Nyx (2024)

Nyx, also known as Mother Night, or Nox, is the primordial Greek goddess (and personification) of the night, her name means "the mother night."A shadowy figure, Nyx stood at or near the beginning of creation and mothered other personified deities such as Hypnos (Sleep) and Thanatos (Death), with Erebus (Darkness).

Description[]

Her appearances are sparse in surviving mythology, but reveal her as a figure of such exceptional power and beauty that she is feared by Zeus himself. Her beauty is said to mirror that of the starry night sky itself to where even Samael, once a mighty angel himself, was drawn to her due to said beauty.

She is depicted as a goddess draped in long flowing black robes that are coated with the void of space and glimmering distant stars. In ancient art, Nyx was depicted as a either a winged goddess or charioteer, sometimes crowned with an aureole of dark mists.

History[]

Theogony[]

Nyx, alongside her Primordial siblings, is born of Chaos. Versions of her birth and origins vary, but one interpretation has her as a creator goddess, laying a silver egg that produces the gods responsible for the creation of the world.

With Erebus (Darkness), Nyx gives birth to Aether (Brightness) and Hemera (Day). Later, on her own, Nyx gives birth to Moros (Doom), Thanatos (Death), Hypnos (Sleep), the Oneiroi (Dreams), Momus (Blame), Oizys (Pain, Distress), Charon, Nemesis (Indignation, Retribution), Philotes (Friendship), Geras (Old Age), and several others.

In some accounts, the goddess of witchcraft,Hecatewas also called the daughter of Night. It is also revealed that Apate (Deceit), Dolos (Trickery), Eris (Strife), and the Keres are the offspring of Nyx and Samael before he fell from grace though the circ*mstances surrounding their union is not fully explored. A sordid version of the tale states that Samael ravaged Nyx as he envied the light's affection for Lucifer thus resorted to taking the night for his own. It also likely occurred sometime after Samael was driven off the Mountain of God.

Day and Night[]

Nyx lived inTartaruswith her daughter Hemera. During the day, Nyx would leave Tartarus (while Hemera was returning) and fly up out of the Underworld and bring Erebus together making it night time. When Nyx came back to Tartarus, Hemera left and scattered Erebus thus, revealing Aether and making it day. Later Eos the goddess of dawn came along and gave them a break. After that when Hemera arrived, Eos would leave then Nyx would leave.

Feared by Zeus[]

One account that details Zeus' fear of Nyx is when Hypnos, the god of sleep, reminds Hera of an old favor after she asks him to put Zeus to sleep. He had once before put Zeus to sleep at the bidding of Hera, allowing her to cause Heracles, who was returning by sea from Laomedon's Troy, great misfortune.

Zeus was furious and would have smitten Hypnos into the sea if he had not fled to Nyx, his mother, in fear. In fact, the king of the gods was fearful to the point where he held his fury at bay and in this way Hypnos escaped the wrath of Zeus by appealing to his powerful mother. He disturbed Zeus only a few times after that always fearing Zeus and running back to his mother, Nyx, who would have confronted Zeus with a maternal fury.

Gallery[]