Hypnos

Hypnos was the god of sleep. His Roman equivalent was Somnus.

Description and Family
Hypnos lives in a mansion in a cave, where the sun and moon cannot reach him. At the entrance, there are poppies and other hypnotic plants. There are no doors or gates so that the creaking of hinges won't wake him up. The River Lethe flows through his cave.

Hypnos lived near his twin brother, Thanatos, the god of death. They are the sons of Erebus and Nyx. His wife, Pasithea, was one of the youngest of the Charites and was promised to him by Hera.

Hypnos' three sons were known as the Oneiroi. Morpheus was the winged god of dreams and can take human forms in dreams. Phobetor is the personification of nightmares and could take the shape of any animal. Phantasos was the creator of fake dreams.

Hypnos in the Iliad
Hypnos once put Zeus to sleep at the request of Hera so that Hera could send strong winds upon the sea that Heracles was sailing on. After Zeus woke up and chased Hypnos but he ran to his mother, Nyx, whom Zeus was afraid of.

Again, Hera asked Hypnos to make Zeus fall asleep again. Hypnos was reluctant to help but Hera offered him a golden chair and then made him a promise that he could get married to Pasithea.

Hera made herself look incredibly appealing and she got the help of Aphrodite so that she would be irresistible to Zeus. Hypnos then made Zeus fall asleep and went and told Poseidon to help the Danaans win the Trojan War. After waking up, Zeus never found out that Hypnos had made him fall asleep.