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Greek Mythology Notes

Pasithea

🏔 titanΠασιθέα
relaxation, hallucination, the fourth grace

One of the Charites, the Grace of rest and relaxation, given in marriage to the god Hypnos.‌​‍​‍​‍​‌​‍​‍​‍​‌​‍​‌​‍​‌​‍​‍​‌​‍​‍​‌​‌​‍​‌​‍​‌​‌​‌​‍​‍​‌​‍​‌​‌

The Myth of Pasithea

Pasithea was one of the younger Charites (Graces), sometimes called the fourth Grace alongside Aglaea, Euphrosyne, and Thalia.‌​‍​‍​‍​‌​‍​‍​‍​‌​‍​‌​‍​‌​‍​‍​‌​‍​‍​‌​‌​‍​‌​‍​‌​‌​‌​‍​‍​‌​‍​‌​‌ Her name means "all-divine" or possibly "universal sight." In the Iliad, Hera bribes Hypnos (Sleep) to put Zeus to sleep by promising him Pasithea as his bride — something Hypnos had long desired. This arrangement suggests Pasithea presided over restful relaxation, the peaceful ease that sleep brings. In some Neoplatonist texts she is associated with hallucination and altered states of perception, connecting the relaxation of ordinary consciousness with the visions that appear in that threshold state between waking and sleep.

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Fun Fact

Pasithea's role as the bride of Hypnos makes her the only Grace with a defined divine marriage in the ancient texts — her union with Sleep personified the connection between grace and restful beauty.

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🏔 titan

Titan of heavenly light, observation

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Hyperion

🏔 titan

Titan who fathered the celestial lights

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🏔 titan

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Koios

🏔 titan

Titan of the axis of heaven and rational inquiry

The Titan associated with the celestial pole and intellectual inquiry, father of Leto and grandfather of Apollo.

Themis

🏔 titan

Titaness of divine law and prophecy

The Titaness of divine law, custom, and natural order who served as Zeus's first counsellor and held Delphi before Apollo.

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Hesperos

🏔 titan

evening star, twilight

The personification of the Evening Star (Venus at dusk), whose appearance signalled the transition from day to night.

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Phoebe

🏔 titan

Titaness of prophetic radiance

The Titaness of bright intellect and prophetic radiance who held the Oracle of Delphi before passing it to Apollo.

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Dione

🏔 titan

Titaness and mother of Aphrodite

An ancient Titaness worshipped at Dodona as the consort of Zeus and, in Homer's tradition, the mother of Aphrodite.

Selene

🏔 titan

Titan goddess of the moon

The Titan goddess who drove the silver chariot of the moon across the night sky, daughter of Hyperion and Theia.

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Rhea

🏔 titan

Titaness of fertility, motherhood, the mountain wilds

Mother of the Olympian gods and wife of Kronos. Rhea saved the infant Zeus from being devoured by his father, enabling the rise of the Olympians.

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Nox

🏔 titan

night (Roman equivalent)

The Roman equivalent of Nyx, primordial goddess of night, mother of darkness and light alike.

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Eidyia

🏔 titan

knowledge, the knowing one

The youngest of the Oceanids, whose name means "the knowing one," wife of Aeetes and mother of Medea.