Oneiroi

Dream Gods, Dream Hunters, Divine Spirits of Dream, Guards of Hypnos, Hypnos' Thousand Spawns

## Details

### Affiliations

House of Hades
Mansion of Night
Greco-Roman Underworld
Realm of the Dead
Chthonic Deities
Greco-Roman Deities
Greco-Roman Pantheon

### Aide(s)

**Eldest Oneiroi**
* Morpheus
* Phobetor
* Phantasos

## Origins

### Summary

Divine spirits who deliver messages from the gods to mortals as dreams.

### Origins

Greco-Roman Mythology

**Oneiroi** (sing. **Oneiros**) are divine spirits of dream from Greco-Roman mythology. They are children of Hypnos and their main task mainly consisting of delivering messages from the gods to mortals in the form of dreams.

## Overview

In Greek mythology, dreams were sometimes personified as **Oneiros** or **Oneiroi**. In the *Iliad* of Homer, Zeus sends an Oneiros to appear to Agamemnon in a dream, while in Hesiod's *Theogony*, the Oneiroi are the sons of Nyx (Night), and brothers of Hypnos (Sleep).

Oneiros was also, according to some myths, the name of one of the sons of Achilles with Deidamia.

## Summary

The Oneiroi are the children, descendants, and servants of Hypnos, God of Sleep. However, the original dream god is **Oneiros**, Hypnos' younger brother and another son of Nyx. However, after Oneiros was killed for betraying the Olympians for the Titans, his divine domains over dream were given to Hypnos.

The original thousand Oneiroi were the direct results of Hypnos' flings with numerous shades and chthonic gods as his own coping mechanism for his PTSD. Soon after their birth, they are employed by Hades and other Olympians to be their servants, in-charge with sending messages from the gods to mortals in the form of dreams and visions.

## Classifications

Despite their nature, there are Oneiroi who prefer to stay out of dreams, except to police their own brethren. As such, Hypnos devised prefixes to be attached to their names so that everyone would know their role, with some of the known roles are:

* M' are the enforcers. They work like a police force and are the leaders.
* V' are the ones who help humans who are having trouble sleeping or who have nightmares.
* D' are the ones who help the gods and divine beings. Many of them are employed to watch over the dreams of demigods, easing trauma and nightmares, and protecting their spirit while they are astral projecting in their dream.

## Members

### Other Oneiroi

There are thousands of Oneiroi, the children and descendants of Hypnos through the original thousand Oneiroi born to him. Some of the named Oneiroi are: V'Arik, D'Alerian, Delphine, Kytara, Leta, Lydia Tsakali, M'Ordant, Madoc, Solin, V'Aidan, and Xypher. Several gods such as Pasithea, Aergia, Epidotes, etc... are also considered Oneiroi, albeit honorary ones.

## Trivia

* Their name "Oneiros" means "dream" in Ancient Greek.
* They are said to be jealous creatures, always trying to outdo each other.
* Magic practitioners make deals with them to practice oneiromancy.
* In Greek mythology, they are described as "black-winged spirits".
* According to "Achilles in Scyros", one of Achilles' sons with Deidamia is said to name Oneiros.
* According to Clovis, Oneiroid syndrome is caused by an Oneiros suddenly exiting a dream due to outside reasons.