GodPedia Series: Nyx the Tranquil Storm
The second deity on these series, is Nyx, featuring on “Retribution: He Cries” as the cousin of the main protagonist, the deity of winter. She was born as the goddess of moon, peace and strategy, the daughter of Emmera and Karma.
”Daughter of the primordial cosmic goddess Emmera and the [late] god of fate Karma. She is your cousin and a fellow traveler on your journey. For being the goddess of peace, she isn’t a very tranquil person, often resorting to violence at every inconvenience. She holds a calm aura whenever she’s around, a bit aloof and insensitive at times, though has a soft spot for loved ones.” - excerpt from the story’s blog
The immediate source of inspiration one should take a look at for Nyx, is the Greek goddess who holds the same name as her. Both of them are associated with the night, with Nyx being considered the very personification of the night, while the Tranquil Storm is the deity of the moon lighting the night sky.
The Tranquil Storm is also associated with peace and strategy. While Nyx herself may not have been explicitly associated with peace, one might be able to link her with it, along with strategy, if the symbolism of the night sky is taken into consideration:
The night sky itself works as a blanket to cover the light which might disrupt each creature’s rest and peaceful sleep, making it a symbol of peace and rest. (peace)
Under the night sky, there is an absence of light, providing ample cover for one who desires concealment of oneself to engage in nefarious intrigues. (strategy)
The night sky itself could be an indirect connection between these two, yet there are also major differences between them including the Tranquil Storm’s lineage and personality. Nyx is a cosmic primordial deity, the daughter of Chaos, mother to Hemmera (day), yet the Tranquil Storm is the daughter of a cosmic primordial deity, Emmera and the goddess of the Moon, Peace and Strategy.
If one were to use Nyx as a reference for the Tranquil Storm’s mythological comparison , there would be a multitude of problems that would arise considering the lack of myths featuring her as a protagonist or side character. She is only mentioned in passing through the mouths of other deities and chroniclers, as a figure who inspires both awe and fear even in the king of the Olympian Gods: Zeus. Thus, the need to look into the Greek deities of the moon, peace and strategy arises.
Being the goddess of the moon and peace doesn’t appear to influence the Tranquil Storm’s personality as much as one would expect. Her counterparts, Selene (the personification of the moon) and Eirene (the deity of peace) are portrayed as having a gentle, nurturing and calm nature, yet the Tranquil Storm is prone to violent tendencies and has an “aloof, insensitive and an aggressively protective personality” as would befit a goddess of war rather one of peace.
This duality between her powers/titles and personality might have been intentional. There is an obscure reference to Pausanias’s chronicles about the cult of Selene, the goddess of peace, where the administrative aspect, the punishments meted to troublemakers and the sacrificial rituals were described as violent, in stark contrast to how their goddess is portrayed. As for Eirene, her cult of peace was established after the Athenians won a naval battle against Sparta in 375 BC.
While Selene may be the moon incarnate, there are other deities associated with the moon which may have been conflated with her, namely Artemis. She is shown in numerous myths to have a protective nature towards the other nymphs and animals, and being the goddess of hunting, besides being associated with the moon, she usually resorted to aggressive and violent means to protect her loved ones.
On the other hand, Nyx the Tranquil Storm is also the patron goddess of strategy. She has to be rational and objective, casting her emotions aside and plan ahead, to make the best choices for the optimal strategy that will lead to the desired end results with as few trade-offs as possible. Someone of this disposition is bound to be seen as aloof, insensitive and devoid of emotion due to the responses she might give on even everyday conversation, similarly to how Athena, Zeus’s daughter was.
The Egyptian Pantheon is far more complex and greater in size than the Greek one. While there are myths featuring them as main or side characters, they aren’t really humanized as much as the Greek deities. There is always a tone of reverence and air of royal formality to them, taking care to show these deities as omnipotent and “divine” as possible, in stark contrast to the Greek mythology where the purpose of the narrators seems to be the humanizing of their pantheon.
The perfect match in terms of personality or nature, is without a shadow of a doubt, the moon god Khonsu. His epithets, amongst others, are: “The Defender” and “The Pathfinder” which could be seen as a reference to Nyx having a protective nature and her being the deity of strategy. His name was invoked for the protection of the night travelers from evil. Khonsu’s appearance is that of a youth, as he is depicted with the symbol of childhood, a sidelock hair which serves as a reference to Nyx’s younger brother, Samar, being the deity of childhood (more on him will be covered in the future). His mother was Nut, the deity of the skies and considered an enigma by mythology researchers due to her being the “Mother Sky” where in most mythologies there is a “Father Sky”. It could be an inspiration for Emmera being the deity of the unknown (more on her will be covered in the future)
Horus with the appearance of a falcon whose eyes are cleverly used as an element for the order of birth of Emmera’s (fictional) first two children: Sansone and Nyx. The Egyptian hieroglyphic texts were written and read from right to left and Horus’s eyes are depicted as the solar eye (on the right) and lunar eye (on the left), meaning: Sansone is the eldest and Nyx is the youngest of the two.
While there wasn’t really a concept of “Deity of Peace”, it’s worth noting that in Egypt peace equated justice, balance and order for which the kings were tasked with upholding. The falcon is usually seen as a symbol of kingship and divine protection. Thus, Horus and Thoth’s symbols of falcon head (Horus) and ibis head (Thoth) were believed to signify justice (Horus) and balance (Thoth).
Surprisingly, Nyx didn’t share as many similarities as I thought with Nyx the Greek deity of the night. As stated on “Despoina the Curios” chapter, the writer has been researching and diving deep in different mythologies, taking elements they like and using them either as references or molding them to their vision for the characters they have created. Due to word/character restrictions, this much will be submitted, but further expansion can be found here in the future.
