Hypnos - the god of sleep in ancient Greek mythology

Hypnos - the god of sleep in the Greeks. He is the product of Night (Nyukta) and Darkness (Erebus), who reigned in the dark spaces of the underworld. He has a twin brother named Thanatos (Death) - a gloomy and merciless deity whose heart does not know pity.

According to "Theogony" Hesiod Hypnos lives in a cave, next to which the river Leta (Oblivion) originates. Before entering the cave, where no light penetrates and no sounds are heard, the herbs with a hypnotic effect grow. Every night the god of sleep ascends into the sky in his Nyukty's chariot.

The myth tells that Hypnos fell in love with a young man of incomparable beauty named Endimon. He was fascinated by his eyes and, to admire them always, made sure that the eyes of the young man remained open during sleep. According to another version of the myth of Selene, who fell in love with Endimon, asks Zeus to keep him young and beautiful. Zeus orders Hypnos to immerse him in eternal sleep, so that he remains young forever. The god of sleep gives Endimon the ability to sleep with his eyes open, so that he can look at the moon goddess at night. In another myth, Hypnos, while plunging Zeus himself into a deep sleep, helps Hera, who at this time turns to Poseidon for help in the battle for Troy. Poseidon agrees, but with the proviso that Hera will promise him the favor of Pasiphae, the wife of Minos.

In art (painting, sculpture), the Greek god of sleep was depicted as a young man, naked, sometimes with a small beard and wings on his head or back. Sometimes he is shown as a person who sleeps on a bed of feathers, curtained with black curtains. His symbols are a poppy flower or a horn with sleeping pills, a branch from which water drains from the Leta River, or an inverted torch. God of sleep in the Greeks has the power to immerse in a deep sleep of all - gods, people, animals.

Not knowing how to explain the nature of sleep, people of different cultures and religious views created deities and spirits of dreams and dreams that had a special influence.

The tale "Ole Lukoie," written by Hans Christian Andersen, was based on a folk story about the mysterious mythical creature of Dream, which gently lulls the children, but depending on how they (obedient or disobedient), they bring different dreams.

Ole Lukoye has an umbrella under each hand: one with colorful drawings on the inside, another without drawings. A bright umbrella he reveals over obedient children and all night they dream beautiful dreams, while unruly children can not see dreams at all, if the god of sleep in the person of Ole Lukoye reveals a dark umbrella over them.

The first information on the interpretation of dreams comes from Mesopotamia. The Sumerians created a book that is considered to be the first dream book in the world. It describes the symbols of dreams and gives them an explanation. The Sumerian model influenced the cultural views of the Egyptians who recorded their dreams on papyrus, from them to ancient Jews, eventually leading to the Greek tradition.

The English word "hypnosis" comes from the name "Hypnos", based on the idea that when a person is hypnotized, it is as if in a state of sleep ("hypnosis" is a dream and "-osis" is a condition). Another term - "insomnia" ("insomnia") comes from the Latin words "somnus" (dream) and "in" (not-). The ancient Romans were so called their dream god - Somnus.