What Is Hypnos The Greek God Of?
Hypnos is the Greek God of sleep. He reigns over sleep and all things that are related to it. This gives Hypnos a very important role in the inner workings of existence because, according to the ancient Greeks, everything sleeps: even gods.
Hypnos is very generous to mankind and helps those who are in need of sleep that call to him. He is considered the ruler of half of man’s life because of how we are made to sleep most of our lives.
When was Hypnos Born?
Hypnos’s exact date of birth is unknown, but we can assume because of his status as a Primordial God that he was born relatively early in the span of Creation. Hypnos is a Primordial God because he was born to Nyx and Erebus.
Nyx is the primordial goddess of Night and Erebus is the primordial consort of darkness. In addition to Hypnos, the two of them also had another son named Thanatos who is death.
Thanatos lives in the underworld and Hypnos is sometimes depicted as living there as well, but in other depictions he lives in Erebus. Hypnos more than likely does live in Erebus, and his home is a place where light and sound cannot ever enter. A perfect place to sleep.
Why Does Hypnos Have Wings?
Hypnos has wings because wings are the sign of the messenger and the conductor. Conduction is an act where the gods take something from one plane to another.
Hermes can conduct people to the underworld when they die. Hermes can also conduct dreams, as can Hypnos, and they both have a symbolism with wings.
All of Hypnos’s sons also possess wings, because they can use conduction as well.
Who Is Hypnos’s Wife?
Hypnos’s wife is the goddess Pasithea. Pasithea is one of the younger members of the Charites, the daughters of Zeus and Eurynome.
Hypnos had been in love with Pasithea for a long time and Hera promised him that he would be allowed to marry her if he helped her trick Zeus into a sleep. Hypnos did it, but Hera did not follow through with her promise.
Later, Hera called upon Hypnos again to help her trick Zeus into a sleep so that Poseidon’s army could sack Troy. However, Hypnos once again said he would only do it if Hera agreed to give him Pasithea as a wife and actually follow through with it this time.
Hera did, and so Hypnos tricked Zeus into sleep as part of Hera’s plan. By the time Zeus had awoken, Troy had been sacked but he never discovered that Hypnos had done this to him.
In addition to being Hypnos’s wife and one of the Charites, Pasithea is the goddess of relaxation, meditation, hallucinations, and other abnormal states of consciousness. Pasithea is also known to be generous to mankind like Hypnos is, but if angered she does have the power to curse the transgressor with hallucinations.
Who Are Hypnos’s Sons?
Hypnos and Pasithea produced three sons who are also gods related to sleep. Their names are Morpheus, Phobetor, and Phantasos.
Morpheus is known to conduct the dreams of man, Phobetor is known to conduct the dreams of animals, and Phantasos is known to conduct the dreams of inanimate objects. Morpheus is written by the poet Ovid to be the most skilled deity at shapeshifting of all time. Morpheus is known to be kind to men like his parents.
However, Phobetor and Phantasos are known to be very tricky to mankind. Phobetor loves to appear to men in the form of great scary beasts. And Phantasos loves to give man deceptive hallucinations of the shapes of the earth.
The three of them perform many of Hypnos’s responsibilities for him while he more typically stays around the gods or in his private dream home. Worship of Hypnos and Morpheus specifically actually persisted out of Antiquity and into the Medieval period. Some modern followers of paganism honor him as well.
What Offerings Does Hypnos Like?
Chocolate and most other sweets. Scents associated with sweets are also a good idea, like lavender or roses. Opium would also be a proper thing to offer him as well.
Typically, you would leave these offerings for him before you would go to sleep. Hypnos is more than likely to respond, as he has a reputation of being very kind and generous to mankind.
However, Hypnos seems to act in deals. If something large is requested of him, he may ask for something in return.