The Origin of Hotdogs, The History of Boracay Island in The Philippines. Selene is often eclipsed by the popularity of Artemis as a lunar goddess, but as the personification of the moon itself she had a significant impact on the lives and views of the Greek people. The great English Romantic poet John Keats wrote a poem about the mortal, entitled Endymion, with some of the most famous opening lines in the English language. 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. These two goddesses have additional association with Hecate. Occasionally she asked her brother to take over her duties so she could spend more time on the ground with Endymion. In rarer traditions, she is the daughter of the Titan Pallas. Selene, the goddess of the moon, has two siblings: Eos, the goddess of the dawn, and Helios, the sun god. Selene had a relationship with the god Pan, according to Virgil. On the other hand, her eyes and hair were believed to have been as dark as the night. H. G. Evelyn-White; cf. Selene was one of the daughters of the Titan gods Hyperion and Theia and the sister of the sun god Helios and the goddess of the dawn Eos. Together, they fittingly created three sources of celestial illumination. Helios, the son of Hyperion and Theia, was their second child. That haunted cave [on Mount Latmos] of fair-haired Nymphai (Nymphs) where, as Endymion slept beside his kine, divine Selene watched him from on high, and slid from heaven to earth; for passionate love drew down the immortal stainless queen of night. While there were many goddesses associated with the moon and lunar powers, Selene personified the moon and its light. When Selene spied him sleeping in a cave, she immediately fell in love and asked Zeus to extend his sleep for all eternity. [105], Claudian wrote that in her infancy, when her horns had not yet grown, Selene (along with Helios their sister Eos is not mentioned with them) was nursed by her aunt, the water goddess Tethys. While the Maenids of Dionysus were driven mad by the frenzy of their worship, however, the madness brought about by Selene could be used as a targeted punishment. Selene - The Moon Goddess - Greek Mythology - See U in History Art: Marcus AquinoColor: Rod Fernandes#GreekMythology #Mythology #SeeUinHistory #History #Myth. [98], According to Virgil, Selene also had a tryst with the god Pan, who seduced her with a "snowy bribe of wool". "Not I alone then stray to the Latmian cave, nor do I alone burn with love for fair Endymion; oft times with thoughts of love have I been driven away by thy crafty spells, in order that in the darkness of night thou mightest work thy sorcery at ease, even the deeds dear to thee. If your web page requires an HTML link, please insert this code: . [47] Nonnus has Selene and Endymion as the parents of the beautiful Narcissus, although in other accounts, including Ovid's Metamorphoses, Narcissus was the son of Cephissus and Liriope.[48]. While Selene was known for pulling the moon across the sky in her silver . [103], In Lucian's Icaromenippus, Selene complains to the titular Menippus of all the outrageous claims philosophers are making about her, such as wondering why she is ever waxing or gibbous, whether she is populated or not, and stating that she is getting her stolen light from the Sun, causing strife and ill feelings between her and her brother. Selene was said to have several consorts but the man that the goddess of the moon was most linked with was the mortal Endymion. There is a magnificent frieze in the Pergamon Altar, now kept at the Pergamon Museum in Berlin, which depicts this battle between the Giants and the Olympians. [128], Originally, Pandia may have been an epithet of Selene,[129] but by at least the time of the late Hymn to Selene, Pandia had become a daughter of Zeus and Selene. Though Hesiod made the Nemean Lion the child of Echidna, other authors wrote that Selene gave birth to it or brought it up at Heras request. By the 5th century bc Selene was sometimes identified with Artemis, or Phoebe, the bright one. She was usually represented as a woman with the moon (often in crescent form) on her head and driving a two-horse chariot. There existed an oracular sanctuary for her in Laconia, near Thalamai. 2022 Wasai LLC. Kapach, Avi. [8] The masculine form of mene (men) was also the name of the Phrygian moon-god Men. What are Hades Powers that are Really Scary? This story seems to have made its way into Roman mythology as well since many of the greatest Roman scholars, from Cicero to Seneca, have written about it. Her chariot was made of shining silver, bringing soft, clear light each night. In Greek literature, Eos is presented as a daughter of the Titans Hyperion and Theia, the sister of the sun god Helios and the moon goddess Selene. In the Homeric Hymn to Selene, she bears the beautiful Pandeic to Zeus, while Alcman says they are the parents of Herse, the dew. Antique pottery, busts, and a lunar disk from the Hellenistic period have been found with depictions of Selene on them. Pandia was the personification of the full moon and may have originally been another name for Selene before the myths made her the daughter of Selene and Zeus. In other words, Selene was the moon (similar to the Roman Luna or even the Norse Mni). In later times, Selene was often associated with Artemis in the same way that her brother Helios was associated with Artemis brother Apollo. She is pale, beautiful and indefinably alluring. As time progressed, they merged into one identity. [146], Her and her brother's worship is also attested in Gytheum, a town in Laconia near Sparta, via an inscription (C.I.G. 14 In works of art, however, the two divinities are usually distinguished; the face of The concept of Selene as the lunar goddess also made her an important goddess of childbirth and female fertility. Lastly, Selene was said to be the mother of the legendary Greek poet Musaeus,[50] with, according to Philochorus, the father being the legendary seer Eumolpus.[51]. She is the daughter of the Titans Hyperion and Theia, and sister of the sun-god Helios, and Eos, goddess of the dawn. For the people of old, natural phenomena was an important part of their worship. [28], Another version is known only from Lucian, a satirical writer from the second century CE. Selene's Role She was the goddess of the moon, which she drove every night across the skies. Homeric Hymn 32.313, trans. 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? 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. Secretive and shy, she enjoys flitting silently through the night with a pearl-white or silvery chariot. Museum of Classical Archaeology Databases. [1], Selene was often identified with other goddesses, including Men (also spelled Mene), the divine personification of the lunar month; Bendis, a goddess of Thracian origin; Hecate, a goddess of witchcraft; and (especially in later antiquity) Artemis, the goddess of hunting and wild things. Who was Vesta, the Goddess of the Hearth? The Homeric Hymn 31 sings praises to all the children of Hyperion, referring to Eos as rosy armed Eos and to Helios as tireless Helios.. Occasionally Selenes chariot was pulled by oxen or bulls, again differentiating it from the faster vehicle of her brother. [108], In antiquity, artistic representations of Selene/Luna included sculptural reliefs, vase paintings, coins, and gems. . She is often linked with Endymion, whom she loved and whom Zeus cast into eternal sleep in a cave on Mount Latmus; there, Selene visited him and became the mother of 50 daughters. Apollonius of Rhodes, Argonautica 4.54ff; Pausanias, Description of Greece 5.1.4; Apollodorus, Library 1.7.5; cf. Diodorus of Sicily, Library of History 3.57. The ancient Greeks saw her as the actual representation of the moon. SELENE was the Titan goddess of the moon. She is dressed in the finest silk robes and travels in her silver moon chariot drawn by luminous steeds across the heavens. Everything We Know About the Greek Goddess of Agriculture, Aphrodite Facts: Awesome Facts about the Goddess of, Interesting Facts about Athena: Greek Goddess of Knowledge. Selene then turned Lilaeus into a mountain, Mt. Athena, also spelled Athene, in Greek religion, the city protectress, goddess of war, handicraft, and practical reason, identified by the Romans with Minerva. [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. She began to do this every night, leaving her chariot behind and making the sky dark with her absence. Mene, a name that she was also commonly known by, meant the moon or the lunar month, from the root mens which meant month. This is an attribute that she shares with her Roman equivalent Luna, where the latin luna also means moon.. Her brother Helios shone as the sun, while her sister Eos was the goddess of the dawn. Together, they fittingly created three sources of celestial illumination. Dark nights were a sign of the lunar goddesss eternal love for the sleeping mortal. Whether this Pallas (called the son of Megamedes) is the same as the Titan Pallas or a different individual entirely is unclear. Her fifty daughters with Endymion marked the fifty lunar months that passed between celebrations of the Olympiad. [88], Ampelus was a very beautiful satyr youth, loved by the god Dionysus. Selene. Mythopedia, 7 Dec. 2022. https://mythopedia.com/topics/selene. Obbink, Dirk (2002), "'All Gods are True' in Epicurus" in, Obbink, Dirk (2011) "56. Greek mythology, body of stories concerning the gods, heroes, and rituals of the ancient Greeks. And along with Selene, the moon moved as well. As the embodiment of the moon, Selene and the movement of her chariot across the night sky was important for the Greeks to measure time. Not only was she the goddess of the moon, but she was considered a personification of the moon itself and that was how she was portrayed by many of the old poets and writers. [81], Philologist Max Mller's interpretation of solar mythology as it related to Selene and Endymion concluded that the myth was a narrativized version of linguistic terminology. Selenes role in this war was not only to fight against the giants. Some even said that the Nemean Lion, as the offspring of Selene, had originally fallen from the moon.[30]. Thus, Selene falling for Endymion was supposed to represent moonrise every night. According to Lucian, Selene had a rival for Endymions love named Myia. Selene also has several other names. Without Selene giving way to Eos, Helios could not bring the sun back to the world. Deciphering the Role of Helios, the Sun God of Greek Mythology. [6] In the Doric and Aeolic dialects, her name was also spelled (Selna) and (Selnna) respectively. Hurwit 2017, pp. Selene herself, upon discovering this, took her own life. Her sister Eos was the light of dawn and their brother Helios drew the chariot of the sun across the sky each day. The Greeks followed a lunar calendar, making Selene one of the most important deities in the passage of time. [59] Though the moon chariot is often described as being silver,[60] for Pindar it was golden. Eos represented the warm light that could be seen coming up above the horizon before the sun appeared in full. "[80], Lucian also records an otherwise unattested myth where a pretty young girl called Muia becomes Selene's rival for Endymion's affections; the chatty maiden would endlessly talk to him while he slept, causing him to wake up. The altars to Selene were few and far between. [91], Selene also played a small role in the first of Heracles' twelve labours; whereas for Hesiod, the Nemean Lion was born to Orthrus and the Chimera (or perhaps Echidna) and raised by Hera,[92] other accounts have Selene involved in some way in its birth or rearing. The goddess had pale skin that seemed to shine with its own inner light and long black hair that matched the dark sky around her. Selene, (Greek: "Moon") Latin Luna, in Greek and Roman religion, the personification of the moon as a goddess. "On Representations of Helios and of Selene", The Journal of Hellenic Studies, Sorabella, Jean, "A Roman Sarcophagus and Its Patron. While Selenes best known consort may have been Endymion and the mythic romance between the moon goddess and the mortal has been documented in many places, he was not the only person that she was involved with. All Rights Reserved. Having risen to power in the generation of Zeus, they were universally revered and worshiped. Names of the Goddess. There were still several goddesses who shared Selenes lunar domain, however. They put Hyperion to the sword, and drowned Helios in the river Eridanus. Selene featured in few myths, with the most famous ones being the tales that tell of her lovers: Zeus, Pan and the mortal Endymion. While other goddesses were associated with the night in more general terms, Selene was believed to be the embodiment of the moon herself. For centuries, those affected by mental illness were referred to as lunatics.. [31] Mesomedes of Crete calls her (glauk, "silvery grey"). Chiswick House, London, UK. Selene (Greek mythology) The goddess of the Moon. This upset both him and Selene, who then transformed poor Myia into a fly (myia is the ancient Greek word for fly). Selene was one of the twelve Olympian gods and goddesses, and her story is one of the most captivating in Greek mythology. Selene was written off and Artemis became the goddess of the moon, hunting, and animals. "[139] Roman philosopher Cicero connected Selene's Roman counterpart Luna's name to childbirth goddess Lucina's, both deriving from "light" (thus bringing the unborn child into the light). 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. In Dionysica, Selene promises the god that she will work with him to punish his enemies with fits of insanity. Thou wouldst say far off that this was milk indeed, which is a well-spring of white water: if thou draw a little nigher, lo, the stream is fringed as though with ice, for white stone rims it round. Selene. GREEK VASE PAINTINGS GALLERY 1 (86 IMAGES) . Several lovers are attributed to her in various myths, including Zeus, Pan, and the mortal Endymion. [31], Ampelus was a handsome young male satyr and the first love of the god Dionysus. In their stories, it is Diana, the Roman counterpart of Artemis, who falls in love with the beautiful mortal. Her presence is felt in something as simple as the names of the days of the week. They included: The lunar goddesses sometimes worked together. [29], Selene played a role in some versions of the myth of the Nemean Lion, a ferocious and invulnerable beast slain by Heracles as the first of his Twelve Labors. Did a Lion-Headed Monster Exist in Greek Mythology. The moon was thought to influence people in other ways, as well. She was essentially urban and civilized, the antithesis in many respects of Artemis, goddess of the outdoors. As the daughter of the Titan god of heavenly light, it is an apt name. She and her brother did not just pull the chariots of their respective orbs through the sky. 573 Bernab. What Were the Hamadryads in Greek Mythology? In her later identification with Artemis, Selene came to be called Phoebe or Cynthia. Two of the original twelve Titans descended from Uranus and Gaia, Hyperion was the Titan god of heavenly light while Theia was the Titan goddess of vision and the aether. 3 (cited in the scholia on Apollonius of Rhodes Argonautica 4.57). Way). In some versions, Zeus cursed Endymion because he fell in love with Queen Hera, wife of Zeus. In the center of the main panel Selene descends from her chariot, whose horses are held by a nymph, to join Endymion, who lies to the right. In the Greek calendar, they used the phases of the moon to calculate a month made up of three ten-day periods. 14)" in, Osborne, Robin, "Looking on Greek Style. How old is the United States of America? She drives her moon chariot across the heavens. [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". "From the panteon of the gods to the Pantheon of Rome" in, This page was last edited on 1 March 2023, at 02:32. Selenes chariot, unlike her brother Helios, usually only had two horses drawing it. Selene (probably) and Helios adorned the east pediment of the Parthenon, where the two, each driving a four-horsed chariot, framed a scene depicting the birth of Athena, with Helios and his chariot rising from the ocean on the left, and Selene and her chariot descending into the sea on the right. Though Selene, as the moon, was undeniably important to the ancient Greeks, there are very few descriptions of her in literature. [10] The Greek Stoic philosopher Chrysippus interpreted Selene and Men as, respectively, the female and male aspects of the same god. Every evening, Selene ushered in nightfall and then drove her chariot through the night before giving way to dawn. After all, mythology is storytelling at its finest. Described by Pausanias, it contained statues of Pasipha and Helios. Even though she, along with her siblings, was a Titan goddess because of her parentage, the three of them became quite central to the Greek pantheon and were accepted as Greek gods themselves after the fall of the great Titans. This was the mythological explanation for the movement of the moon across the sky. Hyginus, preface to Fabulae. 200 (cited in the scholia on Aristophanes Frogs 1033); Orphica frag. With his sister, the Titaness Theia, Hyperion fathered Helios (the Sun), Selene (the Moon) and Eos (the Dawn).. Hyperion was, along with his son Helios, a personification of the sun, with the two sometimes . [52] There are no mentions of Selene's chariot in either Homer or Hesiod,[53] but the Homeric Hymn to Selene, gives the following description: The air, unlit before, glows with the light of her golden crown, and her rays beam clear, whensoever bright Selene having bathed her lovely body in the waters of Ocean, and donned her far-gleaming raiment, and yoked her strong-necked, shining team, drives on her long-maned horses at full speed, at eventime in the mid-month: then her great orbit is full and then her beams shine brightest as she increases. Like most of the Titans, Selene was rarely worshipped in the ancient world. Selene was one of the three children of Hyperionand Theia, two of the original twelve Titans. The bull panicked, threw Ampelus and gored him to death. Endymion Her lunar sphere or crescent was either a crown set upon her head or the fold of a raised, shining cloak. 1. Divine Selene watched over the earth from the sky for three days and the night lingered so that day would not dawn. Pandia Usually said to be the daughter of Selene and Zeus, Pandia was also sometimes given as another name for Selene herself. 3 Most Important Characters in Greek Mythology, 5 Awesome Greek Mythology Fiction Books for Kids, Aphrodite Facts: Awesome Facts about the Goddess of Love and Beauty. Whenever the moon could not be seen in the night sky, it was because Selene had paused to take in Endymions beauty once again. Greek mythology has beautiful explanations for many natural phenomena. The lunar goddess was also important for her influence over female fertility cycles and childbirth. The three siblings clearly worked in conjunction with one another, since their roles and duties are so intrinsically linked. The moon was also believed to bring the night dew that nourished the plants and to bring sleep and rest to humankind. Most mythologists assumed that Selene was an older moon goddess that was replaced later by Artemis in myth. 116, no. 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. Watched over by nymphs and visited often by the goddess, it was marked by glowing moonstones and pure white rock. 260 M-W; Epimenides, FHG 4 frag. The poem describes the radiant light that shines from her head and calls her bright Selene. The moon goddess is described as white armed goddess and bright tressed queen and the poem celebrates her loveliness. This she shared with her siblings and other goddesses like Nyx. Whether by request or as punishment, Zeus put Endymion into an ageless sleep so he would remain eternally youthful beneath the night sky. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Gods of Death Pandia (or Pandia Selene) may have personified the full moon,[130] and an Athenian festival, called the Pandia, usually considered to be a festival for Zeus,[131] was perhaps celebrated on the full moon and may have been associated with Selene. Both of these Goddesses are also associated with Hecate. Wells, the sophisticated insect-like creatures that live on the moon are called Selenites, cleverly named after the Greek moon goddess. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. As Luna, she had temples at Rome on the Aventine and Palatine hills. According to Hesiods Theogony, her parents were the Titans Hyperion and Theia; her brother was Helios, the sun god (sometimes called her father); her sister was Eos (Dawn). She drives her moon chariot across the heavens. Accessed March 1, 2023. She was depicted as a woman riding sidesaddle on a horse or driving a chariot drawn by a pair of winged steeds. Were building the worlds most authoritative, online mythology resource, with engaging, accessible content that is both educational and compelling to read. [32], Selene was rarely worshipped, at least in earlier periods of ancient Greek history. ), The name Selene (Greek , translit. Selene. Mythopedia, December 07, 2022. https://mythopedia.com/topics/selene. Two of these were Artemis, the goddess of the hunt, and Hecate, the goddess of witchcraft. Monday, which the ancient Greeks named after the moon in honor of the moon goddess Selene, is still called that today, even though we might have forgotten the origins. Selene was never completely forgotten by the Greeks, but many of her duties and attributes were taken over by Artemisover time. [17] It seems however that unlike the Dawn (Eos) and the Sun (Helios), the Moon had very little importance in PIE mythology. [144] And, according to a scholium on Theocritus, Pindar wrote that lovesick women would pray to Selene for help, as Euripides apparently had Phaedra, Selene's great-niece, do in his lost play Hippolytus Veiled. Virgil, Georgics 3.391ff; Servius on Virgils Georgics 3.391 (citing the second-century BCE poet Nicander as the original source). Well, go on, and steel thy heart, wise though thou be, to take up thy burden of pain, fraught with many sighs."[70]. [12] Also from Artemis, Selene was sometimes called "Cynthia", meaning "she of Mount Cynthus" (the birthplace of Artemis). Though Selene almost never appears in modern adaptations of Greek mythology, she is nonetheless present in pop culture as the personification of the moon. [27], In late accounts, Selene (like the moon itself) is often described as having horns. Their daughter Eos was the first to appear each day. Corrections? [140] Nonnus also identified Selene with Eileithyia. [145] Plutarch wrote that Selene was called upon in love affairs because she, the Moon, constantly yearns for the Sun, and compared her in that regard to Isis. Mene The personification of the months was sometimes an aspect of Selene and sometimes a separate goddess. She was commonly depicted as a winged goddess, clad in a sweeping robe and a veil. I am the owner and chief researcher at this site. In some later accounts, she is known as the Horned Selene, perhaps due to the crescent moon upon the crown of her head. ( Greek mythology off and Artemis became the goddess of the dawn power in the scholia Aristophanes! Altars to Selene were few and far between times, Selene came to be called Phoebe or.... 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