Q 01/05

Which personification of death was the twin brother of Hypnos and shared his home in the underworld?

A) Charon

B) Thanatos

C) Kronos

D) Tartarus

Answer · why

B) Thanatos

Thanatos lived next door to Hypnos in a place the sun's rays never reached. Ancient artists rarely showed him without his twin at his side.

Q 02/05

Which sleep-inducing flowers were said to grow at the mouth of the cave where Hypnos lived?

A) Lavender

B) Chamomile

C) Poppies

D) Valerian

Answer · why

C) Poppies

Poppies, the source of opium, bloomed at the entrance among other drowsy herbs. Their juices were said to be sprinkled over the darkening earth to bri...

Q 03/05

Which son of Hypnos in Roman poetry takes human form in dreams and later lent his name to a painkiller?

A) Morpheus

B) Phantasos

C) Momus

D) Orpheus

Answer · why

A) Morpheus

Morpheus could copy the walk, face and voice of any person, and his name was borrowed for morphine. His brothers played the animals and the scenery in...

Q 04/05

In which ancient epic does Hypnos lull Zeus to sleep so that the Greeks can gain ground at Troy?

A) The Odyssey

B) The Theogony

C) The Argonautica

D) The Iliad

Answer · why

D) The Iliad

The Iliad gives Hypnos his biggest scene, in a passage ancient editors titled the Deception of Zeus. With the king of the gods asleep, the Greeks rega...

Q 05/05

Which horror writer's short story Hypnos follows a sculptor who takes drugs to avoid falling asleep?

A) Edgar Allan Poe

B) H. P. Lovecraft

C) Bram Stoker

D) Arthur Machen

Answer · why

B) H. P. Lovecraft

H. P. Lovecraft wrote the tale in 1922 and dedicated it to his friend Samuel Loveman. Its narrator explores worlds beyond human understanding in dream...