Hypnos (sleep) In Greek mythology, god of sleep, son of Nyx (Nox) and Erebus; brother of Thanatos (death), Aether (upper sky), Cer (bane), Dreams, Hemeia, Momus (blame), Moros (portion), and Nemesis; married to Pasithea; father of Morpheus; called Somnus by the Romans. According to Hesiod’s Theogony (211,756), Hypnos lived in the underworld, but Homer says he lived in Lemnos. Hypnos had a human figure during the day but was transformed into a bird at night. Vergil’s Aeneid (book 6) pictures Hypnos as a winged youth who touches the tired with a magical branch. Homer’s Iliad (book 14), Hesiod’s Theogony, and Ovid’s Metamorphoses (book 11) also picture the god.
SOURCE:
Encyclopedia of World Mythology and Legend, Third Edition – Written by Anthony S. Mercatante & James R. Dow
Copyright © 2009 by Anthony S. Mercatante
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