![]() One dip in that river and you’d forget everything and everyone you’d ever known…sort of like when you go to sleep at night. It shouldn’t come as much surprise that the River Lethe’s claim-to-fame was forgetfulness. The finishing touch on this rather bizarre yet quietly beautiful acreage was the River Lethe, one of the underworld’s main rivers, which snaked right through the poppy fields in the underworld and flowed right out of his cave. Poppies=falling asleep=Hypnos?) and a whole slew of other hypnotic plants. See, poppies are flowers used to make a drug called opium, which puts a person into a deep sleepy trance. At the entrance to the cave, surrounding the palace was a vast field of poppies (think of those red plants that made Dorothy, the Cowardly Lion and their pals fall asleep in the Wizard of Oz…that's what poppies do. Inside that cave existed a gigantic black-bricked mansion that according to the Greeks, did “not see the rising, nor the setting sun, nor does it see the "lightsome noon."” So, yeah, it was DARK down there! Hypnos’ shadow-palace dwelling had not one door or gate so that during the day while he was sleeping, the possibility of creaking hinges wouldn’t wake him up. The whole family lived comfortably in the underworld, in some rather interesting real estate: as was fitting for a group of gods and goddesses who lived life by the rules of darkness, they called home a giant, pitch black cave within the deepest part of the underworld (that section was actually called Erebus, after Hypnos’ dad!) Most of his other brothers and sisters via Nyx had jobs related to the night as well. No wonder he was born to deal out the gift of sleep! His brother, Thanatos, was the god of death (not an evil guy, just the guy who came for you when it was your natural time to go…) His mother was Nyx, the goddess (formerly Titan) of night, and his dad was Erebus, the Titan of Darkness. ![]() Hypnos came from a rather interesting family within the mythological tangle that was the Greek gods. (Oh, there’s a story there and we’ll get to it in a minute!) Including the King of the gods himself, Zeus. See, he had a secret weapon that no other god could come close to matching the power to put even the gods to sleep! Didn’t matter who it was, how big they were or how important, Hypnos could put them flat on their back with a thumb in their mouths with the flick of a switch. As mentioned, Hypnos had the power to knock every single creature on earth out cold…and then some. Hypnos’ wings sprouted out of his forehead (in some cases, he’s shown with both!)! As he probably needed the extra speed to get to every human being on earth at the time, it makes sense that he’d have a little extra wing-power to get him there faster. Hypnos was usually described as a young, spry man, but with a few extra oddities that made him rather unique! He was shown as having a nice set of wings, but not attached to his back Making certain that WE’RE taken care of in the sleep department has to be exhausting! Which explains why the guy sleeps it all off during the day. He’s not ruling the universe, or keeping track of the kingdom of the dead, but his job as an Olympian god was HUGE! EVERY person in the world? Every night? These days, we have a similar story about a supernatural being called “The Sandman,” who sprinkles magic dust and conks you out for the count Hypnos is the one dude we base that character off of. Hypnos was the one who came to each and every human every single night (and we’re presuming, even the ones who managed to get little daytime naps in, too!) and brought sleep to them. No sleep makes a human being a real pain in the rump to deal with. In this case, they always prayed a bit to a very special, yet-little-discussed god, the one god who could provide heavy eyelids and a cozy bed HYPNOS, the Greek god of sleep!Īs anyone who has ever been bushwhacked after an insanely grueling day of work, school, play or whatever might come your way on daily basis, sleep is a necessity. Sleep is definitely all well and good even the ancient Greeks knew the benefits of a good night of rest and recharging, and as with all else, they firmly believed that someone out there was looking out for them as they closed their eyes, rolled over and surrendered to sleep. ![]() ![]() ![]() After a crazy day, we want nothing more than to sleep off the effects of a long and often nutty day. As the sun begins to set and the night takes hold of the earth, the majority of we humans turn in, climb into bed, and hope for a blissful sleep to kick in throughout the late hours. At the end of each day, after busting your hump to get through whatever work has come your way, your brain starts to wind down. ![]()
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