The Oneiroi: Morpheus and His Brothers, Ancient Greek Dream Gods
Greek mythology depicts its deities as belonging to one big family, and people today can still recognize its most prominent members. Most people are familiar with the Olympians, the major deities of the Greek pantheon. Many would have also heard about the Titans, the predecessors of the Olympian gods. Yet, the family tree of the Greek gods consists of more than just the Olympian gods and the Titans. There are gods whose existence predates even the Titans. One of these groups is the Oneiroi of Morpheus and his siblings.
Comparing Three Oneiroi – Morpheus, Phobetor, and Phantasos
In Greek mythology, Morpheus is a god of dreams. According to the Greeks, Morpheus was born of Nyx, the personification of Night. The Romans believe, however, that Morpheus was the son of Somnus, the personification of Sleep, who was in turn a child of Nyx.
Regardless of his parentage, Morpheus is said to have numerous siblings, collectively known as the Oneiroi (the Greek word for dream, incidentally, being oneiros). Apart from Morpheus, two other Oneiroi can be identified by their names – Phobetor and Phantasos.
Waterhouse ‘Sleep and His Half-Brother Death’ (1874). (Public Domain)
Phobetor was thought to be the bringer of nightmares, and had the ability to appear as animals or monsters; Phantasos was believed to bring surreal and strange dreams, and was able to appear as inanimate objects, such as stones or wood. In contrast to his two siblings, Morpheus brought messages and prophesies from the gods to mortals through the medium of dreams. Thus, he appeared particularly to kings and heroes and often took the appearance of a human being.
- Oneiromancy: Dream Predictions in Ancient Mesopotamia
- Dreams and Prophecy in Ancient Greece
- The Egyptian Dream Book
When not appearing in dreams, Morpheus and his brothers were said to have possessed human forms with wings on their backs. These wings would have allowed Morpheus and his brethren to easily reach those whose dreams they were assigned. In addition, it is said that Morpheus’ wings enabled him to save his father Somnus, who was wingless, from the wrath of Zeus on more than one occasion.
‘The Winged Man’ (1880) by Odilon Redon. (Public Domain) When not appearing in dreams, Oneiroi were said to have possessed human forms with wings on their backs.
The Importance of Dreams in Ancient Greece
Dreams had such an important role in ancient Greece that writers put them into two categories – insignificant dreams that just reflected everyday fears and hopes of the day, and the significant ones that were visions of the future, visitations by ghosts or gods, and symbolic prophetic dreams that had to be interpreted. Some dreams were also thought to be able to heal. As Miriam Kamil notes:
“Prophetic dreams appear frequently in Greek literature, from myth to history to ancient inscriptions. Greek religious culture allowed people to believe in the truth of these apparent dreams from the gods. Among religious Greeks, this belief was so strong that people bought dream books and practiced rituals to induce prophetic dreams.”
Morpheus in Classical Literature
In Classical literature, Morpheus makes an appearance in Ovid’s Metamorphoses. In the story of Alcyone and Ceyx, Ovid mentions that Ceyx undertook a journey across the sea to consult an oracle. During his voyage, however, a tempest broke out, sinking his ship and resulting in his death.
Zeus’ wife Hera then sent Iris, the messenger of the gods, to the hall of Somnus in the Underworld, as she wanted to send a dream to Alcyone about the death of her husband, Ceyx. It is in this part of the Metamorphoses that Morpheus is described as being one of the one thousand sons of Somnus.
‘Morpheus and Iris’ (1811) by Pierre-Narcisse Guérin. (Public Domain)
Ovid also describes Morpheus as being the most talented of his brethren in mimicking human beings. His mimicry of humans is not limited to physical appearances, but also includes voice, mood, gait, and even choice of words. Thus, he is the best choice for the gods when they wish to send images of human beings to sleeping mortals.
According to Ovid, after Morpheus appears as Ceyx in Alcyone’s dream to relate his fate, the grief-stricken widow wakes up to see the body of her husband washed up on the shore. Filled with sorrow, Alcyone commits suicide by throwing herself into the sea. The gods, taking pity on them, then transformed them into Halcyon birds.
- A Dream Cure? The Effective Healing Power of Dream Incubation in Ancient Greece
- Woman Tracks Lost People in Her Dreams, Finds Lost Objects with Intuition
- Five Scientific Discoveries Made in Dreams
Ceyx/Morpheus appears to Alcyone. Engraving by Virgil Solis for Ovid's ‘ Metamorphoses.’ (Public Domain)
Portraying an Abstract Idea, Morpheus Lives On
One of the ways that Morpheus continues to ‘live on’ in the human mind today is as a drug. Morphine, which was isolated from opium in 1805, is named after Morpheus because it induced a euphoric, dream-like state of mind in those who took it.
Like many of the Greek deities, Morpheus can be said to be a personification of an abstract idea, similar to that of Thanatos (death) or the Furies (vengeance). By giving these concepts a concrete form, the Greeks would have been able to better explain these forces that ruled human existence.
Although belief in Morpheus as a god of dreams may not be as strong today as it was during the time of the Greeks, it has had an impact on the English language. The expression ‘in the arms of Morpheus’ is understood to mean ‘to be asleep’. This impact, however, is not merely restricted to Morpheus, but also to various other personified deities of Greek mythology.
Top Image: ‘Morpheus’ (circa 1771) by Jean-Bernard Restout. Morpheus is one of the ancient Greek Oneiroi. Source: Public Domain
By Ḏḥwty
References
Atsma, A. J., 2011. Morpheus. [Online]
Available at: http://www.theoi.com/Daimon/OneirosMorpheus.html
Dumitru, A. I., 2014. Greek God Morpheus. [Online]
Available at: http://www.greek-gods-and-goddesses.com/greek-god-morpheus.html
Mythography, 2008. Morpheus at a Glance. [Online]
Available at: http://www.loggia.com/myth/morpheus.html
www.greekmyths-greekmythology.com, 2014. Morpheus – The God of Dreams. [Online]
Available at: http://www.greekmyths-greekmythology.com/morpheus-the-god-of-dreams/
www.talesbeyondbelief.com, 2014. Morpheus. [Online]
Available at: http://www.talesbeyondbelief.com/greek-gods/morpheus.htm
Comments
Let's also not forget that in Greek literature Morpheus can also affect Zeus and put him to sleep showing just how powerful that Greeks and Romans probably held sleep as a force
This what I’ve written in my dream journal. Please read this because it is an eye opener to everyone.
Recently, my interest in the “Secrets of the World” was again awakened by Youtube. As I was enjoying a channel of one of the famous & hilarious family, my eye caught a mysterious Video title on the right corner of the screen “What they didn’t want you to know”.
It was all about the ancient life, the mysteries of the world and the secret of the flower of life. In there, they mentioned chakras inside the body. I thought maybe I could also do the Astral Projection they are talking about. There are so much to say about these new knowledge I acquired but the real story here is about my dreams.
June 17,2015
That night I wanted to try astral projection. I thought it could happen easier if I just sleep so I just dozed off. I now realized it wasn’t supposed to be done that way. lol That night I can’t even remember my dream. All I can recall is a face. I woke up a minute but I continued my sleep again. After I woke up I can still remember the face but not a single happening from my dream. As I could recall it appeared as if he was near me when I woke up since I can clearly see the top of his head to his shoulders only. He was looking at me with his head slightly bent to the left. He looked like he is in his 30′s. He has no beard nor mustache and he wears a hood. Not a hoodie of a jacket we have nowadays but a hood like from the Bible stories. I cannot describe his over all clothing since I could only see up to his shoulders.
This is weird coz I haven’t seen a Bible movie or any movie with people wearing such clothes for a month I guess and I didn’t even thought of that since I’m focused on these Astral Projection. Also, I don’t know the man so I thought it wasn’t that important. I had an event the day after so I didn’t thought about the dream too much, not until I had weirder dreams.
June 18,2015
I tried to do Astral Projection again. I did not succeed BUT I had set of dreams - on different places, with different people. There are 4 actually. These is how I wrote it in the journal:
1. I saw myself panicking while browsing on our wireless telephone for receiving a message from a businessman.Then I was relieved the message was still on the phone. I’m not familiar with the man but he really looked professional. I think this has something to do with the job I want.
2. I saw my 2 friends there Daniel and Lester chatting with me in a room that looked like a canteen. Daniel is in front of me reading a book I know nothing about which looked like old scriptures. I remember he even make me take a look of a page. While Lester is beside me as usual humoring me. I’m not sure what we were talking about but I think Daniel is mocking me that time about my abilities. We are not fighting there as I recall just chatting.
3. I saw a place where stone houses were built. Each facing the same alley. It looked like from a town at Bible stories. I know it’s cliche but that’s what I felt about the place. On the alley there are tables and chairs. Sitting there are couples, I don’t know any of them. They were kissing, hugging etc. I remember me and my friends walked on that alley and then it looked like they won’t allow us to be there coz we’re all Single. LOL
4. The next scene, I remember being in the shower clothed and crying. I have no idea why and how did I get there. Then I woke up.
The man I dreamed before is still a mystery but the weird dreams are just as unexplained. Except for the 1st and 2nd dream.
I figure out the 1st dream immediately coz I’ve been bothered by my work the whole week but surprisingly the 2nd dream needs to be interpreted more carefully.
I tried figuring out why I dreamed of Daniel and Lester in the first place.They say if you have a dream where there are people you actually know, you might be thinking about them to often (but no they didn’t even crossed my mind) or they might be thinking about me (for sure that’s not it too, we’re all good friends but nothing more than that, I don’t think I owe any of them any money too! haha)
So why did I dreamed of them? and in my dream, we are all chatting in a canteen/food court. What caught my attention the most is the book Daniel is reading. He is so focused that he didn’t even bother looking at us when talking. He even showed me a page where there are 3 lined phrases(not sure) as I recall it’s in a different language. It is written in black ink and unlike other writings in the book (portrait orientation) it is written in landscape and in one page only as if it bears great importance. Or maybe it could be a note from the previous chapter.
I took the clues Daniel, Lester, and the Mystery book in my mind. Then I tried browsing the net for clues. I typed “ Book of Daniel”. I knew there is a book of sort but what surprises me is that Daniel actually wrote a book about his Dreams & Prophecies. Daniel interprets dreams of the Kings before and I know nothing about these. I don’t read the bible. I tried before but I’m not that good in interpreting writings so I don’t really understand much. So I kinda solved the mystery book of Daniel. The website is entitled “Apocalypse of Daniel”. I read the writings and the interpretation but still I can’t understand much. It all referred to the occurrence way way back.
What about Lester? What is his role there? Is he there just to make fun of me? I tried searching for a “Book of Lester” but there’s none that made sense. Then I remembered his whole first name. It’s JOHN Lester. Maybe it’s not Lester, but John! I searched of a “Book of John” it showed the Gospel. I didn’t know how it could be connected to the “Book of Daniel” coz it’s too long to read. My head might hurt too bad before I could finish the Gospel. So I searched for “Apocalypse of John” since it might be connected to Daniel’s.
Bingo! There really is a story like this but under the Revelations. Thanks to YouTube I found a video highlighting the Visions of St. John about the Apocalypse.
It’s about the 1st coming of Jesus!
Then I searched for “Apocalypse of Daniel" and as interpreted by Isaac Newton and I found out
it’s about the second coming of Jesus!
I cannot explain what I watched in detail but everyone should be informed of this.We don’t know when but Jesus will surely be coming back soon and we should go back in his arms.
It’s amazing how dreams could be messages from the Lord. It does not only reflect what’s in our minds but also what should be in our heart at all times.
SO I FIGURED OUT THE 1ST AND 2ND DREAMS. I STILL FEEL ANXIOUS ABOUT THE 3RD AND 4TH.
June 19, 2015
I’m still eager to try this astral projection but I never succeed. There is always something that interferes. Sometimes it’s a call, a text message, a knock on the door, falling asleep countless times. It’s just not working. I’ve even tried listening to music but there’s no effect.
In the afternoon, as I was praying to God, I asked him if I need to try astral project or know the secrets of life coz I’m desperate and yet I felt like I’m doing something wrong. I didn’t get enlightened about that.
Then as I continued my prayers, I asked for forgiveness about everything bad I’ve done these days. I felt terrible. I also mentioned seeing a man in my dreams. As I told Him what happened and how the man looked like. I asked
“Lord is he my guardian angel?”
I don’t know what got into me but I just wanted to ask hoping He’ll respond. Then I asked again
“Lord do you know what’s the name of the man? If he is my guardian angel I know he would be surely sad or angry and disappointed in me. I’m sorry”
I stopped praying but suddenly I heard a voice in my head. It says
"NAZAR”
Nazar? I didn’t understood what it means. I can’t just ignore it coz I clearly heard the whole word. And I’m all alone at the house! I don’t know what it is so in my desperation I searched the internet. Wikipedia said Nazar is a talisman for protection against the evil eye or misfortune. I taught God is telling me to get one of these before I astral project. Really? Is that it? But I’m not convinced since we were talking about a person that time right?
I looked for other sites and tried Nazar as a name. Then I found out that it is connected to NAZARENE where all Nazareth are also known as NAZAR. Even Jesus is known as Nazar. I hope my intuitions are correct. Whether it is a prophet/angel or Jesus, I know he’s one of the followers of the Lord God. I thought, why did he woke me up?
If those dream finally made sense. Then maybe the other dream I had these days would reveal something.
June 19,2015 night
I am with a group of people. They told me they’re going to have a bath all together as couples. I rushed to the bathroom. I checked my clothes and there I was sure I’m clothed but not much. I think I’m wearing a sando and short shorts. A girl knocked on the door and I realized the door is not entirely closed. She called me and after a few minutes I went with her. That’s all I could remember.
June 20, 2015
I read an article about the danger of astral projection. I was shocked about the stories I read about astral projection. Somehow their experiences is related to my dream! Astral projection could open a door to astral sex. Meaning an individual could have sex to other entities (human or not) in other dimensions during astral projection. It’s actually group sex!
I immediately read again my journal on June 18. In my 3rd dream I remember there are people having group dates and the new comers including me are not allowed coz we’re single. At first I even thought it was funny!
The 4th dream is were I was crying in the bathroom with no definite reason!
Then there’s the dream I had on June 19. Where there is a group of people (couples) inviting me to join a bath.
I now understood what’s the message behind those dreams. As a matter of fact I believe, Nazar and God wanted to warn me about the danger in astral projection and all related to it. I think he’s trying to wake me up the night(June 17). I also believe Nazar is Jesus because as I was fixing our bed I saw an image of Jesus on the very same place I saw Nazar looking at me! It may sound funny to some but I believe on what I saw and what I feel. I just cried. I’m so thankful he saved me from all those sin.
Rejoice to the Lord!
MORAL:
Astral projection is very dangerous. Do not attempt to try it. You don’t know what you’re diving into.
Also, Repent. The 2nd coming of Jesus is very near. He warned me and I want to warn everybody. Ask for forgiveness. Change your way of life and live in the goodness of the Lord. Go back into His arms
I read stories about Morpheus and he was one of my favorite Gods. He reminded me of Haunter the Pokemon using dream eater but it seems like he was more of a messenger than a nightmare.