Oneiroi

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In Greek mythology, the Oneiroi were the sons of Hypnos, the god of sleep. They were personifications of dreams—black-winged daemons—and they were said to live on the shores of the Ocean in the far West, in a cavern near the border of Hades. The gods sent dreams to mortals from one of two gates located there: true dreams emerged from a gate made of horn, whereas false dreams threaded their way from a gate fashioned of ivory.

The most powerful of the Oneiroi was Morpheus. His brothers Phobetor (also known as Icelus) and Phantasos shape parts of dreams, while he shapes the dream in general. Morpheus shapes human figures, Phobetor shapes animal figures and Phantasos shapes inanimate objects.

[edit] Oneiroi in Pop Culture

• The name "Oneiros" is used to refer to Dream (aka Morpheus) in Calliope, a story arc that is part of The Sandman series written by Neil Gaiman.
• In the Dark Hunter series by Sherrilyn Kenyon, the Oneiroi are the Dream Hunters and responsible for patrolling the dream world, as well as assisting the Dark Hunters.
• Oneiroid Psychosis, a darkwave band, derive the first part of their name from the Greek word oneirois.
• Fates Warning, a progressive metal band, has a side long epic on their 1988 release No Exit titled The Ivory Gate of Dreams which touches on this myth.
• In the video game EVE Online, the Oneiros is one of the ship designs in the Logistics class.

[edit] External links

• http://www.pantheon.org/articles/o/oneiroi.html Oneiroi in Encyclopedia Mythica
• http://www.here-be-dreams.com/lore/greek.html Here Be Dreams
• http://www.theoi.com/Daimon/Oneiroi.html Oneiroi on the Theoi Project
• http://www.oneiros.com Oneiros Online