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You only use me as a weapon, a tool. You can’t see what else I’m capable of. You won’t let me be anything else! Which is why you didn’t notice when I set your mansion on fire.

–Hypnos standing up to Nyx in The Sun and the Star: A Nico di Angelo Adventure.

Hypnos (meaning "sleep") is the god of sleep. He is the son of Nyx and Erebos. His Roman counterpart is Somnus.

History[]

Morpheus

Morpheus, his son.

Long before the Trojan War, Hera was angry at Hercules, and she persuaded Hypnos to make Zeus sleep while she tormented the hero. Hypnos did as he was told. When Zeus awoke, he was furious. He searched for Hypnos and finally found him hiding in the arms of his mother, Nyx. Zeus overcame his anger and simply warned Hypnos not to try such a trick again, and Hypnos went unpunished.

During the Trojan War, Hera wanted to distract Zeus from the battle so she could assist the Akhaians, who seemed to be losing the war. She wanted Hypnos to cast a spell of sleep on Zeus, but he refused. At first, Hera offered Hypnos a golden throne crafted by Hephaestus, but she was forced to raise the price when Hypnos reminded her of the only time he had dared cast sleep on Zeus.

In preparation for this new deception, Hypnos made Hera swear oaths of her sincerity. He agreed to help her deceive Zeus for the hand of Pasithea, one of the Graces. He turned himself into a bird and, before Zeus could see him, hid in the top of the trees on Mount Ida. He stayed hidden until Hera had seduced Zeus. When the father of gods was dulled by pleasure and sleep, Hypnos flew to Poseidon and urged him to increase his efforts in helping the Akhaians because Zeus was asleep and unaware of his meddling. Poseidon strode through the ranks of soldiers and urged them on. Finally, his bellowing and screeching roused Zeus from his slumber. But in that short time, the Akhaians had turned the battle back on the Trojans. Hera’s trick had worked. Zeus never found out that Hypnos had betrayed him again.

His palace was a dark cave where the sun never shines and River Lethe flowed beside it. Although Hypnos was not one of the most active gods of that time, he was famous for the role he had played in the story of Endymion and Selene, the Titaness of the Moon. When Endymion was granted immortality and eternal youth by means of endless sleep, he received the power to sleep with his eyes open by Hypnos so he could constantly watch his beloved Selene. The reason Hypnos granted him this gift was because the god of sleep loved the young king/prince/shepherd and thus could always gaze in his beautiful eyes.

Percy Jackson and the Olympians[]

The Last Olympian[]

A cabin is built at Camp Half-Blood for Hypnos's children after the Battle of Manhattan when Percy Jackson makes all the Olympian gods and goddesses swear an oath on the River Styx to honor the minor gods and goddesses and to claim their demigod children when their children reach the age of thirteen. Percy hoped this would prevent unclaimed demigods from getting frustrated with the gods and causing another war such as the Second Olympian War.

The Heroes of Olympus[]

The Lost Hero[]

Thanatos

Thanatos, his twin

Clovis talks about his father when Annabeth Chase brings Jason Grace to him in an attempt to restore the son of Jupiter's memories.

Hiding in his mother's domain[]

After Kronos is defeated, he hides in his mother's domain to avoid the other gods. One day, as Nyx is griping about her children to him, the pair find Nico di Angelo. Hypnos tries to get his mother to go easy on the demigod as Ephialtes and Otis arrive and ask for the son of Hades.

The House of Hades[]

When Annabeth Chase and Percy Jackson were in the Mansion of Night, Nyx mentioned Hypnos. She told them that Hypnos once put Zeus in a deep sleep. Hypnos then fled to the Mansion of Night in fear of Zeus' wrath. Zeus stopped his pursuit of Hypnos fearing Nyx.

The Trials of Apollo[]

The Hidden Oracle[]

Apollo mentions Hypnos when remembering the time he and Hephaestus had to wrestle him out of Artemis' private chambers on Olympus after he had sleepwalked into the location.

The Burning Maze[]

While looking among Caligula's shoes for the ones he will need to cross the labyrinth, Apollo finds a pair of Hypnos' shoes.

The Sun and the Star: A Nico di Angelo Adventure[]

Alongside Nemesis, Epiales and a monster army, Hypnos joins his mother Nyx in confronting Nico di Angelo, Will Solace, Bob and Small Bob at the Mansion of Night. Unlike his other siblings, Hypnos actively joins the fight, battling the Titan alongside Nyx before Nico takes control of the cacodemons. When Nemesis turns on Nyx, Hypnos and Epiales follow suit, with Hypnos angrily accusing his mother of only seeing him as a weapon and nothing more. Exerting his powers over Nyx, Hypnos manages to make her drowsy, although Nyx proves to be too powerful for him to put to sleep entirely. As the demigods, Titan and skeleton cat make their escape, Hypnos reveals that he was the one who set the Mansion of Night on fire and destroyed it during the battle. Nyx eventually manages to break free of her children's grip, but they buy Nico's group enough time to escape to the River Acheron which Nyx is incapable of crossing.

Appearance[]

Hypnos has the same teakwood skin as his brother. It's unknown if he has the same physical size and musculature of his brother, though, as Hypnos is said to be quite lazy, but it's been worth to notice that he's a shapeshifter. He is often shown with small wings on his head.

Personality[]

Though not a villain or immoral, Hypnos is far from being the most responsible or honorable god to exist. He has been said to do nothing much but sleep and did not play a role in the last Second Olympian War, implying that he is a lazy god (if not the laziest). He also shows to be very cowardly in the past, having hid himself in his mother's arms to avoid Zeus' anger, and when Hera requested his assistance against Zeus yet again, Hypnos only complies when she swore to give him Pasithea's hand in marriage. He was also described to have used his power immaturely when he was a child, much to the other gods' chagrin.

Somnus[]

The Roman form of Hypnos is known as Somnus. While Hypnos is the god of sleep and did not do much in Greek mythology, Clovis (a son of Hypnos) explains that Somnus would kill people that fell asleep at their posts, such as Palinurus; the helmsman of Aeneas, a Trojan hero. Clovis uses his father as an example of how the Roman and Greek gods, while still the same could be very different from each other.

Abilities[]

Despite being a minor god and very lazy, Hypnos seems to be much more powerful than his status and antics lead others to believe he really is, likely because he's a child of Nyx, a protogenos.

  • He possesses the standard powers of a god.
  • Flight: Through levitation or his wings Hypnos has the ability to fly.
  • Hypnokinesis: As the god of sleep, he has divine authority over sleep. This power allows him to induce sleep, visions and even manipulate dreams in a way very similar to that of his son Morpheus, but to a much more powerful degree. While it took Morpheus great effort to send Manhattan into sleep (and even then needing Hecate's help), Hypnos has been known to use this power against far more powerful beings, in which even Zeus himself (the King of the Gods and one of the Big Three) has proven on two different occasions in the myths to be susceptible to Hypnos' power.
  • Hallucikinesis: As he is the god of sleep, he has divine authority over dreams. Though he has divine authority over illusions too.
  • Shapeshifting: Hypnos can change his appearance into anything that he wants to be, and has been known to turn into a small bird in the past.
  • Umbrakinesis: As he is the son of Nyx and Erebos, he has some power over darkness but to a much lesser degree than his mother Nyx.
  • Pyrokinesis: Hypnos was able to set the Mansion of Night on fire at the same time as he was fighting Bob the Titan.

Trivia[]

  • Somnolence, which is a state of near-sleep or desire for sleep, is named after his Roman counterpart Somnus. Also, somnambulation means sleepwalking (ambulant means having walked in Latin).
  • Disorders like hypersomnia and insomnia are named after his Roman counterpart Somnus.
  • The words hypnotize and hypnosis comes from the god's Greek name.
  • In The Sun and the Star: A Nico di Angelo Adventure, Nico incorrectly identifies Hypnos as being the god who put Manhattan to sleep in the Battle of Manhattan, when it was really his son, Morpheus, the God of Dreams.
The Heroes of Olympus
Core Series: The Lost Hero | The Son of Neptune | The Mark of Athena | The House of Hades | The Blood of Olympus
Main Characters: Jason Grace | Piper McLean | Leo Valdez | Percy Jackson | Frank Zhang | Hazel Levesque | Annabeth Chase | Iapetus/Bob | Reyna Ramírez-Arellano | Nico di Angelo | Gleeson Hedge
Secondary Characters: Hylla Ramírez-Arellano | Dakota | Tyson | Ella | Octavian | Halcyon Green | Dr. Howard Claymore | Alabaster C. Torrington | Lamia
Minor Characters: Rachel Elizabeth Dare | Grover Underwood | Thalia Grace | Clarisse La Rue | Fleecy | Mrs. O'Leary | Kinzie | Arion | Calypso | Lou Ellen Blackstone | Chiron | Will Solace | Tristan McLean | Don | Julia | Jacob | Michael Varus | Burly Black | Medea | Midas | Lityerses | Phineas | Otrera | Echo | Narcissus | Sciron | Pasiphaë | Lycaon
Olympian Gods: Zeus | Hera | Poseidon | Hades | Ares | Demeter | Athena | Apollo | Artemis | Hephaestus | Aphrodite | Hermes | Dionysus
Minor Gods: Achelous | Aeolus | Asclepius | Boreas | Eurus | Hecate | Iris | Hypnos | Keto | Khione | Kymopoleia | Mithras | Nemesis | Nike | Notus | Phorcys | Serapis | Thanatos | Triptolemus | Zephyros
Roman Gods: Jupiter | Juno | Neptune | Pluto | Mars | Minerva | Ceres | Lupa | Bellona | Fortuna | Janus | Terminus | Vulcan | Mercury | Apollo (Roman) | Diana | Venus | Bacchus | Pomona | Aquilon | Hercules | Cupid | Auster | Favonius | Letus | Victoria
Giants: Enceladus | Porphyrion | Alcyoneus | Polybotes | Ephialtes | Otis | Damasen | Clytius | Mimas | Orion | Hippolytos | Thoon | Periboia
Undead: Gray | Zombie
Primordial Gods: Gaea | Tartarus | Ourae | Nyx | Chaos | Ouranos | Akhlys | Hemera | Elpis | Spes
Monsters and Magical Creatures: Cynocephali | Gorgon | Gryphon | Harpy | Basilisk | Lycanthrope | Gegeines | Cyclops | Katobleps | Unicorn | Giant Eagle | Ichthyocentaur | Satyr/Faun | Storm Spirit | Laistrygonian Giant | Lares
Related Content: Rick Riordan | Haley Riordan | Percy Jackson and the Olympians | Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Ultimate Guide | The Demigod Files | The Demigod Diaries | The Son of Sobek | The Singer of Apollo | The Staff of Serapis | Percy Jackson's Greek Gods | Percy Jackson's Greek Heroes | The Crown of Ptolemy | Demigods & Magicians | Demigods of Olympus | Percy Jackson Demigod Collection
The Sun and the Star: A Nico di Angelo Adventure
Book: The Sun and the Star: A Nico di Angelo Adventure
Main Characters: Nico di Angelo | Will Solace | Gorgyra | Small Bob
Secondary Characters: Screech-Bling | Hiss-Majesty | Iapetus | Chiron
Minor Characters: Kayla Knowles | Austin Lake | Rachel Elizabeth Dare | Percy Jackson | Annabeth Chase | Sally Jackson | Estelle Blofis | Meg McCaffrey | Epiales | Echidna | Menoetes | Amphithemis | Maria di Angelo | Bianca di Angelo | Piper McLean | Shel
Gods: Dionysus | Apollo | Hypnos | Nemesis | Acheron | Persephone | Hades
Giants: Otis | Ephialtes
Primordial Gods: Nyx | Tartarus | Chaos | Gaea
Monsters and Magical Creatures: Nymph | Cacodemon | Troglodyte | Demon | Chimera | Empousa | Stymphalian Birds | Cynocephali | Telekhine | Basilisk | Manticore | Pegasus | Aetera
Related Content: Rick Riordan | Mark Oshiro | The Trials of Apollo
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