Hypnos (2024)

Hypnos is the Greek God of Sleep, the son of Nyx and Erebus, father of Morpheus and the twin brother of Thanatos.

History[]

Long before the Trojan War, Hera was angry at Hercules, and she persuaded Hypnos to make Zeus sleep while she tormented the hero. When Zeus awoke, he was furious. He searched for Hypnos and finally found him hiding in the arms of his mother, Nyx. Zeus overcame his anger and simply warned Hypnos not to try such a trick again, and Hypnos went unpunished.

During the Trojan War, Hera wanted to distract Zeus from the battle so she could assist the Akhaians, who seemed to be losing the war. She wanted Hypnos to cast a spell of sleep on Zeus, but he refused. At first Hera offered Hypnos a golden throne crafted by Hephaestus, but she was forced to raise the price when Hypnos reminded her of the only time he had dared cast sleep on Zeus.

In preparation for this new deception, Hypnos made Hera swear oaths of her sincerity. He agreed to help her deceive Zeus for the hand of Pasithea, one of the Graces. He turned himself into a bird and, before zeus could see him, hid in the top of the trees on Mount Ida. He stayed hidden until Hera had seduced Zeus. When the father of gods was dulled by pleasure and sleep, Hypnos flew to Poseidon and urged him to increase his efforts in helping the Akhaians because Zeus was asleep and unaware of his meddling. Poseidon strode through the ranks of soldiers and urged them on. Finally, his bellowing and screeching roused Zeus from his slumber but, in that short time, the Akhaians had turned the battle back on the Trojans. Hera’s trick had worked. Zeus never found out that Hypnos had betrayed him.

His palace was a dark cave where sun never shines and River Lethe flowed beside it. Although Hypnos was not one of the most active gods of that time, he was famous for therole he had played in the story of Endymion and Selene, theTitaness of the moon. When Endymion was grantedimmortality and eternalyouth by means of endless sleep, he received the power to sleep with his eyes open by Hypnos so he could constantly watch his beloved Selene.The reasonHypnos granted him this gift was because the god of sleep loved the young king/prince/shepherd andthus couldalwaysgaze in his beautiful eyes.

Personality[]

Though not a villain or immoral, Hypnos is far from being the most responsible or honorable god to exist. He has been said to do nothing much but sleep, and did not play a role in the lastSecond Olympian War, implying that he is a lazy god (if not the laziest). He also show to be very cowardly in the past, having hid himself in his mother's arms to avoid Zeus' anger, and when Hera requested his assistance against Zeus yet again, Hypnos only complies when she swore to gave him Pasithea's hand in marriage. He was also described to have used his power immaturely when he was a child, much to the other gods' chagrin. When he appears to Cody, he is shown to be very lackadaisical about anyone's situation but his own - and his situation is always that he just wants to sit down and rest.

Appearance[]

He has teakwood skin, much like his brother Thanatos. He is described not to be especially tall, and looks almost anorexic as far as build is concerned, with a thin and weak body, a sunken face in a constant look of exasperation, impatience and the desperate need to fall asleep. His eyes are the intriguing part, because they are multicoloured in a hypnotic way - neither eye stays the same colour as the other at any point, and barely maintains the same colour altogether, switching between green, blue, orange, red, black and white every second, like a pair of tiny kaleidoscopes in his eye sockets. He is seen wearing a maroon smoking jacket and bow-tie, with baggy khaki trousers and Manticore-fur slippers.