Editing Nyx (section)

== Iconography ==
[[File:Arte romana, statuetta di nyx o selene, I secolo ac.JPG|thumb|upright|[[Roman Empire|Roman-era]] bronze statuette of Nyx ''[[velificans]]'' or [[Selene]] ([[Getty Villa]])]]
In ancient Greek and Roman art, Nyx is often difficult to identify, as she lacks a specific defined appearance,<ref>Papastavrou, [https://archive.org/details/limc_20210516/Lexicon%20Iconographicum%20Mythologiae%20Classicae/LIMC%20VI-1%20Kentauroi%20et%20Kentaurides-O%C4%B1ax/page/n577/mode/2up p. 941]; ''Oxford Classical Dictionary'', [https://archive.org/details/oxfordclassicald0000unse_w0u7/page/1056/mode/2up?view=theater s.v. Nyx, p. 1056].</ref> and it can be hard to distinguish her from other deities, such as [[Selene]] and [[Eos]].<ref>''Brill's New Pauly'', [https://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/brill-s-new-pauly/nyx-e827340 s.v. Nyx] (Selene, Eos, Artemis); Hurwit, p. 530 (Selene); Papastavrou, [https://archive.org/details/limc_20210516/Lexicon%20Iconographicum%20Mythologiae%20Classicae/LIMC%20VI-1%20Kentauroi%20et%20Kentaurides-O%C4%B1ax/page/n577/mode/2up p. 941] (Eos).</ref> According to [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]], she was depicted on the chest of [[Cypselus]] (6th century BC) as the nurse of [[Hypnos]] and [[Thanatos]], where she held the two gods, portrayed as children, in each of her hands.<ref>Shapiro, p. 132; [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]], [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0525.tlg001.perseus-eng1:5.18.1 5.18.1].</ref> In the 5th century BC, Nyx appears on a number of vases alongside other celestial deities such as [[Helios]], Selene, and Eos.<ref>Karusu, [https://archive.org/details/limc_20210516/Lexicon%20Iconographicum%20Mythologiae%20Classicae/LIMC%20II-1/page/n465/mode/2up p. 909].</ref> The earliest surviving representation of Nyx is an Attic lekythos (c. 500 BC), which shows her driving a two-horse chariot away from Helios, who is ascending into the sky in his quadriga at the start of the new day.<ref>Ferrari, [https://books.google.com/books?id=oXbG_4TRs8QC&pg=PA40 p. 40]; Karusu, pp. [https://archive.org/details/limc_20210516/Lexicon%20Iconographicum%20Mythologiae%20Classicae/LIMC%20II-1/page/n465/mode/2up 906], [https://archive.org/details/limc_20210516/Lexicon%20Iconographicum%20Mythologiae%20Classicae/LIMC%20II-1/page/n465/mode/2up 909]; ''[[Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae|LIMC]]'' [http://ark.dasch.swiss/ark:/72163/080e-747162b6cd15f-2 14520 (Astra 3)]; [[Metropolitan Museum of Art]] [https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/254196 41.162.29].</ref> Most depictions of Nyx portray her as having wings, and in early representations she is usually shown riding in a chariot.<ref>Karusu, [https://archive.org/details/limc_20210516/Lexicon%20Iconographicum%20Mythologiae%20Classicae/LIMC%20II-1/page/n465/mode/2up p. 909].</ref> On the lid of a 5th-century BC Athenian pyxis, for example, she is a winged figure driving a chariot pulled by four horses, with stars dotted above her head; she rides towards a column which signifies the edge of the world, and is followed by Selene and Helios (or Eos).<ref>Ferrari, [https://books.google.com/books?id=oXbG_4TRs8QC&pg=PA39 p. 39]; Karusu, [https://archive.org/details/limc_20210516/Lexicon%20Iconographicum%20Mythologiae%20Classicae/LIMC%20II-1/page/n465/mode/2up p. 907]; ''[[Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae|LIMC]]'' [http://ark.dasch.swiss/ark:/72163/080e-745fb3655f076-8 13274 (Astra 8)].</ref> She is sometimes also shown wearing a dress which has black borders, or has a black piece of cloth placed on her clothes;<ref>Parisinou, p. 34</ref> on an Attic kylix, for example, is a winged figure (probably Nyx) wearing a black-bordered peplos, walking behind the horse of Selene.<ref>Karusu, pp. [https://archive.org/details/limc_20210516/Lexicon%20Iconographicum%20Mythologiae%20Classicae/LIMC%20II-1/page/n465/mode/2up 906], [https://archive.org/details/limc_20210516/Lexicon%20Iconographicum%20Mythologiae%20Classicae/LIMC%20II-1/page/n465/mode/2up 909]; ''[[Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae|LIMC]]'' [http://ark.dasch.swiss/ark:/72163/080e-7565ed9ad5134-2 31765 (Astra 5)].</ref>

Following the 5th century BC, depictions of Nyx no longer show her alongside other celestial deities, and most representations are uncertain.<ref>Karusu, [https://archive.org/details/limc_20210516/Lexicon%20Iconographicum%20Mythologiae%20Classicae/LIMC%20II-1/page/n465/mode/2up p. 909].</ref> She has been identified as one of the deities fighting against the [[Giants (Greek mythology)|Giants]] on the Gigantomachy frieze of the [[Pergamon Altar]] (2nd century BC), where she is shown grabbing the edge of a shield belonging to bearded giant, and in her other hand holds a jar with a snake wrapped around it.<ref>Honan, p. 29. The figure has also been identified as [[Persephone]]; see Ridgway, [https://books.google.com/books?id=Y6Jj6rcIup4C&pg=PA57 p. 57 n. 51 to p. 36]. According to Honan, the snake is symbolic of the constellation Hydra, which Nyx pulls from the sky during the battle.</ref> In later depictions, Nyx is often portrayed as a ''[[velificans]]'' (with a veil billowing behind her head), and on Roman sarcophagi is a figure who puts others to sleep.<ref>Papastavrou, [https://archive.org/details/limc_20210516/Lexicon%20Iconographicum%20Mythologiae%20Classicae/LIMC%20VI-1%20Kentauroi%20et%20Kentaurides-O%C4%B1ax/page/n577/mode/2up p. 941].</ref>