Nyx, the Ancient Greek Goddess of the Night

Nyx, the Ancient Greek goddess of the Night, arsenic portrayed by William-Adolphe Bouguereau/Public Domain

Nyx is the past Greek goddess who represents night. Unlike her sister, Eos, the goddess of the Dawn, who appears often passim Greek mythology and aboriginal Western literate works, Nyx is simply a mysterious, shadowy figure, often portrayed nether an enveloping acheronian cloak.

Thought to person been contiguous astatine the opening of creation, she gave commencement to fearsome beings specified arsenic Hypnos (Sleep) and Thanatos (Death), with Erebus (Darkness) himself.

Her appearances are precise fewer and acold betwixt successful surviving past Greek myths, but the stories that are extant uncover her arsenic a fig of specified exceptional powerfulness and quality that she was adjacent feared by Zeus himself, the top of the gods, according to Hesiod.

Nyx seldom appears successful Greek mythology but is feared by all

In Hesiod’s large enactment “Theogony,” Nyx is calved from Chaos. Nyx aboriginal gives commencement to Aether (Brightness) and Hemera (Day) aft her national with Erebus. Later, from her ain body, Nyx gives commencement to Moros (Doom, Destiny), the Keres (Destruction, Death), and Thanatos himself (Death).

The goddess of the nighttime besides spawned Hypnos (Sleep), the Oneiroi (Dreams), Momus (Blame), Oizys (Pain, Distress), the Hesperides, the Moirai (Fates), Nemesis (Indignation, Retribution), Apate (Deceit), Geras (Old Age), and Eris (Strife).

Nyx besides bore 1 of the astir frightening figures of each Greek mythology, Charon, the ferryman of Hades, who transported the dormant implicit the stream Styx to their last abode.

Strangely enough, however, Nyx besides gave spontaneous commencement to Philotes (Friendship) — possibly arsenic a mode for the past Greeks to intimate that relationship tin beryllium a two-way street, with achy betrayal the different broadside of its coin.

Hesiod designates Tartarus arsenic the location of Nyx; her offspring Hypnos and Thanatos besides unrecorded there. The writer besides posits that Nyx’s girl Hemera (Day) near Tartarus conscionable arsenic Nyx (Night) entered it; continuing the cycle, erstwhile Hemera returned, Nyx accordingly left.

This interestingly mirrors the portrayal of Ratri (night) successful the Rigveda of India, successful which she works successful adjacent practice — but besides hostility with her sister Ushas (Dawn), who is represented arsenic Eos successful Greek mythology.

In Homer’s Iliad, from 14.249–61, Hypnos, the insignificant deity of sleep, reminds Hera of an aged favour aft she asks him to enactment Zeus to sleep. He had erstwhile earlier enactment Zeus to slumber astatine the bidding of Hera, allowing her to origin Heracles (who was returning by oversea from Laomedon’s Troy) large misfortune.

Zeus was furious and would person driven Hypnos into the oversea if helium had not fled to Nyx — his parent — successful fear. Homer goes connected to accidental that Zeus, fearing to choler Nyx, held his fury astatine bay and successful this mode Hypnos escaped the wrath of Zeus by appealing to his almighty mother.

He disturbed Zeus lone a fewer times aft that, ever fearing Zeus and moving backmost to his mother, Nyx, who would person confronted Zeus with a maternal fury.

Nyx, the Ancient Greek goddess of the Night, is portrayed successful the 10th-century Paris Psalter, oregon publication of Psalms, astatine the broadside of the Prophet Isaiah. Here, she besides wears her acheronian shroud, oregon veil, supra her, arsenic seen successful antiquity. Credit: Public Domain

Nyx took connected an adjacent much important relation successful respective fragmentary poems attributed to Orpheus. In these, Nyx, alternatively than Chaos, is the archetypal rule being from which each instauration emerges.

Nyx occupies a cave oregon adyton, from which she issues oracles. Cronus, who is chained within, dormant and drunk connected chromatic wine, dreams and prophesies. Outside the cave, Adrasteia clashes cymbals and beats upon her tympanon, moving the full beingness successful an ecstatic creation to the bushed of Nyx’s chanting.

Phanes, the strange, monstrous, hermaphrodite Orphic demiurge, according to immoderate sources, was the child, oregon father, of Nyx. The Greek goddess of the nighttime is besides the archetypal main dependable successful the opening chorus of Aristophanes’ The Birds, which whitethorn beryllium Orphic successful inspiration. Here, she is besides the parent of Eros, the deity of love.

The taxable of Nyx’s cave, oregon mansion, beyond the water (as successful Hesiod) oregon determination astatine the borderline of the cosmos (as successful aboriginal Orphism) whitethorn beryllium echoed successful the philosophical poem of Parmenides, according to scholars.

The classical student Walter Burkert has speculated that the location of the goddess to which the philosopher is transported is the palace of Nyx; this proposal has yet to beryllium proven, however.

Roman-era bronze statuette of Nyx, the past Greek goddess of the Night successful Greek mythology. Getty Villa. Credit: Sailko/CC BY-SA 3.0

Goddess of the Night worshiped successful discourse of different cults

In immoderate accounts, the goddess of witchcraft, Hecate, was besides called the girl of Night, on with Nyx. This depiction stems from the Orphic hymns.

Strangely, overmuch similar her sister deity Eos, the goddess of the dawn, determination are nary known temples dedicated to Nyx successful Greece (although the Roman writer Ovid mentioned that determination whitethorn person been astatine slightest 2 temples dedicated to Eos successful antiquity, nary person survived into recorded time).

However, statues are known to person been created to correspond the past Greek goddess of the night, and respective cult practices of her are mentioned by authors. According to the Greek historiographer and writer Pausanias, who lived successful the 2nd period AD, she had an oracle connected the acropolis astatine Megara.

Pausanias writes: “When you person ascended the citadel (of Megara), which adjacent astatine the contiguous time is called Karia (Caria) from Kar (Car), lad of Phoroneus, you spot a temple of Dionysos Nyktelios (Nyctelius, Nocturnal), a sanctuary built to Aphrodite Epistrophia (She who turns men to love), an oracle called that of Nyx (Night) and a temple of Zeus Konios (Cronius, Dusty) without a roof.”

Nix (Nyx), a tiny satellite of the dwarf satellite Pluto. The outer was named aft the Greek goddess of the nighttime but her sanction was somewhat altered truthful that it would not beryllium confused with an asteroid with the aforesaid name. Credit: NASA

More often, Nyx was worshipped successful the inheritance of different cults; for example, determination was a statue called Night successful the Temple of Artemis astatine Ephesus. The Spartans adjacent had a cult devoted to Sleep and Death, conceived of arsenic twins.

Cult titles composed of compounds of the basal connection ‘nyx-‘ were attached to respective deities, astir notably Dionysus Nyktelios “nocturnal” and Aphrodite Philopannyx “who loves the full night” (from the Orphic Hymn).

Roman authors mentioned cult practices and wrote hymns successful her honor. Ovid wrote successful his enactment “Fasti”: “May 9, Lemuria Nefastus. Your past rite volition beryllium performed, Nox Lemuria; present volition beryllium offerings to the mute dead.”

Nyx was besides mentioned by Roman writer Publius Papinius Statius, who lived from c. 45 to c. 96 AD, successful his enactment “Thebaid.”

O Nox…Ever shall this location passim the circling periods of the twelvemonth clasp thee precocious successful grant and successful worship; achromatic bulls of chosen quality shall wage thee sacrifice (black animals were sacrificed to the chthonic gods), O goddess! And Vulcanus’ (Hephaistos’) occurrence shall devour the lustral entrails, where-o’er the caller beverage streams.

Name of Nyx inscribed permanently into astronomical nomenclature

In 1997, the International Astronomical Union approved the sanction Nyx for a mons (mountain/peak) diagnostic connected the satellite Venus. Nyx Mons is located astatine latitude 30° North and longitude 48.5° East connected the Venusian surface. Its diameter is 875 km.

On June 21, 2006, the International Astronomical Union renamed 1 of Pluto’s precocious discovered moons (S/2005 P 2) Nix, successful grant of Nyx. The sanction was spelled with an “i” alternatively of a “y” to debar struggle with the asteroid already called “3908 Nyx.”

These 2 designations mean that the sanction of the mysterious, and feared, Greek goddess of the nighttime volition stay inscribed everlastingly connected each the astronomical charts of the world.