NYX ~ THE GREEK GODDESS OF NIGHT

Apart from the famous Divine Residents of Mount Olympus, the Hellenic Pantheon has many other deities. Nyx, the Goddess of Night, is one of the Primordial Goddesses that preceded the Olympians. Though rarely receiving standard worship, Nyx is feared and respected by both Gods and mortals as one of the most significant forces of Creation.

Hesiod tells us that Her Father is Chaos, the first of all Gods. 

The Orphics tell us that She is the daughter and successor of Phanes, a creator God. A First-Born Goddess, She is a powerful Oracle and we see Her using this power to advise Her descentants; Uranus, her son by Phanes; Cronus, youngest son of Uranus; and Zeus, son of Cronus and Father of the Olympian Gods. 

Nyx is the consort of Erebus, with whom She has had numerous children, some of which play a crucial role in the lives of Gods and humans.She is the mother of  the twin brothers Thanatos (Death) and Hypnos (Sleep) , Eris (Strife), Geras (Old Age), Moros (Doom), Nemesis (Retribution), and also groups of deities, the Moirai (Fates), the Keres (the Hounds of Hades), and the Oneiroi (the Gods of dreams). It is interesting to note that Nyx has also given birth to Aether and Hemera, deities which represent the light and the daytime. 

She lives in Tartarus, one of the darkest and most dreaded places of the Greek Religion. As the sun sets, Nyx emerges from the depths of the Underworld along with Her companion, Erebus, and They both spread darkness all over the world. The next morning Hemera comes to bring the daylight back to humans and Nyx returns to Her home.

Aristotle, in Metaphysics, Book XII, asserted that some “theologians” derive all things from night. This idea fits the theogony of Aristophanes’ Birds. The Orphic Hymn to Goddess Nyx can be found below, in both Ancient Greek and English .

ORPHIC HYMN TO NYX 

Νύκτα θεῶν γενέτειραν ἀείσομαι ἠδὲ καὶ ἀνδρῶν.

[Νὺξ γένεσις πάντων, ἣν καὶ Κύπριν καλέσωμεν]

κλῦθι, μάκαιρα θεά, κυαναυγής, ἀστεροφεγγής,

ἡσυχίηι χαίρουσα καὶ ἠρεμίηι πολυύπνωι,

εὐφροσύνη, τερπνή, φιλοπάννυχε, μῆτερ ὀνείρων,

ληθομέριμν' ἀγαθή τε πόνων ἀνάπαυσιν ἔχουσα,

ὑπνοδότειρα, φίλη πάντων, ἐλάσιππε, νυχαυγής,

ἡμιτελής, χθονία ἠδ' οὐρανία πάλιν αὐτή,

ἐγκυκλία, παίκτειρα διώγμασιν ἠεροφοίτοις,

ἣ φάος ἐκπέμπεις ὑπὸ νέρτερα καὶ πάλι φεύγεις

εἰς Ἀίδην∙ δεινὴ γὰρ ἀνάγκη πάντα κρατύνει.

νῦν σε, μάκαιρα, καλῶ, πολυόλβιε, πᾶσι ποθεινή,

εὐάντητε, κλύουσα ἱκετηρίδα φωνὴν

ἔλθοις εὐμενέουσα, φόβους δ' ἀπόπεμπε νυχαυγεῖς.

ENGLISH TRANSLATION

 Nyx, parent Goddess, source of sweet repose, from whom at first both Gods and men arose,

Hear, blessed Kypris, decked with starry light, in sleep’s deep silence dwelling in ebon night!

Dreams and soft case attend Your dusky train, pleased with the lengthened gloom and fearful strain.

Dissolving anxious care, the friend of Mirth, with darkling coursers riding round the earth.

Goddess of phantoms and of shadowy play, whose drowsy power divides the natural day:

By Fate’s decree You constantly send the light to deepest hell, remote from mortal sight

For dire Necessity which nothing withstands, invests the world with adamantine bands.

Be present, Goddess, to your suppliant’s prayer, desir’d by all, whom all alike revere,

Blessed, benevolent, with friendly aid dispel the fears of Twilight’s dreadful shade.

EDITED FROM : https://greekgodsandgoddesses.net/

https://www.greeklegendsandmyths.com/

https://www.britannica.com/

https://www.theoi.com/Library.html