Morpheus

English: Morpheus by Jean-Bernard Restout

Morpheus (/ˈmɔːrfiəs/ or /ˈmɔːrfjuːs/) is a Greek god of dreams who appears in Ovid's Metamorphoses.[1]

Mythology

The Roman poet Ovid states in his Metamorphoses that Morpheus is a son of Hypnos and reports that he had a thousand siblings, with Morpheus, Phobetor and Phantasos being merely the most prominent among them.[2] Robert Burton, in his 1621 Anatomy of Melancholy, refers to Classical depictions of Morpheus, saying "Philostaratus paints [Morpheus] in a white and black coat, with a horn and ivory box full of dreams, of the same colours, to signify good and bad".[3] Starting in the medieval period, the name Morpheus began to stand generally for the god of dreams or of sleep.[4] In Carl Michael Bellman's Fredman's Epistle No. 72, "Glimmande nymf", Morpheus is invoked as the god of sleep.[5]

Derivation

See also

References

  1. ↑ Ovid, Metamorphoses 11.633 ff.
  2. ↑ Ovid (1836) p. 54
  3. ↑ Burton (2001) (Pr. 2, Sec. 2)
  4. ↑ Kearns (1996)
  5. ↑ Britten Austin, Paul. The Life and Songs of Carl Michael Bellman: Genius of the Swedish Rococo. Allhem, Malmö American-Scandinavian Foundation, New York, 1967, pages 87–88. ISBN 978-3-932759-00-0

Bibliography

  • Burton, Robert. (2001), William H. Gass., eds., The Anatomy of Melancholy., New York, ISBN 9780940322660 .
  • Griffin, A. H. F. (1997), A Commentary on Ovid, Metamorphoses XI, Hermathena, 162/163, Dublin, JSTOR 23041237 .
  • Kearns, E. (1996), "Morpheus", in S. Hornblower & A. Spawforth (eds.), Oxford Classical Dictionary (3rd rev. ed.), Oxford, ISBN 9780198661726 .
  • Ovid, Metamorphoses, Brookes More. Boston. Cornhill Publishing Co. 1922. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.

Morpheus – The God of Dreams

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