Personification of Sleep, son of Night (Nyx) and Death (Thanatos). Like Death, he may be shown as a winged boy or adult, from the 6th century on, and in the classical period with wings in his hair. He is seen with Death carrying the bodies of heroes from the battlefield (Sarpedon), or crouching over sleeping figures (Ariadne, Alkyoneus).
Above left: Detail from an Athenian red-figure clay vase, about 510 BC. New York, Metropolitan Museum 1972.11.10 © New York, Metropolitan Museum
Above right: Grave relief. Izmir Musee Archeologique 20. Photo. LIMC/CNRS © Musee Archeologique, Izmir.
