Nyx (Night)

Goddess of the night. Nyx was identified by the Romans as Nox, and was often identified as just Night. Nyx was born together with Erebus, Gaea, Tartarus, and Eros ("Love"), out of Chaos. By her brother Erebus, Nyx bore Aether ("Upper Air") and Hemera ("Day").

Nyx was also the mother of Moros ("Doom"), Thanatos ("Death"), Hypnos ("Sleep"), Charon, Nemesis ("Retribution"), and the Fates (Moerae). Nyx was possibly the mother of Eris ("Strife") and the Hesperides. Her other children were mostly abstract personifications: Apate ("Deceit"), Geras ("Old Age"), the Keres ("Dooms"), Momos ("Blame"), Oizus ("Misery") and Philotes ("Tenderness"). Most of these children lived in the Underworld.

Nyx was sometimes seen as a winged goddess. Her wings were black or shadowy, and she was called "swift Night". She was said to dwell in the Underworld during the day, and only come out at dusk.

In the Iliad, Homer mentioned that the only goddess that Zeus truly feared was the "all-subduing Night". Zeus would greatly displease her by destroying Hypnos (Sleep), one of her many offspring.

See Creation, Theogony of Hesiod.

According to the Orphic Creation Myth, Nyx (Night) was the daughter of Protogonus (Phanes), the first god, without a mother. Protogonus had male and female sex, so he was able to produce Nyx without a partner. From Phanes, she was the mother of Uranus (Heaven) and Gaea (Earth).

The moment she was born, Nyx ruled with her father until he made her the supreme ruler of heaven and earth. Later, she gave the supreme rulership to her son Uranus. Though Nyx had freely given away power to Uranus, she gave advice to three successive rulers: Uranus, Cronus and Zeus. The Orphic Nyx seemed to have taken over the role of the Hesiodic Gaea, because it was Nyx who had prophetic power rather than Gaea.