Sandys) (Greek lyric C5th B.C.) . Unlike the more traditional view that Eros, the personification of love, was the son of Aphrodite, the Orphic mysteries believed that he had been one of the first children of Nyx. 656 ff : "It was evening. Rouse) (Greek epic C5th A.D.) : Homer, Iliad 8. 1 (trans. Eris – The goddess of strife and discord was named by Homer as a child of Zeus, but other sources said she was a child of Nyx and Erebus. It is unsurprising that Nyx was closely linked to Hecate, the goddess of magic and witchcraft. Ever shall this house throughout the circling periods of the year hold thee high in honour and in worship; black bulls of chosen beauty shall pay thee sacrifice, O goddess! : Bacchylides, Fragment 7 (trans. . You ancient rite will be performed, Nox (Night) Lemuria; here will be offerings to the mute dead. : "Silent Nyx (Night) shrouded the west in her own colour, and scored the sky across with her own starry cloak. 211.) Please like and share this article if you found it useful. She was not only the goddess, but also the personification of night, emerging at the dawn of creation, daughter to Khaos, the personification and god of air, as well as the sister to Erebos (Darkness) among others. Nyx was the goddess of night. to C1st A.D.) : As for the deities of the sky (daimones meteôroi), Eos (the Dawn) mourning over her son [Memnon] causes Helios (the Sun) to be downcast and begs Nyx (Night) to come prematurely and check the hostile army, that she may be able to steal away her son, no doubt with the consent of Zeus. Rieu) (Greek epic C3rd B.C.) My work has also been published on Buzzfeed and most recently in Time magazine. While Nyx was not the mother of terrible monsters, she was the origin of many of the day to day woes that plagued the Greek people. Orest. 40. [3.1] THE ASTRA (Orphic Hymn 7), [1.1] MOROS, KER, THANATOS, HYPNOS, THE ONEIROI, MOMOS, OIZYS, HESPERIDES, THE KERES, THE MOIRAI, NEMESIS, APATE, PHILOTES, GERAS, ERIS (no father) (Hesiod Theogony 221) "May 9 Lemuria Nefastus. 5. Cicero's list mostly follows Hesiod's Theogony, albeit with Latin translations of the word-names]. Hesiod, Theogony 115 ff (trans. ", Nonnus, Dionysiaca 31. Memnon has been stolen away and is at the edge of the painting. . A few, however, continued to occasionally feature in the stories of the Olympians. Campbell, Vol. You could say I’m an Eclectic Witch, because I sometimes find a few minor things about Wicca I disagree with, but I like calling myself a Wiccan because I … : . ", Pausanias, Description of Greece 5. And again the goddess murky Nyx, though she lay with none, bare Momos (Momus, Criticism) and painful Oizys (Misery), and the Hesperides (Evenings) . to C1st A.D.) : While Gaia is the more notable of these, Nyx also made appearances in later legends. . Hear, blessed Kypris (Cypris) [Aphrodite], decked with starry light, in sleep's deep silence dwelling ebon night! Athenian Red Figure Vase Painting C4th B.C. : 250 ff (trans. 435 ff : 39. 97 ff (trans. She [the witch Kirke (Circe)] sprinkled round about her evil drugs and poisonous essences, and out of Erebos and Chaos called Nox (Nyx) and the Gods of Night (Di Nocti) and poured a prayer with long-drawn wailing cries to Hecate. Lattimore) (Greek epic C8th B.C.) Nox (Night) herself, aghast, wheels her dense shade more slowly. Geras – The spirit of old age, he was usually depicted as a frail and withered man. : Pindar, Dirges Fragment 129 (trans. Nyx is the Greek goddess of night, but she isn’t just for Greeks, of course. Some cults even believed she was so important that she had given rise to everything in the universe, including the earth itself. (Eurip. 1. Homer (Il. . Theog. 176), and sometimes as riding in a chariot, covered with a dark garment and accompanied by the stars in her course. "O Somnus (Sleep) [Hypnos], vanquisher of woes, rest of the soul, the better part of human life, thou winged son of thy mother Astraea [i.e. : She was also the mother of many other divine children. ", Statius, Thebaid 2. Melville) (Roman epic C1st B.C. Nyx (Night) is driving Hemera (Day) from the noonday sky, and the sun's orb as it plunges toward the earth draws in its train the Astera (Stars). ", Homer, Iliad 8. She did not only have an important place in the lore of witchcraft, however. Greek Lyric IV) (Greek lyric C5th B.C.) 661 ff (trans.Boyle) (Roman poetry C1st B.C. He would not have a blue color until the Titaness Theia took her place. to 2nd A.D.) : And the house never holds them both within; but always one is without the house passing over the earth, while the other stays at home and waits until the time for her journeying come; and the one hold all-seeining light for them on earth, but the other holds in her arms Hypnos (Hypnus, Sleep) the brother of Thanatos (Thanatus, Death), even evil Nyx (Night), wrapped in a vaporous cloud. Evelyn-White) (Greek epic C8th or C7th B.C.) [2.2] THE ERINYES (Aeschyluls Eumenides 321, Lycophron 432, Virgil Aeneid 6.250, Ovid Metamorphoses 4.453) "She [the witch Kirke (Circe)] sprinkled round about her evil drugs and poisonous essences, and out of Erebos and Chaos called Nox (Night) and the Gods of Night (Di Nocti) and poured a prayer with long-drawn wailing cries to Hecate. Nyx, parent goddess, source of sweet repose from whom at first both Gods and men arose. ", Virgil, Aeneid 12. Theoi Project © Copyright 2000 - 2017 Aaron J. Atsma, Netherlands & New Zealand, (Hesiod Theogony 123, Nonnus Dionysiaca 31.115), (Orphic Argonautica 12, Orphic Fragment 101), (Hesiod Theogony 124, Cicero De Natura Deum 3.17), (Orphic Argonautica 12, Orphic Frag Deveni Papyrus), (Homer Iliad 14.231, Seneca Hercules Fur. "O Nox (Night) . "Sopor (Sleep) [Hypnos], driving Nox's (Night's) coursers. In ancient art Nyx was depicted as a either a winged goddess or charioteer, sometimes crowned with an aureole of dark mists. 210 ff (trans. Nyx was a powerful being. 469F) : Euripides, Ion 1150 ff (trans. . Moros – Moros represented doom and the forces that drove man toward either Thanatos or Momos. He was often associated with the Moirai, the Fates. "Verily at first Khaos (Chaos, the Gap) [Air] came to be, but next wide-bosomed Gaia (Gaea, Earth) . 403 ff : ", Valerius Flaccus, Argonautica 5. Look! de Nat. 451 ff (trans. The goddess of the night was rarely depicted in mythology, but when she was, she was seen as such a powerful being that even Zeus himself was afraid to cross her. . Nyx also played an important role in the Orphic mysteries. O'Neill) (Greek comedy C5th to 4th B.C.) (Hes. ", Valerius Flaccus, Argonautica 7. Nyx is one of the ancient Protogeno, the basic components of the universe, the first born elemental gods and goddesses. 38. Nyx was a commonly given mother, however. Melville) (Roman epic C1st B.C. "Witnessing Nox (Night) [Nyx] pauses in her lagging car. Common people, according to one Roman source, welcomed Nox, as she was called in Latin. The Orphic hymns, which held her in high regard as the source of all life, thanked Nyx for bringing calm and rest to the word. While she was sometimes depicted as a woman en-robed in dark mists, she was understood to be the night itself. . ", Quintus Smyrnaeus, Fall of Troy 14. : Aeschylus, Fragment 33 Heliades (from Athenaeus, Deipnosophists 11. 527 ff : 192 ff (trans. 7; Virg. For example, one episode of the Iliad showed that at one point Nyx kept Zeus himself from having justice. Evelyn-White) (Greek epic C8th or C7th B.C.) . 1 ff : 87; Val. : Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica 4. She is the representation of the night and the night itself is Nyx. Athenian Red Figure Vase Painting C5th B.C. 7 : In the play Agamemnon, the Greek troops thank Nyx for helping them win the Trojan War. Even Hesiod called them both daughters of Nyx and of Themis. 485 ff (trans. . She could be so fearsome that even Zeus did not dare to upset her when she took one of her children under her protection. See more ideas about goddess, nyx, singularity marvel. . . In later poets, with whom she is merely the personification of the darkness of night, she is sometimes described as a winged goddess (Eurip. ", Orphica, Theogonies Fragment 101 - 102 (from Proclus) (trans. By your enabling power, at my behest . the god [Phanes] who first sprang forth into the Aither (Aether, Light). The idea of Nyx as a prophetic goddess and the mother of Eros sometimes crept into more mainstream writings as well as the poems and hymns of the Orphic cults. Most versions of the Greek creation myth claim that Nyx was one of the first children of Chaos, born at about the same time as Gaia and Tartarus. Mozley) (Roman epic C1st A.D.) : Pausanias, Description of Greece 1. ", Orphica, Argonautica 12 ff (trans. Weir Smyth) (Greek tragedy C5th B.C.) 1057 ff : Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica 4. A statue of Night, the work of Rhoecus, existed at Ephesus (Paus. Like most ancient cultures, the Greeks believed that the darkness of night brought a variety of evils out. vi. . Orest. "Beneath the western reign of Nox (Night), her course already turned, and the setting stars, so soon as mighty Tethys had driven forth tardy Hyperion [Helios the Sun] from the Eastern sea. [1.2] ERIS (Hesiod Works & Days 17) The Goddess Nyx. the elder daughter of dark Nyx. . ", Nonnus, Dionysiaca 7. . ", Nonnus, Dionysiaca 35. Nyx kindles like signs of storm upon the gleaming Altar. to C1st A.D.) : Valerius Flaccus, Argonautica 5. iii. 848 ff : Theog. Wiccans and Pagans can worship her, but not all Witches do. Rouse) (Greek epic C5th A.D.) : Ovid, Metamorphoses 7. . ", Nonnus, Dionysiaca 25. Taylor) (Greek hymns C3rd B.C. 5. 497 ff (trans. ", Quintus Smyrnaeus, Fall of Troy 3. ", Bacchylides, Fragment 1b (trans. ", Pindar, Dirges Fragment 129 (trans. In Greek mythology, Nyx is the Goddess of the Night. to 2nd A.D.) : She is usually seen riding in a chariot, trailing stars and painting the night sky accompanied with her two sons, Hypnos and Thanatos. Grant) (Roman mythographer C2nd A.D.) : Wherefore I bid thee pray, when in the open sea, that that constellation wrapt in clouds appear not amidst the others in the heavens, herself unclouded and resplendent but banked above with billowing clouds, as often it is beset when the autumn wind drives them back For often Nyx herself reveals this sign, also, for the South Wind in her kindness to toiling sailors. . While Nyx moved across the sky at night, Hemera ruled it by day. ", Orphic Hymn 7 to the Astron (trans. 758B) : 115 ff (trans. ", Greek Lyric V Anonymous, Fragment 1023 (from Berlin Papyrus) : leapt away, a groan came from the ground, the bushes blanched, the spattered sward was soaked with gouts of blood, stones brayed and bellowed, dogs began to bark, black snakes swarmed on the soil and ghostly shapes of silent spirits floated through the air. "[The Erinyes speak :] ‘We [the Erinyes] are the eternal children of Nyx (Night). : : Aristophanes, Birds 685 ff (trans. There were no known temples of Nyx. Taylor) (Greek hymns C3rd B.C. Before the cavern's mouth lush poppies grow and countless herbs, from whose bland essences a drowsy infusion dewy Nox (Night) [Nyx] distils and sprinkles sleep across the darkening world. Theog. 6 (trans. Mozley) (Roman epic C1st A.D.) : Valerius Flaccus, Argonautica 7. "At the beginning there was only Khaos (the Chasm) [Air], Nyx (Night), dark Erebos (Darkness), and deep Tartaros (the Pit). It is said that she was created near the beginning of time. Jones) (Greek travelogue C2nd A.D.) : Pausanias, Description of Greece 7. Campbell) (Greek lyric B.C.) [1.4] EROS (by Erebos) (Hyginus Preface) : Fairbanks) (Greek rhetorician C3rd A.D.) : Nyx was so central in the Greek idea of the universe that she came before the day or even light. Glowing Helios (the Sun) never looks upon them with his beams, neither as he goes up into heaven nor as he comes down from heaven. "Torch-bearing Hekate (Hecate), . Nyx Greek Goddess of the Night . § 3). 396 ff (trans. 163 ff (trans. "When you have ascended the citadel [of Megara], which even at the present day is called Karia (Caria) from Kar (Car), son of Phoroneus, you see 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. Nyx Greek Goddess of the Night . ", Aratus, Phaenomena 468 ff : While many specific actions were only possible at night, people as a whole had reason to thank her for providing a time of rest at the end of a long day of toil. [2.1] OURANOS (Orphic Argonautica 12, Orphic Frag Deveni Papyrus) Campbell, Vol. ", Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica 3. and thou, kindly Tellus (Earth) [Gaia], who dost for magic potent herbs provide . "Welcome Nox (Night) brings on the star-heralding shadows. ", Aeschylus, Eumenides 321 ff (trans. He accompanied his sister and consort, Nyx, as she moved across the sky. And Vulcanus' [Hephaistos'] fire shall eat the lustral entrails, where-o'er the new milk streams. (Hes. Each has his feet turned different ways. . Cicero, De Natura Deorum 3. 752 : Goddess Nyx Story. Greek Lyric IV) (Greek lyric C5th B.C.) ", Nonnus, Dionysiaca 2. Melville). And Vulcanus' [Hephaistos'] fire shall eat the lustral entrails, where-o'er the new milk streams.". : Orphica, Theogonies Fragment 101 - 102 (from Proclus) (trans. "[From a description of an ancient Greek painting depicting the funeral of Memnon :] ", Statius, Thebaid 1. [2.1] THE ERINYES, THE MOIRAI (Aeschyluls Eumenides 321 & 415 & 745 & 961) to 2nd A.D.) : Ovid, Metamorphoses 2. 259, &c.) calls her the subduer of gods and men, and relates that Zeus himself stood in awe of her. leapt away, a groan came from the ground, the bushes blanched, the spattered sward was soaked with gouts of blood, stones brayed and bellowed, dogs began to bark, black snakes swarmed on the soil and ghostly shapes of silent spirits floated through the air. Ion, 1150; Theocrit. "It [the river Rhone of Northern Europe] rises at the world's end, by the gates and courts of Nyx (Night), and flows on in three streams, one of which debouches on the shores of Okeanos (Oceanus), another into the Ionian Sea. "The car of Nyx (Night) is speeding on with darkness. 40. Practitioners of magic were thought to be most powerful in the dark and could only perform many of their spells under the night sky. : Orphica, Theogonies Fragments (from the Deveni Papyrus) : Nonnus, Dionysiaca 31. : ‘Tell me, Laggard Nyx (Night), when is envious Eos (Dawn) to set? The Orphic mystery cults did not represent the common view of cosmology and the divine hierarchy of Greek mythology, but they ended up having an influence nonetheless.