Sleep (Hypnos)

Roman: Somnus

Portayed by: Kaleb Allen

Hypnos is the Greek god of sleep. He is the son of Nyx, the goddess of Night, and Erebus, god of darkness. His brother is Thanatos, the god of death. Within the play Metamorphoses, he is simply known as Sleep.

Appearence
Hypnos' appearence is not as strongly stated as some of the other gods, though he is usually depicted as being youthful. Some accounts have wings sprouting from his back or head, and he is usually described as having free and messy hair (Astma 2014).

Home of Sleep
Hypnos' home is that of a large mansion within a deep cave, located near Cimmeria and the deep pit of Erebus, named after his father. The cave is described as being so deep that not even the sun's beams can penetrate the entrance. The river Lethe (Forgetfulness) flows through this cave from the Underworld. The front gardens of the mansion are filled with poppies, the symbol of Hypnos. Complete silence fills the cave, so no rooster crow or dog bark might wake Hypnos while he sleeps. The mansion also posseses no doors, so the creaking hinges won't waken Hypnos either. The house is also populated by the Oneiroi, the gods of dreams and Hypnos' children. Thanatos is said to live next to Hypnos (Ovid, trans. Kline).

Information
As a son of Nyx, Hypnos follows his mother across the sky when she brings night to the world at the end of every day. He is always accompanied by his children the Oneroi, the three gods of dreams.

The Oneroi are led by Morpheus, the god of good dreams. Then there is Phobetor, god of nightmares. Finally there is Phantasos, god of surreal, illusory, ambiguous dreams.

Hypnos is married to Pasithea, one of the Graces, and the embodiment of relaxation.

He appears in Homer's Iliad, aiding Hera by putting Zeus to sleep after she has seduced him. He is neutral in the Trojan war, but because he aids Hera, he could be on the side of the Greeks (Astma, 2014).

In Metamorphoses
In the epic poem by Ovid and it's theatrical adaptation by Mary Zimmerman, Hypnos appears in the story of Alcyone and Ceyx after the latter has drowned at sea. Aphrodite, goddess of love, sends Iris, the goddess of the rainbow, to the home of Hypnos in order to ask him if he may send a dream to Alcyone, informing her of her husband's death. Hypnos agrees to this, and sends his son Morpheus down to Alcyone in the form of King Ceyx. He is not seen again after this. In the play, he is portrayed by the First Man (Zimmerman, 2002).