Hypnos – Greek god of sleep. He is the offspring of Night (Nyukta) and Gloom (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 knows no pity.
According to the "Theogony" of Hesiod, Hypnos lives in a cave, next to which the river Lethe (Oblivion) originates. In front of the entrance to the cave, where no light penetrates and no sounds are heard, herbs grow that have a hypnotic effect. Every night, the god of sleep rises into the sky in the chariot of his mother Nyukta.
The myth tells that Hypnos fell in love with a young man of incomparable beauty named Endymon. He was fascinated by his eyes and, in order to always admire them, he made sure that the young man's eyes remained open during sleep. According to another version of the myth, Selene, who fell in love with Endymon, asks Zeus to keep him young and beautiful. Zeus orders Hypnos to put him into eternal sleep so that he will always remain young. The God of Sleep grants Endymon the ability to sleep with his eyes open so that he can gaze upon the Moon Goddess at night. Another mythHypnos, 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 on the condition that Hera 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. He is sometimes shown as a man who sleeps on a bed of feathers covered with black curtains. Its symbols are a poppy flower or a horn with a soporific poppy, a branch from which water flows from the river Lethe, or an inverted torch. The god of sleep among the Greeks has the power to plunge everyone into a deep sleep - gods, people, animals.
Not knowing how to explain the nature of sleep, people of different cultures and religious beliefs created deities and spirits of sleep and dreams with special influence.
The fairy tale "Ole Lukoye", written by Hans Christian Andersen, was based on a folk story about the mysterious mythical creature Sandman, who gently lulls children, but depending on how they are (obedient or naughty), brings them different dreams.
Ole Lukoye has an umbrella under each hand: one with colorful drawings on the inside, the other without drawings. He opens a bright umbrella over obedient children and they have wonderful dreams all night, while naughty children may not see dreams at all if the god of sleep in the person of Ole Lukoye opens a dark umbrella over them.
First information aboutinterpretation of dreams comes from Mesopotamia. The Sumerians created a book that is considered the world's first dream book. It describes the symbols of dreams and gives them an explanation. The Sumerian model influenced the cultural beliefs of the Egyptians, who recorded their dreams on papyrus, and from them to the 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, he is in a state of sleep ("hypnos" - sleep and "-osis" - condition). Another term - "insomnia" ("insomnia") comes from the Latin words "somnus" (sleep) and "in" (non-). The ancient Romans called their god of sleep - Somnus.
