Sleep and death
Hypnos in a second century B.C. mosaic
Sleep and death are brothers. In Greek mythology,
Hypnos (god of sleep) and Thanatos (god of death) are both sons of Nyx, the goddess of night.
In the story of Lazarus, the dead man comes back to life as if from a deep sleep. Jesus says to his disciples:
"'Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I go to awaken him out of sleep.' The disciples said to him, 'Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover. Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that he meant taking rest in sleep. Then Jesus told them plainly, 'Lazarus is dead.'"Jesus goes with his disciples to the grave where the dead man has already been lying for four days, and calls with a loud voice, "'Lazarus, come out.' The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with bandages, and his face wrapped with a cloth."