Contact

Hypnos is the Greek god of sleep. His Roman-equivalent names are Somnus or Sopor. He is either depicted as a tired old man with a beard, or as a young sleepy man with wings on his head or on his back. He often carries a horn filled with sleep-inducing opium, a yew branch dripping with the waters of the river Lethe, or an inverted torch. I don't think he was ever depicted in art as a ripped, muscle-bound dude... he's more of a softy. Hypnos appears to me as a sleepy (stoned?) young man with statue-gray skin, curly, silver hair, wings on his head, and deep black eyes with moons and stars. He wears a black and purple robe. Pretty!

He rises into the night sky with his mother Nyx (goddess of night) to bring sleep to the Earth, and departs with the dawn.

However, I am certain he doesn't mind mid-day naps!

In Hesiod's Theogony, Nyx alone is his mother, and there is no father. In the Pseudo-Hyginus and in De Natura Deorum, it is stated that Nyx is the mother and Erebus is the father (the god of darkness in Hades). Personally, I'm inclined to believing that Nyx and Erebus are Hypnos' parents. Just makes sense to me.

The rest of Hypnos' family is pretty awesome. His twin brother is Thanatos, the god of death. Hypnos' siblings include Eris, Nemesis, the Keres, the Moirae, and many others. Through Hypnos' union with Pasithea, there came the Oneiroi - the most powerful of them being Morpheus, Phobetor, and Phantasos, the shapers of dreams. Morpheus takes the shape of man, Phobetor takes the shape of beasts or monsters, and Phantasos takes the shape of inanimate objects - and becomes animate. Phobetor is also the god of nightmares. I've had a chat with him before... cheery fellow! =\

Hypnos may have several abodes, but his most noted ones are the palace he shares with Thanatos in the underworld, and his simple home in Cimmeria. Hypnos' home in Cimmeria is a simple cave with a field of poppies and soporific herbs growing at the entrance. If any junkies or druglords attempted to steal the herbs, I think they would fall into a permanent coma, or something. Within this home he rests on a black couch or black bed.

Hypnos is also one of the gods worshipped by the cult of Asklepios. At the Asklepieion in Epidaurus, several small temples were dedicated to a variety of gods, including Hypnos.

It has taken me many years to work on my insomnia, and I am just now coming around. Hypnos has helped me a LOT (read: "put up with my bitching"), and his wisdom in turn has helped me fight the root causes of my sleeping problems.

Neato factoid---> From his name, we get "hypnosis", "soporific", and "somnoplasty" (upper airway surgery to assist in breathing and sleeping disorders).

The Asklepian cults of the past were right to include him as a god to assist in healing. Sleep is one of the body's greatest healers, but this will be discussed in length on the "Sleep" page.

Sources
"Mythology" by Edith Hamilton
"Hellenic Ministry of Culture
"Theoi.com, Hypnus: Greek god or spirit of sleep
Greek Mythology Link: Hypnos