NYX was the goddess of the night, one of the ancient Protogenoi (first-born elemental gods). In the cosmogony of Hesiod she was born of Air (Khaos), and breeding with Darkness (Erebos) produced Light (Aither) and Day (Hemera), first components of the primeval universe. Alone, she spawned a brood of dark spirits, including the three Fates, Sleep, Death, Strife and Pain.
Nyx was a primeval goddess usually represented as simply the substance of night: a veil of dark veil of mist drawn forth from the underworld which blotted out the light of Aither (shining upper atmosphere). Her opposite number was Hemera (Day), who scattered the mists of night, or Eos, the goddess of the dawn.
In ancient art Nyx was portrayed as a either a winged goddess or charioteer, sometimes crowned with an aureole of dark mist.
ENCYCLOPEDIA
NYX (Nux), Nox or Night personified. Homer (Il. xiv. 259, &c.) calls her the subduer of gods and men, and relates that Zeus himself stood in awe of her. In the ancient cosmogonies Night is one of the very first created beings, for she is described as the daughter of Chaos, and the sister of Erebus, by whom she became the mother of Aether and Hemera. (Hes. Theog. 123, &c.) According to the Orphics (Argon. 14) she was the daughter of Eros. She is further said, without any husband, to have given birth to Moros, the Keres, Thanatos, Hypnos, Dreams, Momus, Oizys, the Hesperides, Moerae, Nemesis, and similar beings. (Hes. Theog. 211, &c.; Cic. de Nat. Deor. iii. 17.) In later poets, with whom she is merely the personification of the darkness of night, she is sometimes described as a winged goddess (Eurip. Orest. 176), and sometimes as riding in a chariot, covered with a dark garment and accompanied by the stars in her course. (Eurip. Ion, 1150; Theocrit. ii. in fin.; Orph. Hymn. 2. 7; Virg. Aen. v. 721; Tibull. ii. 1. 87; Val. Flacc. iii. 211.) Her residence was in the darkness of Hades. (Hes. Theog. 748; Eurip. Orest. 175; Virg. Aen. vi. 390.) A statue of Night, the work of Rhoecus, existed at Ephesus (Paus. x. 38. § 3). On the chest of Cypselus she was represented carrying in her arms the gods of Sleep and Death, as two boys (v. 18. § 1).
Source: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology.
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Greek and Roman Mythology and History.
My mother is Greek/Roman.
