Nix

Nix represented in the Salter of Paris (X century)

In Greek mythology, Nix, Nyx or simply Night (in ancient Greek, Νύξ) was the primordial goddess of the night. She is also called Nicte, and in the Roman texts that deal with this Greek subject, her name is translated as Nox. Some authors represent her as half-naked and swift, while others sometimes say that she was riding in a chariot, covered in a dark dress and accompanied by the stars in her wake. In the Aeneid she is represented without feelings in a serious way. It is said that her residence is in the deepest darkness of Hades.

Etymology

Night (from Latin nox; ctis) or Nyx in ancient Greek, Νύξ; romanization, Nýx; pronunciation, classical: [nʉ́kʰs], Koine: [nykʰs], Byzantine: [nyks]; literally 'Night'

Nix according to Hesiod

In Hesiod's Theogony, "out of Chaos arose Erebus and black Nicte." His offspring is many, and revealing. With her brother Erebus (Darkness), Night conceived a couple of primordial gods: Ether (Pure brightness, Luminosity) and Hemera (Day). Later she "gave birth without sleeping with anyone" to several demons winged: «to the damned Moros (Fate), to the black Ker and to Thanatos (Death); also Hypno (Dream) and the crowd of Oniros (Dreams); to Momo (Mockery), to Ezis full of pain, to the Hesperides (daughters of sunset); to the Fates (Fate) and the inhuman Keres, implacable avengers; to Nemesis (divine punishment), scourge for mortal men; to Ápate (Deceit), to Philotes (Friendship or Tenderness), to the overwhelming Geras (Old Age) and to the stubborn Eris (Discord).

Further on in his description of Tartarus, Hesiod adds that Hemera and Nicte are already part of the cycle of day and night, and thus «when one is going to enter, the other is already going towards the door, and never the palace welcomes both within its walls. Thus one waits in Tartarus for the arrival of the other, greets her and then relieves her once more in her chariot. And so “one offers the beings of the earth its penetrating light; the other carries them in her arms Sleep, brother of Death, the baleful Night, shrouded in dense mist". This resembles the portrait of Ratri ('night') in the Rig-veda (the oldest text in India, from the middle of the 2nd millennium BC), where she works closely but also in tension with her sister Usha ('dawn').

Nix according to Homer

In Book 14 of Homer's Iliad there is an interesting quote from Hypnos, the lesser god of sleep, in which he reminds Hera of an ancient favor after she asks him to put her to sleep. to Zeus. Hypnos previously put Zeus to sleep once at Hera's behest, allowing him to cause great misfortune to Heracles (who was returning by sea from Laomedon's Troy). Zeus was enraged and would have thrown Hypnos into the sea if he had not fled in fear to Nix, his mother. Zeus, fearing to anger Nix, contained her fury and in this way Hypnos managed to escape from her. This myth makes Nix the only divinity that Zeus really feared, since we are already told that she "restrained herself out of respect to do nothing that would displease swift Night."

Nix in Orphic poetry

Night took on an even larger role in several fragmentary poems attributed to Orpheus. In them, the Night the fundamental principle together with the father Chaos of him. Night occupied a cave or adyton, where she gives oracles. It was she who suggested to Zeus that he make Cronus drunk with mead. Outside the cave, Adrastea strikes cymbals and strikes her tympanum , moving the entire universe in a euphoric dance to the rhythm of Nix's singing.

Other Greek Texts

Night is also the beginning in the opening chorus of The Birds by Aristophanes, which may be Orphic-inspired. In that work, Night is described as the sister of Chaos, Erebo and Tartarus, She could also be the mother of Charon and Ptonus, but no author has attested to such filiation.

In Euripides' tragedy Heracles, Lisa (personification of madness) says that she is the daughter of Night and the blood of Uranus.

The theme of the cave or home of Night, beyond Tartarus (as in Hesiod) or somewhere on the edge of the cosmos (as in Orphism) may have been echoed in Parmenides' philosophical poem. The classical scholar Walter Burkert has speculated that the house of the goddess to which the philosopher was transported is the palace of Night. This hypothesis, however, must be taken with caution.

Cults of the Night

In Greece, the Night is rarely the recipient of cults. According to Pausanias, he had an oracle on the acropolis of Megara. More frequently, Nix lurks in the background of other cults. That is why there was a statue called Night in the temple of Artemis in Ephesus. The Spartans worshiped Sleep and Death, conceived as twins: Night was undoubtedly their mother. Cult titles composed of the particle nix- were bestowed on various gods, notably Dionysus Nyktelios ('nocturnal') and Aphrodite Philopannyx ('she who loves the whole night'). Virgil describes how Aeneas offers Night some black sheep in her honor, as mother of the Furies. In the same way, two cults have survived to us in ancient Rome. Ovid says that during the Lemurias offerings were made to him and Statius that beautiful black bulls specially chosen for the occasion were offered to him.

Family of the Night

The Nuit by William-Adolphe Bouguereau (1883).

• Progenitors
  • Chaos (without union)
  • Fans (without union)
• Primary Descendants
  • With Erebo:
    • Ether
    • Hemera
  • With Time:
    • Hemera
  • Without union:
    • Uranus
    • The stars
    • Eos (like Hemera)
• Descendants demons and personified abstractions
  • With Erebo (or without union):
    • The Afecto Pound (ιλοτης, Amicitia or Gratia)
    • The Alegría (#ροσυνη)
    • The Ardid (Δολος, Dolus)
    • La Burla (Missions μος, Complaint)
    • The Discordia, Discordia)
    • El Engaño (Áπατη, Fraus)
    • The Dreamers (OMHYLISH), Somnia)
    • The Fatigue (κονος, Labour)
    • The Fairy. Fatum)
    • Las Hespérides (ninfas del adecer)
    • Ker (Κηρ, Letum)
    • The Keres (Κηρες, Tenebrae)
    • The Fear (Δειμος, Metus)
    • The Moderation. (οφροσυνη, Continue)
    • Moiras or Plots (sisters of destination)
    • Death (origilia τος, Mors)
    • Némesis (NOεμεσις, Invidentia)
    • The Hate (Äτυch. Styx)
    • La Piedad (Ελεος, Mercy)
    • Prudence (Επιφρων)
    • The Sovereign (,βρις, Petulantia)
    • The Dream (,πνος, Somnus or Sopor)
    • The Tozudez (Obstinate)
    • La Tristeza (MILITARY BODY, Miseria)
    • The old age (spoke in Spanish) Senectus)
  • Without union:
    • The Nemes or nemesis (multiplication of Némesis)
    • The Erinias
    • Do it.
  • With Uranus
    • Lisa

Fonts

• ARISTÓFANES: Birds.