There are gods and there are mortals, but there is only one lord of the Dreams. Morpheus is the one in charge of our sleep and our dreams, he is the one that can take on any shape in order to make our dreams appear before us. 有神，也有凡人，但梦境之主只有一个。墨菲斯是掌管我们睡眠和梦境的人，他是可以采取任何形状的人，以使我们的梦出现在我们面前。
He is the God that shaped and formed our hopes and dreams, and he is the one that speaks to you when the Gods wish to tell you anything. 他是塑造和形成我们的希望和梦想的上帝，当众神想告诉你任何事情时，他是对你说话的那一位。
But who exactly is this Morpheus, and is he a good God or is he a monster? If he is a good and caring God, why does he give us nightmares, and why do some dreams bring us so much hope if he is a bad God? That is what we’re here to find out. 但这个墨菲斯到底是谁，他是一个好神还是一个怪物？如果他是一个善良和有爱心的上帝，为什么他会给我们做噩梦，如果他是一个坏上帝，为什么有些梦会给我们带来如此多的希望？这就是我们来这里要发现的。
But before we can get into the reasonings behind his existence, let us dive a bit deeper into the origins of Morpheus, the Lord of Dreams himself: 但在我们了解他存在背后的原因之前，让我们更深入地了解梦之王墨菲斯本人的起源：
Morpheus – The Greek God of Dreams and Nightmares 墨菲斯——希腊的梦和噩梦之神
While most people know him as the God of Dreams, Morpheus is also known to be the bringer of hope and despair, of peace and terror, he is the one that brings you news from the gods and when he does visit you, you can be sure of the fact that something grand is in your future soon enough. 虽然大多数人都知道他是梦之神，但墨菲斯也被认为是希望和绝望、和平与恐怖的带来者，他是给你带来众神消息的人，当他真的拜访你时，你可以肯定，你的未来很快就会有大事发生。
As is common in Greek mythology, while they are Gods among men, they are all part of a grand family that each share their very own tasks and tribulations. 正如希腊神话中常见的一样，虽然他们是人中的神，但他们都是一个大家庭的一部分，每个人都有自己的任务和磨难。
Morpheus is the son of Hypnos, the God of Sleep, and Pasithea, the Goddess of Relaxation and Rest. Interestingly enough, he is also not the only dream out there, as he also has two brothers besides him. The three are known as the Oneiroi, or the Dreams, and they are the rulers of the slumberland. 墨菲斯是睡眠之神希普诺斯和放松和休息女神帕西西娅的儿子。 有趣的是，他也不是唯一的梦想，因为除了他之外，他还有两个兄弟。这三个人被称为 Oneiroi，或梦境，他们是沉睡之地的统治者。
Morpheus is the leader of the Oneiroi, and while Phobetor (or Ikelos in some translations) was known as the creator of nightmares, Phantasus was the creator of unreal or phantasmic dreams. 墨菲斯是奥尼罗伊的领袖，虽然 Phobetor（或某些翻译中的 Ikelos）被称为噩梦的创造者，但 Phantasus 是虚幻或幻觉梦境的创造者。
While Morpheus can also create nightmares and unreal dreams though, the reason as to why he is the leader of their happy little group is the fact that he can influence the dreams of Gods, heroes and kings all the same. 虽然墨菲斯也可以制造噩梦和不真实的梦境，但他之所以成为他们快乐小团体的领导者，是因为他同样可以影响众神、英雄和国王的梦想。
This is how we can attest for the fact that he is stronger than his brothers, and why he is most often sought after by the other gods to send messages to humans or other gods that are out of reach for them. 这就是我们如何证明他比他的兄弟们更强大的事实，以及为什么他最常受到其他神的追捧，向人类或其他他们无法触及的神灵发送信息。
The legend has it that every night, the Oneiroi show up from the palace of Hypnos, getting ready to pass through the gates that lead to every creature’s dreams. His brothers would always pass through the gate of ivory. 传说每天晚上，奥尼罗伊人都会从希普诺斯的宫殿中出现，准备穿过通往每个生物梦境的大门。他的兄弟们总是会穿过象牙之门。
This is the gate that leads to dreams without true meaning. If you’ve ever had a random dream that made no sense, or maybe you just don’t remember any of it to begin with, chances are you were having one such meaningless dream. 这是通向没有真正意义的梦想的大门。如果你曾经做过一个毫无意义的随机梦，或者你只是一开始就不记得了，那么你很可能做过一个这样毫无意义的梦。
Morpheus on the other hand takes a different path, he is the one that passes through the gate made of horn. This is the gate that leads him to every true or divine dream around, this is the gate that allows him to pass through the gods’ dreams and it is specifically made for him and no one else. 另一方面，墨菲斯走了一条不同的道路，他是穿过角门的人。这是引导他进入周围每一个真实或神圣梦想的大门，这是让他穿过众神梦境的大门，它是专门为他而不是其他人制作的。
But before he would get to pass through this gate, Morpheus would sleep in a cave full of poppy seeds. This is where he would shape mortal dreams one by one, until everyone had their fair share of made-up reality. 但在他穿过这扇门之前，墨菲斯会睡在一个装满罂粟种子的洞穴里。在这里，他会一个接一个地塑造凡人的梦想，直到每个人都有自己应得的虚构现实。
Many have speculated that this is the reason as to why the opium-based medicine for severe pain is known as morphine. On top of that, poppies have also been known to treat insomnia, which could be another reason as to why this myth was created in the first place. 许多人推测，这就是为什么以鸦片为基础的治疗剧烈疼痛的药物被称为吗啡的原因。最重要的是，罂粟花还可以治疗失眠，这可能是最初创造这个神话的另一个原因。
But Morpheus’ family stretches even further than that, with his grandmother being NYX, the Goddess of the Night, and Thanatos being his uncle aka the God of Death himself. 但墨菲斯的家庭远不止于此，他的祖母是夜之女神 NYX，而塔纳托斯是他的叔叔，也就是死神本人。
All of them currently reside in the Underworld, and while they may be visited by other Gods off of Olympus, they never leave their own realm unless they do so through people’s dreams. 他们目前都居住在冥界，虽然他们可能会被奥林匹斯山以外的其他神祇拜访，但他们永远不会离开自己的领域，除非他们通过人们的梦境这样做。
If anyone but the Gods of Olympus try to make their way to their realm, they would get attacked by two fearsome monsters that take on the shape of their deepest, darkest nightmares. 如果除了奥林匹斯众神之外的任何人试图进入他们的领域，他们就会受到两个可怕的怪物的攻击，这些怪物呈现出他们最深、最黑暗的噩梦的形状。
Interestingly enough, in the realm of Dreams you can also find the River of Forgetfulness and the River of Oblivion. This is why most of the time you won’t be able to remember your dreams and why you often times end up feeling groggy when you wake up. 有趣的是，在梦境中，您还可以找到遗忘之河和遗忘之河。这就是为什么大多数时候你无法记住你的梦，以及为什么你醒来时经常会感到昏昏沉沉。
Another fact about Morpheus that many people don’t realize is the fact that Morpheus may actually be one of the busiest deities around. While other Gods tend to waste their time doing whatever they wish to do at that moment, Morpheus is bound to his duty as the ruler of dreams. 关于墨菲斯，许多人没有意识到的另一个事实是，墨菲斯实际上可能是周围最忙碌的神灵之一。当其他神倾向于浪费时间做他们想做的任何事情时，墨菲斯必须履行他作为梦想统治者的职责。
He spends all of his time tailoring dreams for the mortals and when he isn’t doing this, he is carrying out messages from the Gods to the heroes or to other Gods. 他把所有的时间都花在为凡人量身定做梦上，当他不这样做时，他正在向英雄或其他神传达从众神到其他神的信息。
While he is most often times seen alone, ruling over the realms, there have been some depictions of him alongside IRIS, the Goddess of Rainbows. 虽然他最常被单独看到，统治着各个领域，但有一些人将他描绘成与彩虹女神IRIS一起。
The two seem to be a couple in some stories, although for the most part he is seen alone due to how much time he spends creating dreams and nightmares for every one of us. 在某些故事中，两人似乎是一对，尽管在大多数情况下，由于他花了多少时间为我们每个人创造梦想和噩梦，因此他独自一人。
As far as his depictions go, you can usually see Morpheus sculpted with a one-winged ear. This is meant to represent him listening in on your dreams at all times through his normal ear while also listening to the word of Gods through his winged ear. 就他的描绘而言，你通常可以看到墨菲斯被雕刻成一只单翼的耳朵。这是为了代表他通过他正常的耳朵随时倾听你的梦境，同时也通过他有翅膀的耳朵倾听上帝的话语。
We spend most of our life sleeping, as it is said that a 75-year-old person has slept for around 25 years or 9,125 days in total. Strangely enough however, we don’t have that many stories or myths revolving around Morpheus out there. 我们一生中的大部分时间都在睡觉，据说一个 75 岁的人总共睡了大约 25 年或 9,125 天。然而，奇怪的是，我们没有那么多围绕墨菲斯的故事或神话。
Sure, he is present in a lot of tales but that doesn’t make him an active character that we can follow. He is usually just the messenger, the one that speaks the words of Gods, not the one speaking directly. 当然，他出现在很多故事中，但这并不能使他成为我们可以追随的活跃角色。他通常只是使者，是说神的话的人，而不是直接说话的人。
However, we do have a few stories that we would like to tell you about, including the following: 但是，我们确实有一些故事想告诉您，包括以下内容：
Agamemnon’s Dream 阿伽门农之梦
Nestor Appearing in a Dream to Agamemnon by James Heath / wikipedia.org 内斯特出现在阿伽门农的梦中，詹姆斯·希思 / wikipedia.org
One of the most popular stories revolving Morpheus is the Iliad of Agamemnon, the tale which states that just because it comes from a divine source, that doesn’t mean that you should follow the word of God blindly. 围绕墨菲斯的最受欢迎的故事之一是阿伽门农的伊利亚特，这个故事指出，仅仅因为它来自神圣的来源，并不意味着你应该盲目地遵循上帝的话。
While Morpheus’s name is not directly brought up in this tale, he was the main messenger that Zeus used in the stories, which is why many believe that he is the one depicted here as the dream spirit. 虽然墨菲斯的名字在这个故事中没有直接提到，但他是宙斯在故事中使用的主要使者，这就是为什么许多人认为他是这里描绘的梦境精灵。
This all takes place during the Trojan War, where Zeus wanted to give Achilles the glory that he had demanded over the years. He wanted to prove himself as a great warrior, and he had done so multiple times over, but he was still unsatisfied. 这一切都发生在特洛伊战争期间，宙斯想给阿喀琉斯多年来所要求的荣耀。他想证明自己是一个伟大的战士，他已经多次这样做了，但他仍然不满意。
He wanted to take down Agamemnon, the king of Mycenae or Argos, and the son of Atreus himself. The problem with this though is that Agamemnon was too smart to meet Achilles on the open field, he wanted to use his wits to win this battle with ease. 他想打倒迈锡尼或阿尔戈斯的国王阿伽门农，也是阿特柔斯本人的儿子。但问题是阿伽门农太聪明了，无法在空旷的场地上与阿喀琉斯相遇，他想用自己的智慧轻松赢得这场战斗。
As such, Zeus decided to step in. This is why he sent over Morpheus to deliver a false dream of hope to Agamemnon, one that would depict him experiencing a glorious victory after battling Achilles and his troops. 因此，宙斯决定介入。这就是为什么他派墨菲斯去给阿伽门农带来一个虚假的希望梦，这个梦将描绘他在与阿喀琉斯和他的军队作战后经历一场光荣的胜利。
Agamemnon believed this to be the word of Zeus himself as he decided to support him in battle and give him divine strength from the Gods. As such, he roused up his army and went on to charge at Achilles’s troops. 阿伽门农相信这是宙斯本人的话，因为他决定在战斗中支持他并从众神那里赐予他神圣的力量。因此，他召集了他的军队，继续向阿喀琉斯的军队发起冲锋。
This proved to be a fatal mistake however, one that would soon lead to Achilles’s victory and more importantly, to the loss of many of Agamemnon’s soldiers. 然而，这被证明是一个致命的错误，这个错误很快就会导致阿喀琉斯的胜利，更重要的是，导致阿伽门农的许多士兵丧生。
Iris Calls on Morpheus 鸢尾花召唤墨菲斯
Morpheus awakening as Iris draws near by René-Antoine Houasse 墨菲斯在艾瑞斯靠近时觉醒 René-Antoine Houasse
Another interesting tale that we would like to bring up for your entertainment is the story between Iris and Morpheus. 我们想为您带来的另一个有趣的故事是 Iris 和 Morpheus 之间的故事。
In this myth, Morpheus was actually summoned by Iris, the Goddess of the Rainbow, to do Hera’s bidding for her. Hera was known as the Queen of all Gods, as the wife of Zeus, and she wanted to deliver the news of Ceyx’s death to Alcyone. 在这个神话中，墨菲斯实际上是被彩虹女神伊里斯召唤来听从赫拉的吩咐。赫拉被称为众神女王，是宙斯的妻子，她想把塞克斯的死讯传给阿尔西奥涅。
But that’s not where the story actually begins, as it first starts with a happy couple that loved each other plenty. Ceyx and Alcyone were deeply in love with one another, to the point where they even referred to each other as “Zeus” and “Hera” endearingly. 但这并不是故事真正开始的地方，因为它首先始于一对彼此相爱的幸福夫妇。Ceyx 和 Alcyone 深深地爱着对方，以至于他们甚至亲切地称对方为“宙斯”和“赫拉”。
While they didn’t think much of this gesture though, Zeus was definitely not a fan of taking his name in vain, which is why he decided to punish the two for even attempting to compare themselves to the Gods of Olympus. 虽然他们并没有多想这个姿态，但宙斯绝对不喜欢白白取他的名字，这就是为什么他决定惩罚两人，因为他们甚至试图将自己与奥林匹斯山的众神进行比较。
But Zeus was never known as an impulsive and stupid God, if anything he was actually quite brilliant when it came to enacting his vengeance upon his enemies. 但宙斯从来都不是一个冲动和愚蠢的神，如果有的话，他在向敌人复仇时实际上非常聪明。
As such, he waited for a while, until he decided that the moment was perfect for him to punish the couple for their transgressions. 因此，他等了一会儿，直到他决定惩罚这对夫妇的过犯的最佳时机。
The moment came when Ceyx decided to set sail and go on a sea voyage. Alcyone begged him to either stay at home or to bring her with him because she could feel that something bad was about to happen. 当 Ceyx 决定扬帆起航并进行海上航行时，这一刻到来了。Alcyone恳求他要么呆在家里，要么把她带在身边，因为她能感觉到有什么不好的事情即将发生。
Ceyx refused however, knowing that if something bad was amidst, he would never want Alcyone to lose her life over his own mistakes. 然而，塞克斯拒绝了，因为他知道，如果有什么不好的事情发生，他绝不会希望阿尔西奥内因为自己的错误而失去生命。
As soon as he set sail though, Zeus sent over a monstrous storm which took down Ceyx’s boat, drowning him in the process. 然而，宙斯一起航，就掀起了一场可怕的风暴，摧毁了塞克斯的船，并在此过程中淹死了他。
Seeing that this was the will of the Gods, Ceyx was ready to accept his fate, with his last request being for his body to wash ashore so that his wife could find him and bury him. 看到这是众神的旨意，塞克斯准备接受他的命运，他的最后一个要求是将他的尸体冲上岸，以便他的妻子找到他并埋葬他。
If the body were to be left to rot at the bottom of the sea, he could never find a peaceful afterlife, which is why he begged the Gods to help his body make its way to the shoreline. 如果尸体在海底腐烂，他就永远无法找到平静的来世，这就是为什么他恳求众神帮助他的尸体到达海岸线。
Hera was the only God that decided to lend a helping hand in the matter because his prayers were so pure and just. 赫拉是唯一决定在这件事上伸出援助之手的上帝，因为他的祈祷是如此纯洁和公正。
As such, she told Morpheus to send news to Alcyone of Ceyx’s death, even going as far as to tell her where she can find her late husband’s remains so she could bury him. 因此，她告诉墨菲斯将塞克斯的死讯发送给阿尔西奥内，甚至告诉她在哪里可以找到她已故丈夫的遗体，以便她可以埋葬他。
When he showed up in her dreams, Morpheus transformed into Ceyx so that she wouldn’t be startled too much by his visit. 当他出现在她的梦中时，墨菲斯变成了塞克斯，这样她就不会被他的来访吓得太惊。
She tried to hug him after he told her that her husband had passed, but before she could grasp him, he dissipated into thin air as she woke up from her slumber. 在他告诉她她的丈夫已经去世后，她试图拥抱他，但在她抓住他之前，当她从睡梦中醒来时，他消失在稀薄的空气中。
She ran to where Morpheus told her to go, and as she saw the body of her late husband, Alcyone threw herself into the ocean so they could be together in the afterlife. 她跑到墨菲斯告诉她要去的地方，当她看到她已故丈夫的尸体时，阿尔西奥内把自己扔进了海里，这样他们就可以在来世在一起。
Zeus had watched the whole event play out in front of him, and because he felt guilty, he decided to metamorphosize the two into a pair of kingfishers, allowing them to live together once again. 宙斯眼睁睁地看着整个事件在他面前上演，因为他感到内疚，他决定将两人变成一对翠鸟，让他们再次生活在一起。
The Sandman 睡魔
The Sandman: Book of dreams by Neil Gaiman 睡魔：尼尔·盖曼 （Neil Gaiman） 的梦想之书
While we did mention his close relationship with the other Gods, what we didn’t go over is the fact that Morpheus was also special due to his ability to perfectly imitate the human form. He was able to become a human being in people’s dreams, a feat which no other Oneiroi was capable of achieving. 虽然我们确实提到了他与其他神的密切关系，但我们没有提及的是，墨菲斯也很特别，因为他能够完美地模仿人类的形态。他能够在人们的梦想中成为一个人，这是其他奥尼罗伊人无法实现的壮举。
Because of this he was named Morpheus, from the word “morphe” which means “to shape”. His role over the years started to evolve further and further, to the point where he even became known as the creator of all dreams. 正因为如此，他被命名为墨菲斯，来自“morphe”这个词，意思是“塑造”。多年来，他的角色开始越来越远，甚至被称为所有梦想的创造者。
This led to the creation of Neil Gaiman’s most popular comic book, known as the Sandman. This story follows Dream, aka Morpheus, as part of a family known as the Endless. 这导致了尼尔·盖曼 （Neil Gaiman） 最受欢迎的漫画书《睡魔》的创作。这个故事讲述了 Dream，又名 Morpheus，是一个被称为 Endless 的家庭的一部分。
He rules over the Dreaming, the realm in which everything that isn’t reality resides in, and interestingly enough he is depicted as being a creature far above the Greek Gods. When asked if he is a God himself, he merely replies by stating that dreams are where Gods are made, not the other way around. 他统治着梦境，这个领域是所有非现实的东西都存在于其中，有趣的是，他被描绘成一个远远高于希腊众神的生物。当被问及他自己是否是神时，他只是回答说梦是造神的地方，而不是相反。
A Sandman series was also commissioned by Netflix recently, reigniting the love for the character and bringing new fans to the already popular series. Netflix 最近还委托制作了一部睡魔剧集，重新点燃了人们对这个角色的热爱，并为这部已经很受欢迎的剧集带来了新的粉丝。
Because of this readaptation, the myth of Morpheus has actually become somewhat more poignant than it was in Greek mythology. 由于这种重新改编，墨菲斯的神话实际上变得比希腊神话中更加凄美。
That is not to say that Morpheus was not important as a God, but more so that he was never the main focus of any story. He was a messenger, and nowadays he is hailed as the ruler of the Dreaming, and quite possibly the creator of the Gods themselves. 这并不是说墨菲斯作为神不重要，而是说他从来都不是任何故事的主要焦点。他是一名使者，如今他被誉为梦境的统治者，很可能是众神本身的创造者。
Conclusion 结论
Regardless of which version of Morpheus you enjoy reading about though, let’s just say that you are still going to get a healthy dose of shapeshifting and reality-bending stories which are sure to pique your interest. 不管你喜欢读哪个版本的墨菲斯，我们只能说你仍然会得到一些健康的变形和扭曲现实的故事，这些故事肯定会激起你的兴趣。
So, keep reading your stories and don’t forget to thank Morpheus for his hard work, because without dreams, without imagination as a whole, the world would be a very dreary place now, wouldn’t it? 所以，继续阅读你的故事，不要忘记感谢墨菲斯的辛勤工作，因为如果没有梦想，没有整个想象力，现在的世界将是一个非常沉闷的地方，不是吗？
