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Morpheus ("he who forms, shapes, molds", from the Greek morphe) is the principal Greek god of dreams and sleep.

Morpheus has the ability to take any human's form and appear in dreams. His father is Hypnos the god of sleep. Pasithea is his mother, and Thanatos, the personification of death, is his uncle. The sons of Hypnos - the Oneiroi - are rulers of dreams, and also include Icelus, Phobetor, and Phantasos.

Morpheus is spoken of in the Metamorphoses of Ovid. He sleeps on an ebony bed in a dimly-lit cave, surrounded by poppy flowers. Ovid suggests that Morpheus has a special talent for mimicking human form in dreams. According to Ovid, Morpheus concentrated on the human elements of dreams, his brothers Phobetor and Phantasos being responsible for animals and inanimate objects respectively.

Morpheus sends images of humans in dreams or visions, and is responsible for shaping dreams, or giving shape to the beings which inhabit dreams. Icelus assisted with those aspects of dreams that reflected reality. Phobetor made fearsome dreams (hence "phobia"). Phantasus produced tricky and unreal dreams (hence "fantasy", "phantasmagoria", etc). Together these sons of Sleep rule the realm of dreams. Morpheus also had special responsiblity for the dreams of kings and heroes. For these reasons Morpheus is often referred to as "Morpheus the Greek god of dreams" in superiority to his brothers.

Morpheus is also called the Sandman.

The drug morphine (once "morphium") derives its name from Morpheus based on its similar dream-inducing power.

-- I once knew followers of Thanatos ...

Does anyone bring praise to Morpheus anymore ? Or any greek gods for that matter ...

What you wrote sounds interesting.

well I never recall any dreams......so I can't say I give praises to the dreamlord.....
but this weekend I drank a few in Bacchus's name....quite a large few

i am familure with greek mythology but i havent studed it that thurely

Well done,I like to read about dreams and greek mytology so thanks for the info.

* hehe * Morpheus ...

I too have a whole book of Mithology but I rarely read it anymore.

Hehe .. who reads books anymore ? ;)

hahahaha.... i doubt very many people even use half the old greek gods as deities anymore.... its insane... but thats some cool stuff you have dugged up....

I follow some greek mythology, I imagine I am a greek hero, especially Orpheus, of Orpheus and Eurydice.

Eurydice was, the beautiful nymph-wife of Orfeus, who was bitten by a snake while running away from Aristaeus, a son of Apollo. The desperate husband then descended to Hades, and begged the god of Death to release her. Hades was so touched by Orpheus music, that he agreed on the condition that Orpheus would not look back at her during the ascent. Almost back in the world of the living, Orpheus could no longer hear Eurydices footsteps behind him, and could not resist turning around, only to see his wife screaming being pulled back into the underworld.

Orpheus, mortified by grief wandered aimlessly around the forests where a crowd of maenads attacked him and tore him to pieces. His head fell into a river, still singing laments after his lost wife. It finally floated to Lesbos, where the Muses buried it.

Like Orpheus, I lost my love, my favorite pet bull-terrier to a snake. Yes witches a snake, sent down by goddess Nature, Wiccan *pffffft* bring me back my pet, let her live her full life.

Ahh the metamorphis of ovid....I remember the stories very well....My dreams are very strange and I think its cause of morpheus...but hell if I know

I like the info.

That's really interesting. I've had a lot of strange dreams.I do all the time. But I've never really thought about Morpheus. Never really heard of him. But now that you have my curiousity running, that may change, lol.

dear thanx for the info really interesting.(some thing i knew before and something is new). *kisses*