| Morpheus | |
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Real Name |
Morpheus |
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First Appearance |
Greek Myth |
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Created by |
Greek Myth |
Origin[]
Morpheus is a god associated with sleep and dreams. In Ovid's Metamorphoses he is the son of Somnus and appears in dreams in human form. From the Middle Ages, the name began to stand more generally for the god of dreams, or of sleep.
The only ancient mention of Morpheus occurs in Ovid's Metamorphoses, where Ovid tells of the story of Ceyx and his wife Alcyone who were transformed into birds. In Ovid's account, Juno, (via the messenger goddess Iris) sends Morpheus to appear to Alcyone in a dream, as her husband Ceyx, to tell her of his death.
Ovid makes Morpheus one of the thousand sons of Somnus (Sleep). His name derives from the Greek word for form (μορφή), and his function was apparently to appear in dreams in human guise. According to Ovid "no other is more skilled than he in representing the gait, the features, and the speech of men; the clothing also and the accustomed words of each he represents." As with other gods associated with sleep, Ovid presents Morpheus as winged.
Ovid called Morpheus and his brothers, the other sons of Somnus, the Somnia ("dream shapes"), saying that they appear in dreams "mimicking many forms". Ovid gives names to two more of these sons of Sleep. One called Icelos ('Like'), by the gods, but Phobetor ('Frightener') by men, "takes the form of beast or bird or the long serpent", and Phantasos ('Fantasy'), who "puts on deceptive shapes of earth, rocks, water, trees, all lifeless things".
The three brothers' names are found nowhere earlier than Ovid, and are perhaps Ovidian inventions. Tripp calls these three figures "literary, not mythical concepts". However, Griffin suggests that this division of dream forms between Morpheus and his brothers, possibly including their names, may have been of Hellenistic origin.
Public Domain Appearances[]
All published appearances of Morpheus from or before December 31, 1928 are public domain in the US.
Some notable appearances are listed below:
Public Domain Literary Appearances[]
- Metamorphoses
Public Doman Comic Appearances[]
- Red Seal Comics #14
- Yankee Comics #1
- Punch Comics #9, 11
- Danger #12
- Psycho #3: Burnick who's known as the Love Witch, uses her powers to burn and destroy people. She finally meets her match in the form of Morpheus, the god of sleep and dreams.
Public Domain Comic Strip Appearances[]
- Little Nemo (1905-1927)
Public Domain Comics Inspired by Morpheus[]
- America's Greatest Comics #8: Kurt Morpheus was a Nazi who was constantly belittled by his peers for being a dreamer, which gave him the idea to search for the substance that will make dreams. Upon success, he set to give important officials nightmares and steal their secrets. His plans were foiled by Captain Marvel Jr. and he was incarcerated.
- Triple Threat Comics #1: Morpheus Slumber was a ghost trapped in an unmarked grave. Through sheer force of will, he was able to escape the cemetery to torture the living to death with unspeakable nightmares. After being defeated by the Duke of Darkness, Mr. Slumber was forced back into the grave.
Notes[]
- Morpheus is one of the names used by Dream of the Endless who first appeared in the first issue of The Sandman, written by Neil Gaiman and published by DC Comics.
- The Little Nemo comic strip features a character named King Morpheus who is the king of Slumberland who had chosen Nemo to be the Princess of Slumberland's playmate.