Nyx

The Ancient Goddess of Night

Nyx was one of the oldest beings in Greek mythology and the goddess who actually represented Night. She came from Chaos near the beginning of creation, long before Zeus and the Olympians were ruling from Mount Olympus. Nyx was not simply a goddess who switched the lights off every evening. She was Night itself. She and Erebus, the deep darkness, became parents of Aether, the bright upper air, and Hemera, the Day. I love how Greek mythology can make Night and Darkness the parents of brightness and daytime!

Nyx also had a very unusual collection of children. They included Hypnos, the god of Sleep, Thanatos, who represented Death, and the Oneiroi, the Dreams. Other children were connected with things such as Doom, Strife and Nemesis. It sounds like the spookiest family gathering imaginable, but many of these characters make sense as children of Night. Sleep and dreams arrive when darkness falls, while night can also feel mysterious and unknown.

One story shows just how powerful Nyx was. Hypnos once helped Hera trick Zeus. When Zeus discovered what had happened, he was furious and chased Hypnos. Hypnos escaped to his mother for protection, and Zeus decided not to upset Nyx. Imagine being so powerful that even Zeus thinks, ‘Actually, I’ll leave this one alone.’ Ancient artists sometimes showed Nyx with wings or travelling across the sky in a chariot, surrounded by darkness and stars. She might sound frightening, but Nyx was not simply an evil goddess. Night is a natural part of the world. It brings darkness, but it also brings rest, sleep and dreams. I think that makes Nyx mysterious rather than wicked. She is basically the ancient Greek answer to what happens when the whole world goes dark each evening.

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