Hypnos (Cthulhu Mythos) Incorrect Information

[Hat_mchat]

According to Hypnos's page, Hypnos is the friend of the narrator of the story 'Hypnos', however upon re-reading the text there is no evidence that the friend is hypnos:

"But always i shall guard against the mocking and insatiate hypnos, lord of sleep, against the night sky, and against the mad ambitions of knowledge and philosophy" -Hypnos

Notice how hypnos is the antagonist.

The Cthulhu Mythos Encyclopedia Third Edition refers to hypnos as the being that shines forth the red and gold beam upon the friend of the narrator and whom dwells in the corona borealis constellation.

This doesn't change any of Hypnos's abilities or tier, but the summary of Hypnos referring to him as the narrator's friend i believe is incorrect. This also implies Hypnos was not maddened by the sight of the outer gods, rather the friend was maddened by the sight of hypnos.

 

[Hat_mchat]

Bump

 

[Antvasima]

You can ask Azathoth to reply here if you wish.

 

[Matthew_Schroeder]

I think it's pretty evident that the friend of the narrator is Hypnos.

 

[Azathoth_the_Abyssal_Idiot]

"But always I shall guard against the mocking and insatiate Hypnos, lord of sleep"

This is basically the narrator saying "I never want to sleep, again", the same way the other parts of the sentence are saying he never wishes to look back at the night sky nor search too deeply for knowledge of the unknown.

"The Cthulhu Mythos Encyclopedia Third Edition refers to hypnos as the being that shines forth the red and gold beam upon the friend of the narrator and whom dwells in the corona borealis constellation."

I actually don't have any idea where this came from. The entities that kill the narrator's friend are very clearly the Outer Gods, based on context clues in a multitude of other Lovecraft stories. Also, wasn't the Cthulhu Mythos Encyclopedia published in like 2008?

 

[Azathoth_the_Abyssal_Idiot]

I think it's pretty evident that the friend of the narrator is Hypnos.

Do you mean based on the fact he's stated as having an ageless face, Olympian brow, godly features, ruling dreams, and his corpse having his name on it in Ancient Greek?

Yeah, probably.

 

[Antvasima]

Okay. So should we close this thread then?

 

[Azathoth_the_Abyssal_Idiot]

@Ant

I mean, we could always wait for Hat to respond to ensure all his questions are answered.

 

[Antvasima]

Okay.

 

[Hat_mchat]

Calling hypnos "mocking" and "insatiate"? Seems quite rude to his friend whom he treasures. You say it's the narrator saying he never wants to sleep again, i agree, i believe it's because he fears the mocking and insatiate hypnos. Just because he has a good looking friend doesn't automatically make him hypnos. All the friend does is take exotic drugs and do what the narrator does except better because he is more experienced. Notice how neither are affected by time on their excursions. Seems quite mocking to leave hypnos's name on the statue. Also, i don't see how publication date causes invalidation for a thrice revised book. Just because there is a distant whine thst 'mocks' the narrator doesn't automatically mean it must be the outer gods. Lovecraft has used that device in works before hypnos without ever referring to the cause. After going through all the realms of dream they meet the lord of sleep. The outer gods live in the corona borealis? I think not. Hypnos lives in the corona borealis? Probably.

I just see a lack of evidence comparing the friend to hypnos. If anything I'm confused how you came to the friend is hypnos.

You can close this thread after the reply whether it agrees or disagrees.

 

[Hat_mchat]

Bump

 

[Azathoth_the_Abyssal_Idiot]

Mainly because said book was published long after Lovecraft's death, which was my point.

His friend is quite clearly meant to be modelled after the Greek god Hypnos.

After his death, the narrator speculates he may have been a god.

"fool or god that he was—my only friend, who led me and went before me, and who in the end passed into terrors which may yet be mine."

He is described repeatedly with traits one would find in marble sculptures of the gods.

"His brow was white as the marble of Pentelicus, and of a height and breadth almost godlike."

"I could comprehend his presence despite the absence of form by a species of pictorial memory whereby his face appeared to me, golden from a strange light and frightful with its weird beauty, its anomalously youthful cheeks, its burning eyes, its Olympian brow, and its shadowing hair and growth of beard."

He ages unnaturally fast when he does not sleep.

"After each short and inevitable sleep I seemed older, whilst my friend aged with a rapidity almost shocking. It is hideous to see wrinkles form and hair whiten almost before one's eyes."

He regains his youth instantly when he finally sleeps, again.

"a shaft which bore with it no glow to disperse the darkness, but which streamed only upon the recumbent head of the troubled sleeper, bringing out in hideous duplication the luminous and strangely youthful memory-face as I had known it in dreams of abysmal space and unshackled time, when my friend had pushed behind the barrier to those secret, innermost, and forbidden caverns of nightmare."

The reason the narrator always simply calls him "my friend" is because he has no idea of the man's true identity or origin.

"Our mode of life was now totally altered. Heretofore a recluse so far as I know—his true name and origin never having passed his lips—my friend now became frantic in his fear of solitude."

Finally, there's the fact that the name "Hypnos" is on the corpse-sculpture, and the narrator uses this to disspel the idea it is based on himself. Ancient Greek sculptures would rarely, if ever, have the sculptor's name on it. "Hypnos" is presented as the label for the piece, not its creator.

"a godlike head of such marble as only old Hellas could yield, young with the youth that is outside time, and with beauteous bearded face, curved, smiling lips, Olympian brow, and dense locks waving and poppy-crowned. They say that that haunting memory-face is modelled from my own, as it was at twenty-five, but upon the marble base is carven a single name in the letters of Attica—'╬Ñ╬á╬Ø╬ƒ╬ú."

 

[Hat_mchat]

I still disagree but i can see it won't change anything, you can close the thread now if you wish.

 

[Antvasima]

I will close this thread then.