Home › Glossary › Letter N

Nyx

Mythology
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

Want to hear it? Click the Listen button to hear the browser speak the word using text-to-speech!

The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

The primordial Greek goddess of night, born of Chaos, and mother to personifications like Death, Sleep, and Fate—symbolizing cosmic darkness.

Detailed Definition
Nyx emerged from Chaos and gave birth to Death, Sleep, Dreams, and the Fates. Even Zeus feared her power. In poetry, she embodies the mysterious, generative darkness from which both terror and creation arise, often invoked in meditations on the unknown.
Example
Example in poetry:
Nyx, primordial goddess of night, is named in Hesiod’s Theogony as mother of many personifications; In Orphic hymns, Nyx is a cosmic creator; Ovid references Nyx as the veil of darkness in Metamorphoses; Virgil describes Nyx’s chariot in Aeneid; Romantic poets invoke Nyx to symbolize mystery and origin; Modern verse uses Nyx as a metaphor for the unconscious.
Additional Notes
Nyx, primordial goddess of night, is a powerful figure in Hesiod’s Theogony, mother of Death, Sleep, and Strife; even Zeus fears her—her presence evokes awe, mystery, and the generative darkness—useful in cosmogonic or existential poetry exploring origins, fear, or the sublime.
Also Known As
Primordial Night Veiled Mother of Fates Nox
Skip to main content