygian dew, enfolds the doomed city, and from his relentless horn pours heavy drowse, and marks out the men."

  —Statius, Thebaid

  
  Dwellings: Hypnos has his home in the gloomy underworld of Erebos. The House of Sleep looms adjacent to the House of Death, and between the two flows the river Lethe, where poppies grow upon the drowsy banks. In the forecourt of Hypnos’ House, a great elm tree stands with its roots submerged in the waters of Forgetfulness. Upon this tree cling phantom shapes, the shadowy dream-brood of the Oneiroi. Within the labyrinthine halls, a shrouded mist of silence abounds. Sconces of bluish flame provide some meagre light, but the shadows are deep. The air is luxurious with opiate incense, and all is furnished for comfort. Lavish cushions, silken blankets and exotic furs occupy every columned chamber. Oblivious pools beckon with scented waters. Idyllic vistas are etched in sublime detail upon polished marble surfaces. Lush gardens cradle the open corridors, blankets of dewy grass festooned with poppies. Within the House of Hypnos, Hephaistos had carved a thousand likenesses of the god: here wreathed Hedone clings to his side, here Ponos drooping to repose bears him company, here he shares a couch with Dionysos, there with Eros. Further within, in the secret places of the palace he lies with his womb-mate Thanatos also, but that dread image is seen by none.
  
  Hypnos also has a dwelling in the world of man, in the land of the Kimmerioi to the north of the Black Sea. Somewhere amidst the rocky crags of a steep mountainside, there is a vale of soporific herbs, growing before the yawning mouth of a cave. Deep within are paths leading to the Gates of Horn and Ivory, where the dreams of the Oneiroi rise up into the night sky, winging their way towards sleeping minds. The river Lethe has a tributary in the depths of the cavern, where its murmuring waters trickle down into the land of Hades. Hypnos keeps a furnished bedchamber under the roof of the cavern, wherein he often retires when his nightly duties are accomplished. There he rests upon an exquisitely soft couch under a canopy of thick curtains. An assembly of watchful dream-phantoms surround the chamber, appointed by Morpheus to ensure that his elder brother is never disturbed by even the faintest noise. The spirits Aergia and Hesykhia, idleness and silence, also dwell within, serving as the handmaidens of Hypnos.
  
  

  “Hypnos himself beneath humid caverns rests upon coverlets heaped with slumberous flowers, his garments reek, and the cushions are warm with his sluggish body, and above the bed a dark vapour rises from his breathing mouth."

  —Statius, Thebaid