Pantheon: Greek
Abode: The Dreaming
Parents: Somnus
Notable Siblings: Icelos, Phobetor, Phantasos
Associations: Dreams, Sleep
*Morpheus is a blend of Ovidian Roman Lore based upon Greek Mythology. Although Morpheus is rarely mentioned in Greek Myths, referrences to his persona is sprinked throughout. With the modern importance of Morpheus and his surrounding myths, his inclusions here only seems logical.
Key Points
- God of dreams and leader of the Oneiroi (Personified spirits of dreams)
Brief Bio
Morpheus is a god associated with sleep and dreams. In Ovid's Metamorphoses he is the son of Somnus (Sleep, the Roman counterpart of Hypnos) and appears in dreams in human form. From the Middle Ages, the name began to stand more generally for the god of dreams, or of sleep.
The only ancient mention of Morpheus occurs in Ovid's Metamorphoses, where Ovid tells of the story of Ceyx and his wife Alcyone who were transformed into birds. In Ovid's account, Juno (via the messenger goddess Iris) sends Morpheus to appear to Alcyone in a dream, as her husband Ceyx, to tell her of his death.
Ovid makes Morpheus one of the thousand sons of Somnus (Sleep). His function was apparently to appear in dreams in human guise.
Ovid called Morpheus and his brothers, the other sons of Somnus, the Somnia ("dream shapes"), saying that they appear in dreams "mimicking many forms".
The three brothers' names are found nowhere earlier than Ovid and are perhaps Ovidian inventions.
Morpheus Μορφεύς
GREEK MYTHOLOGY
