Morpheus (mythology)

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Morpheus (Greek: Μορφέας, Μορφεύς, "he who forms, shapes, moulds", from the Greek morphe) is the Greek god of dreams.

Morpheus has the ability to take any human's form and appear in dreams. He is the son or brother of Hypnos, the god of sleep. Nyx (the goddess of night) is his mother/grandmother. The brothers (according to Hesiod) or sons (according to Ovid) of Hypnos — the Oneiroi — are rulers of visions, and include Phobetor (also known as Icelus), and Phantasos.

Morpheus is spoken of in the Metamorphoses of Ovid. It is also believed that in the Iliad he is spoken of as "Dream." He is also referred to in Edmund Spenser's The Faerie Queene (1590). He sleeps on an ebony bed in a dimly lit cave, surrounded by poppy flowers. 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 that inhabit dreams. Phobetor made fearsome dreams (etymologically related to "phobia" from the Greek φόβος "fear"). Phantasos produced tricky and unreal dreams (hence "fantasy", "phantasmagoria", etc.). Together these attendants of Hypnos rule the realm of dreams. Morpheus also had special responsibility 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.

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

[edit] Popular culture

Morpheus is one of Hypnos's subordinate gods in Saint Seiya: The Lost Canvas.
Morpheus is the pseudonym of one of the main characters in the Wachowski Brothers' The Matrix "[Step Brothers]" film, played by Laurence Fishburne as the one who awakens Neo from his "sleep".
The personification of dreaming is the main character in Neil Gaiman's popular graphic novel The Sandman. He is often referred to as Morpheus, or Lord Shaper.
Morpheus is the king of the dream world known as Slumberland in Winsor McCay's classic Sunday comic Little Nemo in Slumberland.
The Greek god Morpheus is mentioned as an antagonist in the video game God of War: Chains of Olympus.
The chorus of Lullaby by The Tea Party (rock band) reminds the listener that they "sleep tonight, safe in the arms of Morpheus."
In the popular MMORPG World of Warcraft, a boss protecting 'The Dreamer' in the instance Sunken Temple is a dragon named Morpheus.
Apoptygma Berzerk's song "Black Vs. White" from the album Rocket Science uses Morpheus as a poetic device. Singer/songwriter Stephan Groth's sings that society, as a whole, is willfully ignorant of their own ills and misdeeds, as shown in the line, "We're so close to the edge now, but nobody cares; Far away, in the arms of Morpheus"
The virtual horse website www.howrse.com, which makes direct reference to Greek Gods several times, named one of its' 'Black Market Items' Morpheus' Arms, which can be used to '...sleep and age your horses without limit...'
Morpheus is said to appear in the final Percy Jackson and the Olympians book
"Morpheus" is the title of an Agnes Rossi short story about a man who is on morphine and dying from cancer.