Morpheus and Proteus

 In Greek mythology, the god of sleep and dreams. Morpheus (Morpheus) was the son of Hypnos and Pasithea and the brother of Ikelos (Phobetor) and Phobetor. His name comes from a Greek word for form or shape, and his function was to appear in any form in dreams and to appear as a loved one in dreams. His symbols were a closed eye and a dark crown. Morpheus was winged and had a relationship with Iris. The figure of Morpheus appears in Ovid's Metamorphoses. From the Middle Ages on, the name began to refer to the god of dreams or sleep more generally. According to some accounts, he had nine hundred and ninety brothers, that is, he was one of a thousand sons.

A sea deity from Greek mythology with fortune-telling and the ability to change characters. Proteus (Proteus) was the son of Oceanus and the nymph Tethys, although according to many sources his father was the god Poseidon. Proteus, along with Nereus and Forkos, belonged to the so-called "old men of the sea." He was described as the god of "elusive sea changes", which was to characterize the constantly changing nature of the sea. Proteus looked after the herd of Poseidon's seals. God could be found at noon on the island of Pharos (Pharos), near Egypt, where he basked on the rocks. In mythology, when someone needed some information or prophecy from him, you had to grab him tight while resting on the island and not let him go until he was willing to answer. Proteus had the gift of fortune-telling and the ability to change his form. He could become a dragon, a lion, water, fire, or a tree.

Proteus appears in the myth about the bees of Aristaeus (Aristaeus) son of Apollo. According to the messages, Aristaeus' bees died of a disease sent out by the gods as punishment. Aristaeus sought advice from his mother Kyrene (Cyrene), who told him to go to Proteus. Proteus was to tell him how to protect himself from such misfortune, but only when he would be forced to do so. Aristaeus captured Proteus and kept him, no matter what he turned into. Proteus told him that the death of the bees was the penalty for causing Eurydice's death. To fix this, Aristaeus had to sacrifice 12 animals to the gods, leave the body at the sacrifice, and return three days later. Aristaeus followed Proteus' instructions, and on his return, he found a swarm of bees in one of the bodies, which he had taken to his apiary. The bees were never plagued by disease again.

This god was confused with another figure bearing the same name, the king of Egypt. King Proteus welcomed Helena and Paris during their escape from Sparta. He stopped Helena to return her to her husband Menelaus.

The psychologist Carl Jung believes that the figure of Proteus is the personification of the unconscious and compares it with the elusive form of alchemy - mercury.