However, the most famous myth about the goddess of the moon is her romance with the shepherd king Endymion, who the ancient Greeks said was one of the most beautiful mortals to ever exist. Many people believed that labor and childbirth was easiest during the full moon and prayed to Selene for aid. Selene has a minor planet named after her, called 580 Selene. [100], Diodorus Siculus recorded an unorthodox version of the myth, in which Basileia, who had succeeded her father Uranus to his royal throne, married her brother Hyperion, and had two children, a son Helios and a daughter Selene, "admired for both their beauty and their chastity". It was only later, when Selene began to be conflated with other lunar goddesses, that she was openly worshiped. [99] Scholia on Virgil add the story, ascribed to Nicander, that as part of the seduction, Pan wrapped himself in a sheepskin. The myth of Selene claims that this goddess had several lovers, both divine and mortal. And if Selene and Helios did not work together, as the personifications of the moon and the sun, there would be absolute chaos in the world. In some cases, it is debated whether she indeed was the mother. In rarer traditions, she is the daughter of the Titan Pallas. Selene was one of the twelve Olympian gods and goddesses, and her story is one of the most captivating in Greek mythology. [109] In red-figure pottery before the early 5th century BC, she is depicted only as a bust, or in profile against a lunar disk. In many paintings and sculptures, Selene is traditionally depicted with the crescent moon in her vicinity. In some versions of the story, the goddess abandoned her duty and left the night sky so she could be with the man she loved. [25], Two other sources also mention her hair. [31], Ampelus was a handsome young male satyr and the first love of the god Dionysus. Though Selene had many consorts, the most famous of them was Endymion, a handsome young mortal. The Greeks recognized several goddesses as having a connection to the moon, but none was as closely associated with it as Selene. In the most familiar account, Selene first saw the beautiful Endymion as he lay sleeping in a cave on Mount Latmus. [2], Selene was also called Mene. In ancient Greek mythology and religion, Selene ( / slini /; Greek: pronounced [seln], meaning "Moon" [2]) is the personification of the Moon. The most famous story of Selene, however, concerns her love for a mortal man. 3. The pair could also have been the parents of the beautiful and vain Narcissus, for whom the Narcissus flower is named, according to Nonnus, the Greek epic poet of the Roman era. [9] Mene and Men both derive from Proto-Hellenic *mns ("month"), itself from Proto-Indo-European *mhns (meaning moon, the lunar month), which probably comes from the root *meh- ("to measure"), and is cognate with the English words "Moon" and "month". The History of Guns, Greek Mythology: Stories, Characters, Gods, and Culture, Aztec Mythology: Important Stories and Characters, Greek Gods and Goddesses: Family Tree and Fun Facts, Roman Gods and Goddesses: The Names and Stories of 29 Ancient Roman Gods, Descriptions of Selene, Goddess of the Moon, Greek Myths featuring the Moon Goddess Selene, iPhone History: A Timeline of Every Model in Order, US History Timeline: The Dates of Americas Journey, Ancient Civilizations Timeline: 16 Oldest Known Cultures From Around The World, Why Are Hot Dogs Called Hot Dogs? She was essentially urban and civilized, the antithesis in many respects of Artemis, goddess of the outdoors. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). 245 M-W; Pherecydes, FHG 1 frag. Artemis has been commonly associated with Selene. That was a basic unit of how the Greeks measured time in the old days. She was also well known for her many affairs with men and her love that possibly . 573 Bernab. Nyx is the goddess of the night and is thus associated with the new moon. Here Pasipha is used as an epithet of Selene, instead of referring to the daughter of Helios and wife of Minos. Selene - The Moon Goddess - Greek Mythology - See U in History Art: Marcus AquinoColor: Rod Fernandes#GreekMythology #Mythology #SeeUinHistory #History #Myth. [29] Empedocles, Euripides and Nonnus all describe her as (glaukpis, "bright-eyed", a common epithet of the goddess Athena)[30] while in a fragment from a poem, possibly written by Pamprepius, she is called (kyanpis, "dark-eyed"). [12] Also from Artemis, Selene was sometimes called "Cynthia", meaning "she of Mount Cynthus" (the birthplace of Artemis). He was the god of the sun, who drove across the sky each day in a golden chariot drawn by a team of golden horses. The concept of Selene as the lunar goddess also made her an important goddess of childbirth and female fertility. How Did Uranus get its Name as Per Greek Mythology? Their daughter Eos was the first to appear each day. Selene. Mythopedia, 7 Dec. 2022. https://mythopedia.com/topics/selene. She announced the coming of her younger brother. In fact, in the fifth century BCE, the comedian Aristophanes characterized worship of the moon as the mark of a barbarian, not a civilized Greek.[33]. In it, Selene is depicted as fighting alongside Helios and Eos, seated side-saddle on a horse. Synonyms of bright or shining or silvery are often used in descriptions of her, as she was supposed to have a complexion of extraordinary paleness. Upon the head of Selene was normally found a crown that was representative of the spherical moon. Some nymphs in Greek mythology were famous, but others were only known in a certain time Apollo: The God of Music, Poetry, and Light, Hecate Greek Goddess of Witchcraft : The Complete Guide. If you thought Artemis was the Greek goddess of the moon, you are only partially right. Selene was a beautiful goddess with long, flowing . Learn more about our mission. While there were many goddesses associated with the moon and lunar powers, Selene personified the moon and its light. [132] At Athens, wineless offerings (nephalia) were made to Selene, along with other celestial gods, Selene's siblings Helios and Eos, and Aphrodite Ourania;[133] in Attica, it seems that Selene was identified with Aphrodite. It was devoted to Selene, under the name Pasiphae, and to Helios. In her Full Moon state, she is Panselene or . Sometimes this develops in later worship as they are identified with other deities or gods. In later eras, she became associated with madness as well. Even now, this moon goddess of the ancient world has not quite gone out of our lives and her presence can be felt in small but subtle reminders. H. G. Evelyn-White. She walked as quietly as possible to avoid frightening Endymion as he slept. [127] Selene (along with Helios, Nyx and others) received an altar at the sanctuary of Demeter at Pergamon, possibly in connection with the Orphic mysteries. Although she counts as a goddess in her own right, Selene often gets associated with archer goddess, Artemis, who is also a moon goddess. [116] Pausanias also reports seeing stone images of Helios, and Selene, in the market-place at Elea, with rays projecting from the head of Helios, and horns from the head of Selene. Her chariot was made of shining silver, bringing soft, clear light each night. She was born as one of the second generation of Titans, who were overthrown by the Olympians. Because the Greek endyein meant "to dive," the name Endymion ("Diver") at first simply described the process of the setting sun "diving" into the sea. Selene could still see her sleeping love whenever she pleased, but the pressures of time and mortality were taken off her. Nonnus, Dionysiaca 12.1ff (who names Helios as the father of the Horae but does not name the mother). Homeric Hymns 32.14ff, trans. [46], From Pausanias we hear that Selene was supposed to have had fifty daughters, by her lover Endymion, often assumed to represent the fifty lunar months of the Olympiad. Mason-Dixon Line This is also not the only Homeric Hymn in which the beautiful goddess finds mention. She was worshipped at the new and full moons. Every evening, Selene ushered in nightfall and then drove her chariot through the night before giving way to dawn. Homeric Hymn 4.99100. Zeus had enough sympathy for Selene to not kill Endymion outright, but he put the human man in an enchanted sleep on Mount Latmus in the East so Selene would have no further reason to descend to earth each night. Other tales said that the sleep put on Endymion was more of a punishment than a gift. Updates? Selene was one of the three children of Hyperionand Theia, two of the original twelve Titans. [90], When Zeus desired to sleep with the mortal queen Alcmene and sire Heracles, he made the night last three days, and ordered Selene via Hermes to dawdle in the sky during that time. Multiple sources say that she had a hand in the creation of the Nemean Lion, whether that was only Selene working on her own or in conjunction with Hera. Selene leaving her chariot, Roman mosaic, Andalusia. She was unique, however, in her relationship with the orb itself. Robert S. P. Beekes, Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden: Brill, 2009), 2:131819. Deciphering the Role of Helios, the Sun God of Greek Mythology. Homeric Hymn 32.313, trans. Most mythologists assumed that Selene was an older moon goddess that was replaced later by Artemis in myth. the crescent moon, full moon, and dark moon, as delinted by the divisions of the calendar month).[154]. Selene was a Titan goddess in Greek mythology, daughter of the Titans Hyperion and Theia. As the goddess of the division of the months, Selene was a goddess of time. Like most of the Titans, Selene was rarely worshipped in the ancient world. [123], Moon figures are found on Cretan rings and gems (perhaps indicating a Minoan moon cult), but apart from the role played by the moon itself in magic, folklore, and poetry, and despite the later worship of the Phrygian moon-god Men, there was relatively little worship of Selene. In ancient Greek mythology, Selene, is the Titan goddess of the moon and is said to drive her glowing chariot powered by beautiful white horses across the sky each night. Francoise Gury, Selene/Luna, in Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae (Zurich: Artemis, 1994), 7:70615. Secretive and shy, she enjoys flitting silently through the night with a pearl-white or silvery chariot. Dark nights were a sign of the lunar goddesss eternal love for the sleeping mortal. Knowing he would be there whenever she wanted to see him, the goddess no longer worried he would leave or die before she got to see him again. Her brother is Helios, the Sun and her sister is Eos, the Dawn. Like her brother Helios, the Sun god, who drives his sun chariot across the sky each day, Selene is also said to drive a chariot across the heavens. She asks Menippus to report her grievances to Zeus, with the request that Zeus wipes all these natural philosophers from the face of the earth. Did a Lion-Headed Monster Exist in Greek Mythology. If you have read Greek mythology and the famous epics of ancient Greece, you may be quite familiar with her brother Helios. Accessed on 27 Feb. 2023. [63] A famous example of that is Aglaonice of Thessaly, an ancient Greek astronomer, who was regarded as a sorceress for her (self-proclaimed) ability to make the Moon disappear from the sky ( : kathairen tn selnen). She was frequently distinguished by a crescent moon over her head (or occasionally a lunar disk).[9]. 13 In later times Selene was identified with Artemis, and the worship of the two became amalgamated. 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