Hypnos

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Hypnos and Thanatos carry the body of Sarpedon . Attic red-figure calyx krater . Euxitheos (potter), Euphronios (painter), around 515 BC Chr.

Hypnos ( Greek Ὕπνος Hýpnos , German 'sleep' ) is a deity of Greek mythology . He is commonly considered the god of sleep. Its Roman counterpart is Somnus .

Hypnos is one of the chthonic gods (death and life or the subterranean gods) and is therefore nicknamed Chthonios . Another nickname is according to Pausanias Epidotes ( Ἐπιδότης Epidótēs , German 'the giver, the generous' ). Homeric epithets are Hypnos nedymos ( νήδυμος Ὕπνος nḗdymos Hýpnos , German 'the lovely, sweet, enveloping sleep' ) and Pandamator ( πανδαμάτωρ pandamátōr , German 'the all-captivating' ).

Since Hypnos was ascribed the ability to put gods and people into deep sleep, the term hypnosis was derived from its name .

description

According to Hesiod's theogony , Nyx , the night, brought him out fatherless; his brother is Thanatos , Death. According to Hesiod, the Oneiroi , the gods of dreams, are brothers of Hypnos. According to later mythological tradition, he is the son of Nyx and Erebos , the darkness.

Hypnos and Thanatos live in the underworld ( Hades ) . However, different details are used to specify the place of residence. Erebos and Tartaros , two other parts of the Greek underworld, are also given as places of residence. In the theogony, the house of the night, that of mother Nyx, is called the place of residence. The house forms an entrance to Tartarus and is said to be far to the west. Day and night are supposed to meet there. According to Ovid , Hypnos lives in a cave through which the Lethe ("forgetfulness") river flows. This is located near the land of the Kimmerer . His bed is made of ebony and in front of the entrance to the cave there are herbs with a drowsy effect. No light or sound penetrates the grotto . Fog and twilight darkness surround the realm ("Cimmerian darkness"). According to Homer , he lives on the island of Lemnos , which is why other authors later called it their own dream island. According to Statius , he lives in the west, in Aithiopia . The realm of Hypnos should also be guarded by the goddesses or daimones Aergia (“time out”), Hesychia (“rest”) and Lethe (“oblivion”). Charis Pasithea is named as the wife . His children Morpheus ("figure"), Phobetor ("horror") and Phantasos ("imagination, fantasy") are the gods of dreams . But he is said to have far more children who are also Oneiroi . According to Ovid, he is considered a calm and meek God who helps people with their needs and who sleeps half of their lives.

Hypnos on the tomb of Alexander von der Mark , created by Johann Gottfried Schadow in 1788

In the visual arts , Hypnos is often depicted as a sleeping youth wreathed with opium poppy flowers , sometimes as an old and sluggish man with bird wings, and more often as a graceful young man with butterfly wings over his temples or shoulders. His other attributes include a cornucopia in his right hand that is filled with dreams or sleep, and a branch of poppies (or a branch dipped in the Lethe River) in his left. An inverted (extinguished) torch is also counted among his attributes and among those of his brother Thanatos. Statuary portraits show Hypnos either alone or with his brother Thanatos. He is often depicted on sarcophagi . According to Pausanias' description of Greece, Thanatos and Hypnos are depicted on a box in Olympia . The goddess Nyx carries a white boy on her right arm and a black boy on her left arm. Both are shown asleep and with bent feet or crossed legs. Exactly which boy is Hypnos can only be guessed at. In Nonnos ' Dionysiaka , Aphrodite describes the sleep god as dark-skinned, while his wife Pasithea is lily-white or snow-white. He is also described as black winged.

Bronze head of Hypnos (torso modern reconstructed)

Hypnos was worshiped in only a few places, often in connection with Asclepius ; so also in Sikyon in a temple of Asclepius. With his nickname Epidotes, he appears on a painting, putting a lion to sleep. There is also said to have been a statue there. In Troizen in the Argolis he was worshiped together with the muses described as good friends . Another statue was found in Sparta . The British Museum exhibits the Bronze Head of Hypnos ; the Museo del Prado there is a statue of marble . Lessing sees the Ildefonso group as an embodiment of Hypnos and Thanatos.

myth

According to Greek mythology, Hypnos has the power to put all gods, humans and animals into deep sleep . According to a legend , Hypnos fell in love with the young man Endymion because of his beautiful eyes. In order to be able to admire them at all times, Hypnos enchanted the sleeper so that his eyes would remain open even while he was sleeping. A variant of this story describes Endymion as the lover of the moon goddess Selene : Hypnos gave him the ability to sleep with open eyes so that Endymion could look at the moon goddess even at night.

Another legend reports that the goddess Hera asked Hypnos to put the father of the gods Zeus into deep sleep so that he would not notice if she asked the sea ​​god Poseidon for help in the battle for Troy . The sleep god refused a golden throne created by Hephaestus . He only agreed when Hera promised him Pasithea as his wife. Hypnos made Hera swear by the River Styx because he was afraid of the wrath of Zeus. Hypnos had put Zeus to sleep once before. That was also done at Hera's request, who wanted to hunt Heracles undisturbed . When the God Father woke up and found out, he went mad with anger. He pursued Hypnos, who fled to his mother Nyx. There the persecution by the god father ended, who would rather not mess with the night. The next time Hypnos turned into a night bird and flew to Mount Ida . After Hera had distracted Zeus, Hypnos put him into deep sleep a second time. Then he forwarded Hera's request to Poseidon. And this time Zeus didn't find out that the god of sleep was behind it. In the Dionysiacs a scene analogous to the Iliad is depicted.

In the Trojan War , Zeus orders Hypnos and his brother Thanatos to bring the body of his son Sarpedon to Lycia to be buried there.

According to another request from Heras ( Junos ), Hypnos should bring Alkyone to know the death of her husband at sea. The sleep god passes this order on to his son Morpheus , because he is a god of dreams and can take control of all human figures in dreams. The message is delivered through Iris ; Ovid makes it clear that she, too, can hardly avoid the soporific power of hypnosis.

Hypnos, who was friendly towards people, also granted requests from heroes . The Colchian princess and granddaughter of Helios , Medea , needed the help of Hypnos. She called on the sleep god to put the never-sleeping dragon and guardian of the golden fleece to sleep . With Hypno's help, Medea was successful, and Jason took the fleece. Athenian vase paintings show Hypnos next to the giants Alkyoneus and Heracles. Since Alkyoneus could not be killed in his homeland, Heracles had to carry him out of Pallene . The portrayal of Alkyoneus as sleeping suggests that Hypnos put the giant to sleep and Heracles then carried him away.

Roman appearance as somnus

The sleeping god, known to the Greeks as gentle, appears to the Romans under the name of Somnus as the murderer of Palinuro . Somnus appears in the form of a Phorbas, otherwise not mentioned, and tries to persuade Aeneas' helmsman to rest and let him take the wheel. Despite initial resistance from Palinuro, Somnus is able to put him to sleep. To do this, he uses a branch soaked in the Lethe River and drips the liquid onto Palinuro’s temples. Thereupon he pushes the sleeping helmsman overboard. The cries for help of the Palinuro, awakened again in the waves, fade away in the night by the comrades.

The Roman poets Virgil , Seneca and Statius also referred to the sleep god as Sopor .

literature

Web links

Commons : Hypnos  - collection of images, videos and audio files
  • Hypnos in the Theoi Project (English)

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Heinrich August Pierer , Pierers Universallexikon Volume 4, p. 128. Chthonische Götter at Zeno.org
  2. ↑ Pausanias 2,10,2 .
  3. ↑ Homer , Iliad 14,242,354; Johannes Andreas Jolles : Hypnos. In: Paulys Realencyclopadie der classischen Antiquity Science (RE). Volume IX, 1, Stuttgart 1914, Sp. 323-329 (here: Sp. 324; digitized ).
  4. ↑ Homer, Iliad 24: 4-5.
  5. ^ Hesiod, Theogony 211-225.
  6. ^ Hyginus , Fabulae .
  7. ↑ Virgil , Aeneid 6.268 ff.
  8. ^ Heinrich August Pierer , Pierers Universallexikon Volume 8, p. 680. Article Hypnos at Zeno.org
  9. ↑ Hesiod, Theogony 740-766.
  10. ^ Ovid , Metamorphoses 11.9. Ceyx and Alcyone (verses 410-748).
  11. ↑ Homer , Iliad 14: 230-360.
  12. ↑ Extensive lexicon of Greek and Roman mythology - section Hypnos . Extensive lexicon of Greek and Roman mythology. Retrieved July 13, 2013.
  13. ↑ Statius , Thebais 10.90ff.
  14. ↑ Homer, Iliad 14: 230-360; Catullus , Carmen 63.43.
  15. ↑ a b Wilhelm Vollmer: Dictionary of the Mythology of All Nations , p. 263.
  16. ↑ Ovid, Metamorphoses 11, 9. Ceyx and Alcyone (verses 410-748); Carl Herloßsohn , Damen Conversations Lexikon Volume 5, p. 369. Article Hypnos, Somnus (Mythologie) at Zeno.org ; Benjamin Hederich , Thorough Mythological Lexicon , Sp. 2239–2245. Somnvs at Zeno.org
  17. ↑ Extensive lexicon of Greek and Roman mythology - section Hypnos . Extensive lexicon of Greek and Roman mythology. Retrieved August 18, 2016.
  18. ↑ Statius, Thebais 2,144; 5.199.
  19. ↑ Silius Italicus , Punica 10, 340-355; Johannes Andreas Jolles : Hypnos. In: Paulys Realencyclopadie der classischen Antiquity Science (RE). Volume IX, 1, Stuttgart 1914, Col. 323-329.
  20. ↑ Benjamin Hederich , Thorough Mythological Lexicon , Sp. 2239–2245. Somnvs at Zeno.org ; Hypnos: Greek God of Sleep. Theoi Project, Aaron J. Atsma, New Zealand, accessed October 26, 2013 .
  21. ↑ Vollmer, Wilhelm: Dictionary of Mythology. Stuttgart 1874, p. 263; Extensive lexicon of Greek and Roman mythology - Hypnos section . Extensive lexicon of Greek and Roman mythology. Retrieved August 18, 2016.
  22. ↑ Pausanias , Description of Greece 5, 18.1; Johannes Andreas Jolles: Hypnos. In: Paulys Realencyclopadie der classischen Antiquity Science (RE). Volume IX, 1, Stuttgart 1914, Sp. 323-329; Benjamin Hederich , Thorough Mythological Lexicon , Sp. 2239–2245. Somnvs at Zeno.org
  23. ^ Nonnos von Panopolis , Dionysiaka 33,4ff.
  24. ↑ Nonnos of Panopolis, Dionysiaka 31,103 ff.
  25. ^ Pausanias, Description of Greece Book II, 10.2ff.
  26. ^ Hypnos: Greek God of Sleep # Cult & Cult Images of Hypnos. Theoi Project Copyright, Aaron J. Atsma, New Zealand, accessed December 23, 2013 . ; Extensive lexicon of Greek and Roman mythology - Hypnos section . Extensive lexicon of Greek and Roman mythology. Retrieved July 13, 2016; Break. 2.31.3 . Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; A Greek – English Lexicon - Perseus Project. Retrieved July 17, 2016.
  27. ^ Johannes Andreas Jolles: Hypnos. In: Paulys Realencyclopadie der classischen Antiquity Science (RE). Volume IX, 1, Stuttgart 1914, Sp. 323-329; Pausanias, Description of Greece, Book III, 18.1.
  28. ↑ Walter Amelung , Guide to Antiquity in Florence , 260. Statuette of the sleeping god Hypnos.
  29. ↑ Joseph Meyer , Meyers Konversations-Lexikon Volume 9, p. 751. Article Ildefonso group at Zeno.org
  30. ↑ Homer, Iliad 14: 230-360.
  31. ^ A b C. Scott Littleton: Gods, Goddesses, and Mythology . P. 475; Athenaios , Deipnosophistai book 13; Athenaeus: The Deipnosophists Book 13, Pages 551-571. Retrieved August 11, 2016 .
  32. ↑ Murat Kütük: From the cave to the bedroom . P. 7.
  33. ↑ Hypnos: The God of Sleep, a son Nyx (Night) and brother of Thanatos (Death) - Mythagora article Hypnos (English). Mythagora website. Retrieved July 13, 2013; Homer, Iliad 14, 230-360.
  34. ↑ Nonnos von Panopolis, Dionysiaka 31,103ff.
  35. ↑ Homer, Iliad 16: 419-683.
  36. ^ Alcyone and Ceyx Source: www.greeka.com. greek.com (eng), accessed October 26, 2013 . ; Ovid, Metamorphoses 11, 9. Ceyx and Alcyone (verses 410-748).
  37. ↑ Gaius Valerius Flaccus , Argonautica 8, 67ff .; Apollonios of Rhodes , Argonautika 4, 146 ff.
  38. ↑ Libraries of Apollodor 1, 34-38; Johannes Andreas Jolles: Hypnos. In: Paulys Realencyclopadie der classischen Antiquity Science (RE) . Volume IX, 1, Stuttgart 1914, Col. 326; Hypnos: Greek God of Sleep. Theoi Project, Aaron J. Atsma, New Zealand, accessed September 3, 2016 .
  39. ↑ Virgil, Aeneid 5,835ff.
  40. ↑ Virgil, Aeneid 6,268 ff .; Seneca , Hercules Furens 686 ff .; Statius, Thebais 2.59 ff; 12,300 ff.