Morpheus: The Greek God of Dreams and Nightmares

The last line of “The Guest,” one of the nine short stories in The Deadliest Deceptions, reads: “Closing his heavily lidded eyes, he slid under his coverlet, curled onto one side, and drifted into the arms of Morpheus.”
Morpheus was the god of dreams and nightmares, whose function was to appear in dreams as a human. 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.”
The name Morpheus translates as “transformation”. In English, “to morph,” means to change in form. In fact, Morpheus could transform himself so well that he could deceive dreamers into thinking they are experiencing reality.
The ancient Greeks viewed dreams as a gateway to the unknown world that, at the same time, reflected reality. Dreams were often seen as prophecies, apparitions of events happening in real-time, or else messages from loved ones in the afterlife. The gods often chose Morpheus as their messenger to appear in the dreams of mortals. However, such dreams could also portray false realities and so betray the receiver into untoward action.
So, beware of your dreams. One way to avoid dreaming is to stay up all night reading a thrilling book. The Miriam bat Isaac books have won several awards. To pick one and at the same time check on the release date for The Deadliest Deceptions, click here.
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