Source Verification: Hypnos
Every claim below is either what a named ancient source attests, in its own line or section, or a point where the sources themselves disagree.
What the Sources Attest
Who are Hypnos's parents, and does he have siblings?
Hesiod names Night as his mother, with no father given at all - Hypnos is one of the children she bore entirely on her own. His twin brother is Thanatos, Death, and the Theogony lists the two of them together in the same breath as her other, similarly stark children.
Source: Hesiod, Theogony 211-213
What did Hypnos and his twin brother do for Sarpedon?
After Sarpedon, a son of Zeus, was killed at Troy, Zeus ordered Apollo to prepare the body and hand it to Sleep and Death, the twin brothers, who carried it swiftly to Sarpedon's homeland of Lycia so he could be buried properly among his own people rather than left on the battlefield.
Source: Homer, Iliad 16.671-683
Why did Hypnos initially refuse to help Hera put Zeus to sleep?
He had done exactly this once before, lulling Zeus to sleep so Hera could act against Heracles at sea, and it very nearly cost him everything: Zeus's fury on waking was so total that Hypnos survived only by fleeing to his mother, Night, whose protection Zeus respected enough to hold his anger back. He was not willing to risk that twice without real assurance.
Source: Homer, Iliad 14.249-262
What did Hera actually give Hypnos in exchange for his help?
She first offered a golden throne forged by Hephaestus, but Hypnos held out for something he wanted more: a binding oath that she would give him Pasithea, one of the younger Graces, as a wife - a match he says he has desired all his days. Only after she swore that oath did he agree to lull Zeus to sleep.
Source: Homer, Iliad 14.225-262
Where does Hypnos live?
Hesiod places his dwelling in the same remote region as his mother Night, near where the Titan Atlas stands bearing up the sky and close by the gates of Tartarus - ground the shining Sun is said never to look upon as he crosses the heaven in either direction.
Source: Hesiod, Theogony 744-761
Sources
- Hesiod, Theogony 211-213
- Hesiod, Theogony 744-761
- Homer, Iliad 14.225-262
- Homer, Iliad 16.671-683
- Timothy Gantz, Early Greek Myth (1993)