Hypnos was the god of sleep in Greek mythology. The Romans called him Somnus. Hypnos was a kind and gentle youth, but he had the power to lull to sleep even the mightiest gods. His mother was Nyx, the goddess of night, but he had no father. Thanatos (Death) was his brother. Hypnos had hundreds of sons, called the Dreams. The most famous was Morpheus (see Morpheus). Hypnos lived in a large cave where he slept on a soft, dark bed. Everything in the cave helped bring about sleep. Lethe, the river of forgetfulness, flowed through the cave.
