In Ovid's Metamorphoses, Phobetor (Ancient Greek: Φοβήτωρ;[1] 'Frightener' from Ancient Greek: φόβος, phobos, 'fear' 'panic'),[2] so called by men, or Icelos (Ancient Greek: Ἴκελος; 'Like'),[3] so called by the gods, is one of the thousand sons of Somnus (Sleep). He appeared in dreams "in the form of beast or bird or the long serpent".[4]

According to Ovid, two of his brothers were Morpheus, who appeared in dreams in human form, and Phantasos ('Fantasy'), who appears in dreams in the form of inanimate objects.[5] The three brothers‘ names are found nowhere earlier than Ovid, and are perhaps Ovidian inventions.[6] Tripp calls these three figures "literary, not mythical concepts".[7] However, Griffin suggests that this division of dream forms between Phobetor and his brothers, possibly including their names, may have been of Hellenistic origin.[8]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Harry Thurston Peck, Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities (1898), Phobetor
  2. ^ φόβος. Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; A Greek–English Lexicon at the Perseus Project.
  3. ^ Charlton T. Lewis, Charles Short, A Latin Dictionary, Icelos
  4. ^ Griffin, p. 249; Tripp, s.v. Somnus, p. 534; Ovid, Metamorphoses 11.638–641.
  5. ^ Griffin, p. 249; Ovid, Metamorphoses 11.635–643.
  6. ^ Griffin, p. 249.
  7. ^ Tripp, s.v. Somnus, p. 534.
  8. ^ Griffin, pp. 179, 249.

References

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