Editing Nyx (section)

=== Early sources ===
{{multiple image | direction = horizontal | total_width = 400 | image1 = Altar Pérgamo Moiras 15.JPG | image2 = Altar Pérgamo Moiras 01.JPG | footer = A goddess, which some scholars have identified as Nyx, battles a [[Giants (Greek mythology)|Giant]], Gigantomachy frieze, [[Pergamon Altar]], 2nd century AD}}
[[Homer]], in the ''[[Iliad]]'' (c. 8th century BC), relates a story in which Nyx saves [[Hypnos]] from the anger of [[Zeus]].<ref>Pucci, pp. 182&ndash;3; [[Homer]], ''[[Iliad]]'' [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0012.tlg001.perseus-eng1:14.193-14.241 14.231&ndash;61].</ref> When [[Hera]] comes to Hypnos and attempts to persuade him into lulling Zeus to sleep,<ref>[[Homer]], ''[[Iliad]]'' [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0012.tlg001.perseus-eng1:14.193-14.241 14.231&ndash;41].</ref> he refuses, reminding her of the last time she asked the same favour of him, when it had allowed her to persecute [[Heracles]] without her husband's knowledge.<ref>[[Homer]], ''[[Iliad]]'' [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0012.tlg001.perseus-eng1:14.242-14.269 14.242&ndash;55].</ref> Hypnos recounts that once Zeus awoke, he was furious, and would have hurled him into the sea, had he not fled to the protection of Nyx, as Zeus, despite his anger, was "in awe of doing anything to swift Night's displeasure".<ref>[[Homer]], ''[[Iliad]]'' [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0012.tlg001.perseus-eng1:14.242-14.269 14.56&ndash;61]. The translation quoted here is that given by Lattimore, [https://archive.org/details/iliadofhome00home/page/300/mode/2up?view=theater p. 301]. According to Janko, p. 193 on lines 256&ndash;61, she likely saves him by making him invisible. Keightley, [https://books.google.com/books?id=JxQHAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA45 p. 45] sees no reason to believe that Hypnos is Nyx's daughter in this narrative, and also states "[t]he dwelling of both would seem to be on Olympos".</ref> It has been suggested that the apparent status which Nyx has in Homer's account may indicate he was aware of a genealogy in which she came before even [[Oceanus]] and [[Tethys (mythology)|Tethys]] (often believed to be the primeval couple in the ''Iliad''),<ref>West, p. 120; Meisner, [https://books.google.com/books?id=wgJfDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA99 p. 99]; see also Kirk, Raven and Schofield, p. 17. For Oceanus and Tethys as primeval parents, see Fowler 2013, [https://books.google.com/books?id=scd8AQAAQBAJ&pg=PA11 p. 11]; West, pp. 119&ndash;20.</ref> and Pietro Pucci suggests that the story may have been derived from an earlier work, which contained a more detailed account of the event.<ref>Pucci, p. 183 n. 75. He suggests "an earlier ''Gigantomachy'' or ''Herakleia''" as candidates.</ref>

In [[Hesiod]]'s ''[[Theogony]]'' (late 8th century BC), which the Greeks considered the "standard" account of the origin of the gods,<ref>Hard, [https://books.google.com/books?id=r1Y3xZWVlnIC&pg=PA21 p. 21].</ref> Nyx is one of the earliest beings to exist, as the offspring of [[Chaos (mythology)|Chaos]] alongside [[Erebus]] (Darkness); in the first sexual coupling,<ref>Gantz, p. 4; Betegh, p. 169.</ref> she and Erebus produce their personified opposites, [[Aether (mythology)|Aether]] and [[Hemera]] (Day).<ref>Almqvist, p. 37; Caldwell, [https://archive.org/details/hesiodstheogony00hesi/page/6/mode/2up?view=theater p. 6].</ref> Hesiod also makes Nyx, without the aid of a father, the mother of a number of abstract personifications, which are primarily negative in nature.<ref>Almqvist, p. 37; [[Hesiod]], ''[[Theogony]]'' [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0020.tlg001.perseus-eng1:207-239 211&ndash;25].</ref> Despite their abstract nature, however, to the Greeks these deities would have represented forces which "exercise[d] a real power in the world".<ref>Hard, [https://books.google.com/books?id=r1Y3xZWVlnIC&pg=PA26 p. 26].</ref> Hesiod locates the home of Nyx at the far western end of the Earth,<ref>Grimal, [https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofclas0000grim/page/314/mode/2up?view=theater s.v. Nyx, p. 314]; Keightley, [https://books.google.com/books?id=JxQHAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA45 p. 45]; Gantz, pp. 5, 129; [[Hesiod]], ''[[Theogony]]'' [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0020.tlg001.perseus-eng1:270-303 274&ndash;6].</ref> though it is unclear whether or not he considered it to be beyond [[Oceanus]], the river which encircles the world.<ref>Keightley, [https://books.google.com/books?id=JxQHAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA45 p. 45].</ref> In a (somewhat confused) section of the Theogony, Hesiod seems to locate her home near the entrance to the underworld, and describes it as being "wrapped in dark clouds".<ref>Gantz, pp. 127, 129. [[Hesiod]], ''[[Theogony]]'' [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0020.tlg001.perseus-eng1:729-766 744&ndash;5].</ref> He reports that the Titan [[Atlas (mythology)|Atlas]], who is holding up the sky, stands outside of the house, and that the homes of two of her children, [[Hypnos]] and [[Thanatos]], are situated nearby.<ref>Gantz, pp. 5, 127, 129; [[Hesiod]], ''[[Theogony]]'' [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0020.tlg001.perseus-eng1:729-766 746&ndash;8], [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0020.tlg001.perseus-eng1:729-766 758&ndash;9].</ref> He relates that Nyx and her daughter Hemera live in the same dwelling, and that each day they pass one another at the entrance to the house, with one of them leaving and the other one entering; throughout the day, one passes across the Earth, while the other stays inside, waiting for their turn to leave.<ref>Kouremenos, Parássoglou and Tsantsanoglou, p. 186; [[Hesiod]], ''[[Theogony]]'' [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0020.tlg001.perseus-eng1:729-766 744&ndash;59].</ref> In her journey over the world, Hesiod describes Nyx as "wrapped in a vaporous cloud", and as holding her son Hypnos in her arms.<ref>[[Hesiod]], ''[[Theogony]]'' [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0020.tlg001.perseus-eng1:729-766 756&ndash;7].</ref>

Nyx features in a number of early cosmogonies other than Hesiod's, where she is similarly mentioned among the earliest deities. The philosopher [[Philodemus]], writing in his ''De pietate'' (''On Piety''), reports that the legendary poet [[Musaeus of Athens|Musaeus]] considered [[Tartarus]] and Night to be the first beings to exist, followed by Air.<ref>Fowler 2013, [https://books.google.com/books?id=scd8AQAAQBAJ&pg=PA7 p. 7]; Gantz, p. 2; [[Musaeus of Athens|Musaeus]] [https://archive.org/details/diefragmenteder02diel/page/182/mode/2up?view=theater fr. 14 Diels, pp. 182&ndash;3] [= fr. 81 Bernabé (II.2 p. 40) = [[Philodemus]], ''De pietate'' 47 (Obbink, [https://books.google.com/books?id=D4tDMNaqKfIC&pg=PA351 p. 351])].</ref> Philodemus also writes that, according to [[Epimenides]] (7th or 6th century BC), the two first principles are Air and Night, from which "everything else is constituted";<ref>Fowler 2013, [https://books.google.com/books?id=scd8AQAAQBAJ&pg=PA7 p. 7]; [[Epimenides of Crete|Epimenides]] [https://archive.org/details/diefragmenteder02diel/page/190/mode/2up?view=theater fr. 5 Diels, p. 190] [= fr. 46 II Bernabé (II.2 p. 154) = ''[[Brill's New Jacoby|BNJ]]'' [https://scholarlyeditions.brill.com/reader/urn:cts:greekLit:fgrh.0457.bnjo-3-tr1-eng:f4a 457 F4a] = [[Philodemus]], ''De pietate'' 47 (Obbink, [https://books.google.com/books?id=D4tDMNaqKfIC&pg=PA351 p. 351])]. The translation used here is that given by Obbink. According to Fowler, in his placement of Night, Epimenides' "inspiration surely came from Orphic theogony".</ref> the Neoplatonist [[Damascius]] adds to this, stating that from Air and Night is born Tartarus, who in turn produces two Titans (by Night?).<ref>Fowler 2013, [https://books.google.com/books?id=scd8AQAAQBAJ&pg=PA8 p. 8]; Chrysanthou, p. 303; Meisner, [https://books.google.com/books?id=wgJfDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA92 p. 92]; [[Epimenides]], [https://archive.org/details/diefragmenteder02diel/page/190/mode/2up?view=theater fr. 5 Diels, p. 190] [= fr. 46 I Bernabé (II.2 pp. 153&ndash;4) = ''[[Brill's New Jacoby|BNJ]]'' [https://scholarlyeditions.brill.com/reader/urn:cts:greekLit:fgrh.0457.bnjo-3-tr1-eng:f4a 457 F4a] = [[Damascius]], ''De Principiis'' 124]. According to Fowler, Tartarus produces the two Titans either by a mother who "would have to be Night", or without a mother. The identity of the two Titans is also unclear: Fowler suggests Cronus and Rhea, and Oceanus and Tethys as possibilities.</ref> Damascius also writes that the logographer and mythographer [[Acusilaus]] (6th century BC) believed that Chaos precedes Erebus and Night, and that this pair then produce Aether, [[Eros]], and [[Metis (mythology)|Metis]];<ref>Fowler 2013, [https://books.google.com/books?id=scd8AQAAQBAJ&pg=PA5 pp. 5&ndash;6]; Cook, [https://archive.org/details/zeusstudyinancie02pt1cook/page/314/mode/2up?view=theater p. 315 n. 4]; [[Acusilaus]], [https://books.google.com/books?id=j0nRE4C2WBgC&pg=PA6 fr. 6b Fowler, p. 6] [= [[Damascius]], ''De Principiis'' 124].</ref> a scholium on [[Theocritus]], in contrast, states that Acusilaus considered Night and Aether to be the parents of Eros.<ref>Fowler 2013, [https://books.google.com/books?id=scd8AQAAQBAJ&pg=PA6 p. 6]; West, p. 209 n. 106; [[Acusilaus]], [https://books.google.com/books?id=j0nRE4C2WBgC&pg=PA7 fr. 6c Fowler, pp. 6&ndash;7] [= Scholia on [[Theocritus]], ''Idylls'' [https://archive.org/details/scholiaintheocr00wendgoog/page/258/mode/2up?view=theater 13.1/2c (Wendel 1914, p. 258)]].</ref> In the cosmogony given by the comic playwright [[Antiphanes (comic poet)|Antiphanes]] (4th century BC), as recorded by the Christian writer [[Irenaeus]], Night is first deity to exist alongside Silence, and out of this initial pair comes Chaos. From Night and Chaos then springs Eros (Love), who in turn produces Light and the first generation of the gods.<ref>Santamaría, pp. 377&ndash;8; [[Antiphanes (comic poet)|Antiphanes]], ''PCG'' 104 (Kassel and Austin, pp. 366&ndash;7) [= [[Irenaeus]], ''[[Against Heresies]]'' 2.14.1]. According to Santamaría pp. 378&ndash;9, Silence may have been an invention on the part of Antiphanes, though he also suggests that the figure may not have been present in Antiphanes' original account, and that the first god alongside Night was instead Tartarus or Erebus, with Irenaeus later inserting the figure of Silence in their place in his retelling.</ref> Philodemus, writing in his ''De pietate'', also records that Night is described as the "first goddess" in the first book of [[Chrysippus]]' ''Physics'',<ref>Meisner, [https://books.google.com/books?id=wgJfDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA95 pp. 95&ndash;6]; Betegh, p. 154; [[Chrysippus]], ''SVF'' [https://archive.org/details/stoicorumveterum02arniuoft/page/192/mode/2up?view=theater 636 (Arnim, p. 192)] [= [[Philodemus]], ''De pietate'' 14]. According to Meisner, while this fragment has been considered Orphic, "there is no compelling reason" to believe Chrysippus's source was an Orphic theogony. Bremmer 2008, [https://books.google.com/books?id=YTfxZH4QnqgC&pg=PA5 p. 5 n. 23] states that the genealogy later given by [[Cicero]] (see above) "probably refers to this text".</ref> and mentions another cosmogony (the origin of which he does not specify), in which Night and Tartarus are the first pair, from whom "all things are born".<ref>[[Philodemus]], ''De pietate'' 47 (Obbink, [https://books.google.com/books?id=D4tDMNaqKfIC&pg=PA351 p. 351]).</ref>

[[File:Terracotta lekythos (oil flask) MET DP225322 (cropped).jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|Detail of an [[Attica|Attic]] white-ground [[lekythos]], c. 500 BC, showing Nyx in her horse-pulled chariot]]
Authors following Hesiod similarly describe Nyx as living at the ends of the Earth. The choral lyric poet [[Alcman]] (7th century BC), as recorded by a scholium on [[Sophocles]], considered Nyx to live in the far north, describing the [[Riphean Mountains]] as being "breast of black night".<ref>''Brill's New Pauly'', [https://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/brill-s-new-pauly/entries/brill-s-new-pauly/nyx-e827340 s.v. Nyx]; Karusu, [https://archive.org/details/limc_20210516/Lexicon%20Iconographicum%20Mythologiae%20Classicae/LIMC%20II-1/page/n463/mode/2up p. 905]; Keightley, [https://books.google.com/books?id=JxQHAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA45 p. 45]; [[Alcman]], [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/alcman-fragments/1988/pb_LCL143.457.xml fr. 90 Campbell, pp. 456, 457] [= ''[[Poetae Melici Graeci|PMG]]'' 90 (Page, p. 60) = Scholia on [[Sophocles]]' ''[[Oedipus at Colonus]]'', 1248 (Xenis, pp. 195&ndash;6)]. The scholiast mistakenly claims that the mountains are located in the far west; see Bolton, p. 187 n. 4 to p. 41.</ref> In the ''[[Geryoneis]]'' of [[Stesichorus]] (6th century BC), Nyx appears to live beyond Oceanus in the far west, as Stesichorus writes that after [[Helios]] crosses the river at the end of the day, he "reach[es] the depths of holy, dark night".<ref>Keightley, pp. [https://books.google.com/books?id=JxQHAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA45 45], [https://books.google.com/books?id=JxQHAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA48 48], [https://books.google.com/books?id=JxQHAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA49 49]; [[Stesichorus]], [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/stesichorus_i-fragments/1991/pb_LCL476.79.xml fr. 17 Campbell, pp. 78, 79] [= ''[[Poetae Melici Graeci|PMG]]'' 185 (Page, pp. 100&ndash;1) = [[Athenaeus]], ''[[Deipnosophists]]'' [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/atheneus_grammarian-learned_banqueters/2007/pb_LCL274.277.xml 11.469e (pp. 276&ndash;9)]].</ref> The Pre-Socratic philosopher [[Parmenides]] (6th or 5th centuries BC), in the proem to his philosophical treatise, appropriates Hesiod's description of the alternation of Nyx and Hemera, referring to "the gates of the ways of Night and Day",<ref>Miller, p. 220; [[Parmenides]], fr. 1.11 Kirk, Raven and Schofield, pp. 242&ndash;3. The translation used here is that given by Miller.</ref> and, according to [[Walter Burkert]], he considered the [[Heliades]] to live in the house of Night.<ref>Burkert, pp. 93, 95&ndash;6, 100; see [[Parmenides]], fr. 1.9 Kirk, Raven and Schofield, pp. 242&ndash;3: "the daughters of the Sun made haste to escort me, having left the halls of Night". Burkert points to [[Stesichorus]], [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/stesichorus_i-fragments/1991/pb_LCL476.79.xml fr. 17 Campbell, pp. 78, 79] (see above), which states that once [[Helios]] reaches the "depths of holy, dark night", he will see "his mother and wedded wife and dear children", as attestation of this elsewhere.</ref> In tragedy, the ''[[Orestes]]'' of [[Euripides]] (5th century BC) states that Nyx has her abode in Erebus,<ref>''Brill's New Pauly'', [https://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/brill-s-new-pauly/entries/brill-s-new-pauly/nyx-e827340 s.v. Nyx]; [[Euripides]], ''[[Orestes]]'' [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/euripides-orestes/2002/pb_LCL011.431.xml 176 (pp. 430, 431)].</ref> while a fragment of Sophocles mentions the "springs of Night", which are located in the north.<ref>Keightley, [https://books.google.com/books?id=JxQHAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA45 p. 45].</ref> Later, [[Apollonius of Rhodes]] (3rd century BC) writes in his ''[[Argonautica]]'' that the [[Eridanos (river of Hades)|Eridanus river]] "ris[es] from the end of the earth, where the gates and precincts of Night are located",<ref>[[Apollonius of Rhodes]], ''[[Argonautica]]'' [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/apollonius_rhodes-argonautica/2009/pb_LCL001.379.xml 4.629&ndash;30 (pp. 378, 379)].</ref> locating her home in the far west.<ref>Race, [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/apollonius_rhodes-argonautica/2009/pb_LCL001.379.xml p. 379 n. 84]; see also Keightley, [https://books.google.com/books?id=JxQHAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA45 p. 45].</ref>

Among descriptions of Nyx in 5th century BC tragedy, [[Euripides]], in his play ''[[Ion (play)|Ion]]'', represents her as being "robed in black", and her chariot as being pulled by two horses.<ref>[[Euripides]], ''[[Ion (play)|Ion]]'' [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/euripides-ion/1999/pb_LCL010.457.xml 1150&ndash;1 (pp. 456, 457)].</ref> He reports that she prepares her chariot as [[Helios]] finishes his journey across the sky at the end of the day, and that the stars are her companions in her course through the sky.<ref>Smith, [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=nyx-bio-1 s.v. Nyx]; [[Euripides]], ''[[Ion (play)|Ion]]'' [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/euripides-ion/1999/pb_LCL010.457.xml 1149&ndash;51 (pp. 456, 457)].</ref> In a fragment from his ''[[Andromeda (Euripides)|Andromeda]]'', he refers to her driving her chariot through Olympus,<ref>Keightley, [https://books.google.com/books?id=JxQHAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA45 p. 45]; [[Euripides]], ''[[Andromeda (Euripides)|Andromeda]]'' [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/euripides-dramatic_fragments/2008/pb_LCL504.133.xml fr. 114 Collard and Cropp, pp. 132, 133]; see also [[Aristophanes]], ''[[Thesmophoriazusae]]'' [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0019.tlg008.perseus-eng1:1056-1097 1065&ndash;9].</ref> and in his ''[[Orestes]]'', he describes her as having wings,<ref>Karusu, [https://archive.org/details/limc_20210516/Lexicon%20Iconographicum%20Mythologiae%20Classicae/LIMC%20II-1/page/n463/mode/2up p. 905]; Smith, [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=nyx-bio-1 s.v. Nyx]; [[Euripides]], ''Orestes'' [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/euripides-orestes/2002/pb_LCL011.431.xml 176 (pp. 430, 431)]; see also Anonymous [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/greek_lyric_anonymous_fragments/1993/pb_LCL144.325.xml fr. 929g Campbell, pp. 324, 325].</ref> while according to [[Aeschylus]] she wears a black robe which is "studded with colourful stars".<ref>''Brill's New Pauly'', [https://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/brill-s-new-pauly/entries/brill-s-new-pauly/nyx-e827340 s.v. Nyx].</ref> Following the 5th century BC, Apollonius of Rhodes describes her as "putting the yoke on her horses" as the sun is setting,<ref>Keightley, [https://books.google.com/books?id=JxQHAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA45 p. 45]; [[Apollonius of Rhodes]], ''[[Argonautica]]'' [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/apollonius_rhodes-argonautica/2009/pb_LCL001.311.xml 3.1193 (pp. 310, 311)].</ref> and [[Theocritus]] (3rd century BC) mentions the stars as the "attendants at the chariot of quiet Night".<ref>Keightley, [https://books.google.com/books?id=JxQHAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA45 p. 45]; [[Theocritus]], ''Idylls'' [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/theocritus-poems_i-xxx/2015/pb_LCL028.57.xml 2.166 (pp. 56, 57)].</ref>