ematical of the light of life being extinguished,
whilst his disengaged arm is thrown lovingly round the shoulder of his
brother Hypnus.

Hypnus is sometimes depicted standing erect with closed eyes; at others he
is in a recumbent position beside his brother Thanatos, and usually bears a
poppy-stalk in his hand.

A most interesting description of the abode of Hypnus is given by Ovid in
his Metamorphoses. He tells us how the god of Sleep dwelt in a
mountain-cave near the realm of the Cimmerians, which the sun never pierced
with his rays. No sound disturbed the stillness, no song of birds, not a
branch moved, and no human voice broke the profound silence which reigned
everywhere. From the lowermost rocks of the cave issued the river Lethe,
and one might almost have supposed that its course was arrested, were it
not for the low, monotonous hum of the water, which invited slumber. The
entrance was partially hidden by numberless white and red poppies, which
Mother Night had gathered and planted there, and from the juice of which
she extracts drowsiness, which she scatters in liquid drops all over the
earth, as soon as the sun-god has sunk to rest. In the centre of the cave
stands a couch of blackest ebony, with a bed of down, over which is laid a
coverlet of sable hue. Here the god himself reposes, surrounded by
innumerable forms. These are idle dreams, more numerous than the sands of
the sea. Chief among them is Morpheus, that changeful god, who may assume
any shape or form he pleases. Nor can the god of Sleep resist his own
power; for though he may rouse himself for a while, he soon succumbs to the
drowsy influences which surround him.

MORPHEUS.

Morpheus, the son of Hypnus, was the god of Dreams.

He is always represented winged, and appears sometimes as a youth,
sometimes as an old man. In his hand he bears a cluster of poppies, and as
he steps with {144} noiseless footsteps over the earth, he gently scatters
the seeds of this sleep-producing plant over the eyes of weary mortals.

Homer describes the House of Dreams as having two gates: one, whence issue
all deceptive and flattering visions, being formed of ivory; the other,
through which proceed those dreams which are fulfilled, of horn.

THE GORGONS.

The Gorgons, Stheno, Euryale, and Medusa, were the three daughters of
Phorcys and Ceto, and were the personification of those benumbing, and, as
it were, petrifying sensations, which result from sudden and extrem