person
Endymion
also: Endymionis, Endymion
A beautiful youth of Greek myth granted (or condemned to) eternal sleep, beloved of the Moon. Cicero invokes 'the sleep of Endymion' in De Finibus 5.55 as an image of perpetual inactivity, which he says no one would wish, reckoning it the equal of death.
Reading notes
- On the Ends of Good and Evil §5.55 the sleep of Endymion
Endymion was the mythical youth granted eternal sleep by Zeus. Cicero uses him as the image of perfect, perpetual rest, which he says no one would actually choose.
- Tusculan Disputations §1.92 when he fell asleep, who knows how long ago, on Latmos, a mountain of Caria
Endymion, the beautiful youth granted (or cursed with) eternal sleep on Mount Latmos, beloved of the Moon-goddess. Cicero uses the myth to argue that everlasting unconscious sleep, like death, holds nothing to fear since the sleeper feels nothing.