Finally, they came to an agreement: Hypnos would get Hera’s graceful daughter Pasithea as his bride.Īfter the agreement Hera hurried to see Zeus on the highest peak of Mount Ida and as Zeus was moved by her seducing charms, Hypnos hiding in the mist on top of a pine tree nearby, finally put Zeus to sleep. Hera seeing that Hypnos was reluctant to hypnotize Zeus, she offered him various appealing gifts all of which Hypnos refused. Thus, she asked Hypnos the favor of putting Zeus to sleep so she could proceed with her war plans. Homer recounts the story of Hypnos in Iliad: During the Trojan War, the Achaeans were losing, and Hera had made up her mind to help them win. The bed of Hypnos was made of ebony and in the entrance of the cave grew poppies and hypnotic plants. Homer recounts that it was his very own dream-island. Hypnos, himself lived in a big cave under the Greek island, Lemnos from which the river Lethe, the river of forgetfulness flows and where night and day meet. All their children would be able to send the dreams only after Hypnos had put the recipient to sleep. The cave had two gates with which to send people either good dreams or bad ones one gate made from ivory and the other from buckhorn. Oneiroi lived at the shores of the ocean in the west. Phobetor meaning fear was the personification of nightmares and Phantasos representing i magination and fantasy was known for creating illusions. He was married to Hera’s daughter Pasithea the goddess of relaxation. One of their four sons Morpheus, meaning shape is known as the winged god of d reams who could take any human form in dreams. Hypnos was the son of Nyx – the goddess of the night and Erebus, the god of darkness. Using his beautiful voice, he articulated sounds and repetitions which had a calming effect and brought sleep upon the listener. Hypnos was empowered with the gift of performing hypnosis. When conducted properly into this state of mind, one can turn completely inward to find and utilize the resources deep within that can help him understand and make the changes needed to master himself in certain areas of his life. The word hypnosis derived from his name is used today as a psychological method to put someone into a deeper state of consciousness where pure attention is heightened. His voice had enormous power over the mortals and immortals including Zeus, the god of the gods. The Greek god Hypnos was represented as a gentle and calm young man, with wings attached to his temples. Metamosphoses (Ovid), Thebaid, Silvae, etc.) His name provides the root for the word hypnosis, a state of induced sleep.The story of how Hypnos, the god of sleep made Zeus fall asleep and how the Greeks went across the Aegean and won the Trojan war. Hypnos is heavily mentioned in the Illiad, a famous Greek epic, as well as in much of Roman and Greek poetry of the time (e.g. Zeus, being so infuriated when he woke up to the mortal war having taken such a radical turn, never suspected Hypnos of spelling him to sleep. In doing so, Poseidon rationalized that Zeus would never know of his aid to the mortals. He then urged Poseidon to further assist the Akhaians in the Trojan War. After Hera had seduced Zeus and the great god was already almost asleep, Hypnos turned into a bird and cast a spell of deep sleep upon Zeus. Hypnos, after having made Hera swear to an oath of sincerity, reluctantly agreed. Hera then offered Hypnos the hand of Aglia, one of the Graces, in marriage. Hypnos, having already tried to cast his sleeping spell on Zeus, remembered the consequences, a harsh reprimand from Zeus, and declined Hera’s offer of a golden chariot for his help. Hypnos granted Endymion the power of sleeping with his eyes open so as to better see his love while asleep.ĭuring the mortal Trojan war, Hera asked of Hypnos to lull Zeus into sleep so that she may pitch the war in the favor of the opposing side. Hypnos’s symbols are the horn and the poppy stem. Hypnos resides in the land of eternal darkness (Erebos), beyond the gates of the rising sun. Hypnos is mainly pictured as a young, bare man with wings sprouting from his temples, or as a bearded man with wings from his shoulders. The Dreams, or Onairoi, are Hypnos’s sons. He is most commonly pictured beside his twin brother, Thanatos, the Greek god of death. Somnus, or Sopor, is Hypnos’s Roman name. He enters the dreams of mortals and induces dreams of foolishness unto them. Hypnos is most commonly known as the Greek god of sleep. Hypnos – God of Sleep in Ancient Greek Mythology
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |