130 MYTHOLOGY AND RELIGIOUS RITES, 
mimicry. She appears in a meditative mood, composing and rehearsing 
hymns of the gods (jig 12); she also symbolized the acquisition and reten- 
tion of knowledge, and accordingly she stands (jig. 4) dressed in full vest- 
ments, and wearing on her head a wreath of corn-bind. She had no special 
attributes, and both in symbolical import and representation is very similar 
to her mother, Mnemosyne. 
The Muses, whose special office was the instruction of mankind in the 
arts and sciences, had their common residence on Mount Parnassos. There 
they are represented dancing to the music of Apollo’s lyre (pl. 25, jig 21). 
To their right stands Hermes with the winged horse Pegasus, and the 
caduceus. On the summit of the mountain appear Ares and Aphrodite 
in the character of tender lovers. Near by is seen the mischievous Eros, 
striving to the utmost, if we may judge by his position and. gestures, to 
apprise Hephestos, the husband of Aphrodite, of her new attachment; 
and Hephestos is obviously preparing for the loving pair an unwelcome 
surprise. 
11. Nocrurnat Derrtrs. 
1. Ncx was goddess of night, darkness, and repose; hence her supremacy - 
over gods and men. She was the last child born in Zartaros, and probably 
an evolution from chaos. Regarding Day as her greatest foe, she separated 
from him. When Day retired to rest, she ascended the sky, but returned 
to Orcos so soon as he again prepared to lead the hours of light. 
She is often represented dressed in deep black and riding on a chariot; 
sometimes ( pl.17, fig. 1) without the chariot, but with a radiant head, starry 
veil, and an inverted torch; and again with outspread wings, soaring 
between the two stars of the Dioscuri (pl. 20, jig. 2). By her marriage 
with Hyrebos (subterranean night, the kingdom of death) she bore several 
children, all of whom were reckoned among the nocturnal deities. The 
principal ones were Hypnos, Thanatos, and the Dreams. 
2. Hypnos (Sleep) conquered both gods and men, though he possessed the 
mild disposition of his mother, and sent tranquillity and repose to the wretched. 
During the Trojan war he provoked the ire of Zeus. The latter had espe- 
cially prohibited all the gods from taking any part in the contest against the 
Trojans. Hera, however, who hated them on account of Paris who had given 
the prize of beauty to Aphrodite, induced Poseidon to fight against them; 
and in order to draw off the attention of Zeus from Troy, she bribed Hypnos 
by the promise of the youngest of the Graces as his wife, to put him to 
sleep. The trick succeeded, and Poseidon, landing on the Ilian coast, 
inflicted a terrible slaughter. Zeus was awakened by the din of battle, 
and was so enraged at Hypnos that he would have hurled him into the sea, 
if his mother Nux, whom even the king of gods did not like to grieve, had 
not appeased him. | 
Among the representations of Hypnos we must carefully distinguish 
between materzal sleep and the genius of sleep. The artists usually conceived 
the former as twin brother of death, a boy with closed eyes lying in the bosom 
350 
