Hypnos

For other uses, see Hypnos (disambiguation)}}}.

In Greek mythology, Hypnos was the personification of sleep; the Roman equivalent was known as Somnus. His twin was Thanatos ("death"); their mother was the goddess Nyx ("night"). His palace was a dark cave where the sun never shines. At the entrance were a number of poppies and other hypnogogic plants.

Hypnos' offspring consisted of the things that occur in dreams, the Oneiroi. The three principals of these appear in the dreams of kings: Morpheus, Phobetor and Phantasos. According to one story he lived in a cave underneath a Greek island; through this cave flowed Lethe, the river of forgetfulness.

Endymion received the power to sleep with his eyes open from Hypnos in order to constantly watch his beloved Selene.

In art, Hypnos was portrayed as a naked, youthful man, sometimes with a beard, and wings attached to his head. He is sometimes shown as a man asleep on a bed of feathers with black curtains about him. Morpheus is his chief minister and prevents noises from waking him. In Sparta, the image of Hypnos was always put near that of death.

Hypnos

See also