How Hypnos Is Associated With Death And The Underworld

Students know all too well the struggles of pulling an all-nighter, taking 3 naps throughout the day, and even trying to stay awake in that one Monday class. All of these afflictions have one thing in common, they affect our most vital daily routine, sleep. The Ancient Greeks personified sleep as Hypnos, the God of Sleep, the son of Nyx the Goddess of the Night, and brother of Thanatos the God of Death. With such a lineage it's understandable to see how Hypnos would be associated with death and the Underworld. And while it is easy to focus on how he is associated with death and sleep, it's a great underestimate of his total influence. Furthermore, he is far more closely associated with life and healing than with death. The purpose of this

However, the triumphant and blatant cry for support from the god of sleep to heal Philoctetes shows that he is not understood as just the god of sleep but, a seemingly third entity that relieves people of pain, through sleep. The god here is described as a stranger to anguish which is a stark contrast to his normal associations. Hypnos is closely related to the underworld and the gods of death, and anguish is something quite common to the underworld. The Underworld was established in Greek mythology as a place the soul goes to after death. In the Underworld, there are a variety of places in which your soul may rest. The most common of which was Tartarus, this is an area in which the wicked receive diving punishment from the gods and suffer in great agony. Additionally, the river Acheron is known as a river of woe and misery that flows through the Underworld and is known as the boundary between life and death. As portrayed the underworld is a place with heavily negative connotations especially that of anguish, distress, and pain, all of which are described as strange in relation to Hypnos. This indicates that Hypnos, while powerfully related through blood to the other Gods whose realms are in the underworld he is not as closely related to them as it

With this new revelation coming to light it is important that we reassess Greek Mythology as many of its aspects are likely more complex than initially thought. As such, the application of this way of thinking is vital to the constantly evolving understanding of ancient culture. Therefore, challenging our modern perceptions of ancient gods should be commonplace, as new evidence challenges established concepts. For instance, Zeus the God of the Sky is more heavily associated with natural disasters than that Poseidon the God of Earthquakes. Whenever there is a natural disaster in Greek mythology often it is associated with Zeus for flooding the world, rather than Poseidon, who can cause floods and earthquakes. Evidently, there is a lot of work to be done, in exploring new interpretations of Greek Mythology and its