Editing Oneiros (section)

==Sources==
For the ancient Greeks, dreams were not generally personified.<ref>Grimal, s.v. Oneiros, p. 328</ref> However, a few instances of the personification of dreams, some perhaps solely poetic, can be found in ancient Greek sources.

In [[Homer]]'s ''[[Iliad]]'', [[Zeus]] decides to send a "baleful dream" to [[Agamemnon]], the commander of the Greek army during the [[Trojan War]]. An Oneiros is summoned by Zeus, and ordered to go to the camp of the Greeks at Troy and deliver a message from Zeus urging him to battle. The Oneiros goes quickly to Agamemnon's tent, and finding him asleep, stands above Agamemnon's head; taking the shape of [[Nestor (mythology)|Nestor]], a trusted counselor to Agamemnon, the Oneiros speaks to Agamemnon, as Zeus had instructed him.<ref>[[Homer]], ''[[Iliad]]'' [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0012.tlg001.perseus-eng1:2.1-2.34 2.4–22]</ref>

The ''[[Odyssey]]'' locates a "[[Land of dreams (mythology)|land of dreams]]" past the streams of [[Oceanus]], close to [[Asphodel Meadows]], where the spirits of the dead reside.<ref>Homer, ''[[Odyssey]]'' [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0012.tlg002.perseus-eng1:24.1-24.34 24.11–14]</ref> In another passage of the ''Odyssey'', truthful dreams are said to come through a gate made of horn, while  deceitful dreams come  through a gate made of ivory (see [[Gates of horn and ivory]]).<ref>Homer, ''Odyssey'' [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0012.tlg002.perseus-eng1:19.544-19.575 19.559–567]</ref>

[[Hesiod]] in his genealogical poem the ''[[Theogony]]'', makes the "tribe of Dreams" (''φῦλον Ὀνείρων''), among the many offspring of [[Nyx]] (Night), without a father. Their siblings include: [[Moros]] (Doom), [[Keres (mythology)|Ker]] (Destiny), [[Thanatos]] (Death), [[Hypnos]] (Sleep), [[Momus]] (Blame), [[Oizys]] (Pain), [[Keres (mythology)|Keres]] (Destinies), [[Nemesis (mythology)|Nemesis]] (Retribution), [[Eris (mythology)|Eris]] (Discord), and other abstract personifications.<ref>[[Hesiod]], ''[[Theogony]]'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hes.+Th.+211 211–225]. The translations of the names used are those given by Caldwell, p. 6, table 5. Compare with [[Gaius Julius Hyginus|Hyginus]], ''[[Fabulae]]'' ''Theogony'' 1, which makes Dreams the offspring of Night and Darkness.</ref>

[[Euripides]], in his play [[Hecuba (play)|''Hecuba'']] has Hecuba call "lady Earth" the "mother of black-winged dreams".<ref>[[Euripides]], [[Hecuba (play)|''Hecuba'']] [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/euripides-hecuba/1995/pb_LCL484.407.xml 70–72]</ref> The second-century AD geographer [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]] mentions seeing statues of an Oneiros and Hypnos lulling a lion to sleep. He writes that the statue was surnamed [[Epidotes]].<ref>[[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]], [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0525.tlg001.perseus-eng1:2.10.2 2.10.2]</ref>