14827 Hypnos 14827 Hypnos 14827 Hypnos, provisional designation , is a highly eccentric, sub-kilometer-sized carbonaceous asteroid that is thought to be an extinct comet. It is classified as near-Earth object and potentially hazardous asteroid of the Apollo group. The asteroid was discovered by American astronomer couple Carolyn and Eugene Shoemaker at the Palomar Observatory in California on 5 May 1986. It was named after Hypnos, the Greek god of sleep. "Hypnos" orbits the Sun at a distance of 0.9–4.7 AU once every 4 years and 9 months (1,749 days). Its orbit has a high eccentricity of 0.67 and an inclination of 2°
Dragons in Greek mythology Dragons in Greek mythology Dragons play a significant role in Greek mythology. The word dragon derives from the Greek δράκων (drakōn) and its Latin cognate draco. Ancient Greeks applied the term to large, constricting snakes. Daniel Ogden speaks of three ways to explain the origins of Greek dragon myths: as "vertical" evolution from (reconstructed) Proto-Indo-European mythology, as "horizontal" adaptation from Ancient Near Eastern mythology, or as sitting within "the cloud of international folktale". Regarding theories of vertical transmission, Ogden argues that they carry "an unspoken assumption that prior to such a transfer the Greeks' own myth-world was a "tabula rasa"",