7/26/2023 0 Comments God of sleepThis reveals a very important characteristic of human nature the fear of death.īy personifying death, Greeks were also able to avoid and negotiate with him. He had a gentle touch and he’d visit those who had lived their lives fully. In Orphic Mythology, when death represented the transition to Elysium fields, Thanatos looked like an infant, an angel and a messenger of death. Hercules fights him off - essentially beating death. The titular hero traps Thanatos to gain immortality. Obviously, like his mother, he’s ever-present in the background of Greek mythology. He was merciless, feared and hated by mortals and Gods alike. Thanatos is the son of Nyx and the personification of death. This becomes more apparent as we trace her genealogy tree. Nyx, and all of her creations, could represent the unknown characteristics, the shadow, of our personality that slowly surfaces during the day. Philosophers and psychologists have argued that our subconscious can often direct our fate and our decisions. She’d sent dreams and prophecies (her sons and daughters) to people and Gods, like Cronus.Ĭonsider the implication of this for a moment: The Night is where reality emerges from. In Orphic mythology, she represents the very source of creation. Later on, it seems that instead, she became the First Principle. Nyx, the First PrincipleĪs I’ve mentioned, we read in Theogony that she’s the daughter of Chaos. They were statues called “Night” in temples and adjectives given to other deities that alluded to Nyx, like Dionysus Nyktelios (nocturnal). She was worshipped in the background of other cults. The description of her appearance is elusive but it is said that she was a shadowy figure, fierce, and beautiful, possessing immense power. We learn, in Illiad, that Zeus fears her fury more than anything else. In Theogony, her home is in Tartarus, the underworld, where she gave birth to all the deities and creatures of the Night. There aren’t many surviving mythological stories that focus on her, yet she’s ever-present in the backdrop. She appears to exist at the beginning of creation, marking her a primordial entity and not part of the well-known Olympians. She’s the daughter of Chaos, the place and time that predates creation and represents the gap between Heaven and Earth. Nyx is the personification of the night itself. So, if you’re ready to dive into the dreamland and meet the Night… proceed! 1. They’d personify hope, war, thunder, death, and yes you guessed it sleep and dreams!īut what’s interesting is that a whole philosophical system that underlines Greek mythology emerges once you analyze the relationship and function of these Gods. Greek mythology has a God (theos or daemon) for every thought and emotion. Objects, animals, plants, places, etc have a spirit.īy ascribing human qualities and traits to, otherwise, abstract and inanimate concepts they were able to relate and make sense of mysteries of the world.Īncient Greeks weren’t that different, albeit more sophisticated since they weaved this concept to their stories and mythology. In fact, one of the most ancient beliefs that persisted until very recently is animism. They used myths and deities to map the world around them. See, mythology was deeply embedded into their daily lives. It might be hard for a modern human to comprehend the way ancient civilizations perceived these concepts. We have the tools to answer these questions with accuracy. Why we sleep, how much, how many dreams per night, etc. We have an abundance of information, research, and studies available online to dissect the very nature of our sleep and dreams. Nowadays, science allows us to explain various natural phenomena and biological processes.
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