Sleep, dreams and unconsciousness: Understanding anaesthesia through ancient Greek mythology.

Abstract

Sleep, dreams, unconsciousness and death are concepts regularly contended with by anaesthetists and their patients. The closely related genealogy of the entities personifying these concepts in ancient Greek mythology highlights a visceral uncertainty about the spectrum of human unconsciousness. Hypnos and Thanatos-Sleep and Death, respectively-commonly feature together in art and literature as twin brothers. Sleep was the more powerful of the two and was feared even by members of the Pantheon immune to death such as Zeus himself, drawing a parallel with the modern knowledge that all living organisms demonstrate susceptibility to anaesthesia. The power to induce sleep was regarded as a divine ability and was thus the domain of the gods. However, some mortals possessed these talents, usually through application of herbs or potions, highlighting an understanding that a state of unconsciousness could be induced by elements from the environment in the hands of a skilled or gifted operator. Through multiple different tales, the ancient Greeks also imply a distinction between physiological and drug-induced sleep, the latter of which is frequently associated with wrath and amnesia. Despite this distinction, sleep is commonly used interchangeably with general anaesthesia in discussions with patients. Though presumably intentioned to provide reassurance, using inaccurate terminology may impact on patients' ability to make an informed decision about receiving an anaesthetic. Perhaps there is a role for artistic and allegorical methods of communication to reflect this distinction to patients as we guide them through an odyssey of their own into a state of controlled unconsciousness.