DID YOU KNOW: CHILDREN OF THE NIGHT
Close your eyes, surrender to your imagination, and let it astray for a while, as today’s article will abuse the very best of that creative mind of yours. When reading about the creation of all beings, it is mostly said that the origin of everything is simply nothing. That at the beginning of all time, only chaos existed. Unknown, cold, and maybe dark, are the first things that come to mind when imagining this unspecific matter. And that’s exactly what Greek people imagined when they thought about the formation of all life.
How do I know? Well, just keep reading.
It is said, that from chaos, emerged a beautiful Goddess, daughter of the blackness as she rooted her veins in it, exquisite and mysterious, her black velvet hair filled the void while her shining eyes gleamed through the eternal obscurity of her home. Nyx was her name, the one and only Night. Along with it, the Greeks imagined the birth of another great divinity, Erebus the God of Darkness, a sweet lover to hold night, wrap her in his strong warm arms, and carry her till the end of time.
Like any loving couple, night and darkness gave birth to a host of powerful and supreme beings. Among their children, two brothers, twins known for being extremely similar yet very different. While the humans adored the first and longed for his presence, these mortals couldn’t bear the same feelings towards the other, whose name sewed up fear and terror in the hearts of the bravest.
Born from darkness itself, Hypnos and Thanatos, the true heirs of the everlasting night, inherited the obscure side of life. The first is the embodiment of sleep and the second is the incarnation of death. Two deities, concepts, states –whatever you name them- that survived the test of time, wandering freely commanding our consciousness without any resistance.
From Shakespeare to foreign civilizations, sleep and death were always extremely intertwined, even though their presence was shadowed by the other divinities in Greek mythology. When recalling the myths revolving around life and death, few are those mentioning the two brothers. While Hypnos was barely involved in the Trojan War’s story, Thanatos's presence is quite equivalent in the ancient tales, operating under Hades's authority, death, is not really a force to recon and be feared.
The personification of death and sleep by the Greeks goes beyond their brotherhood bond, it goes even deeper, creating a unique persona, a specific lifestyle, and molding a whole lineage.
Unlike the lonely solitary death who guards the secret of an ancient art, that no one loves and cherishes, Hypnos had a family of his own, after marrying Pasithea, one of the youngest Graces associated with relaxation, rest, and meditation. The couple had sons to carry on the family business, each one was responsible for creating and delivering lifelike and realistic dreams.
As this little analysis goes, it seems that sleep and death make perfect brothers, so close, yet nothing alike, maybe cousins or partners in crime that decided to split the business apart. Maybe sleep and death made a deal, and flipped a coin as one got to hunt the humans alive while the other would meet them on the other side. What is sure, is that these two kept their secrets well hidden, and even today no being can declare to have unrevealed the mystery of sleep and death.
As I wrote this little essay, I came to realize that sleep and death weren’t shadowed because of their obscure and mysterious side, the twins weren’t neglected by the Greeks who appreciated love, beauty, music, and so one, Hypnos and Thanatos were not understood, they simply were outcasts that existed in a world where the imagination couldn’t brew the unknown.
Meryem !