The Theoi Project galleries contain more than 1,200 images of ancient Greek and Roman art. [118], Selene is commonly depicted with a crescent moon, often accompanied by stars; sometimes, instead of a crescent, a lunar disc is used. 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. As the daughter of the Titan god of heavenly light, it is an apt name. [45] Selene and Zeus were also said to be the parents of Nemea, the eponymous nymph of Nemea, where Heracles slew the Nemean Lion, and where the Nemean Games were held. The second Japanese lunar orbiter spacecraft following was named SELENE (Selenological and Engineering Explorer) after Selene, and was also known as Kaguya in Japan. Plato, Republic 2.364e; Philochorus, Fragmenta Historicorum Graecorum (FHG) 1 frag. 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. Selene, one of the younger generation of Titans, was also the Greek goddess of the moon. Thus, Selene falling for Endymion was supposed to represent moonrise every night. Depending on the author, the chariot was either silver,[6] snow white,[7] or gold. Selene (Greek mythology) The goddess of the Moon. [64][65] Those who brought down the Moon were thought to bring ill fortune upon themselves, as evidenced by the proverb ("you are bringing down the Moon on yourself") said for those who caused self-inflicted evils; some witches supposedly avoided this fate by sacrificing their children or their eyeballs. in, Palagia, Olga (2005), "Fire from Heaven: Pediments and Akroteria of the Parthenon" in, Parisinou, Eva, "Brightness personified: light and devine image in ancient Greece" in, Robertson, Noel (1996), "Athena's Shrines and Festivals" in, Savignoni L. 1899. H. G. Evelyn-White; cf. 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. 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. They put Hyperion to the sword, and drowned Helios in the river Eridanus. In post-classical times, Selene was often identified with Artemis, much as her brother, Helios, was identified with Apollo. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. 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. On the other hand, her eyes and hair were believed to have been as dark as the night. [142] In Theocritus' second Idyll, a young girl invokes Selene in a love-spell. Selene, the goddess of the moon, has two siblings: Eos, the goddess of the dawn, and Helios, the sun god. This is a relatively late text. Selene visited the sleeping Endymion where he lay alone in a cave everyday and had fifty daughters with him, the Menai, the personification of the Greek lunar months. So she is a sure token and a sign to mortal men. While most of the Homeric Hymns were written in the seventh or sixth century BCE, the Homeric Hymn to Selene was probably composed no earlier than the fourth century BCE. Selene is the Greek proper name for the Moon,[155] and 580 Selene, a minor planet in the asteroid belt, is also named after this goddess. There were still several goddesses who shared Selenes lunar domain, however. The Homeric Hymn to Helios uses the same epithet ("bright-tressed"), used in the above Hymn to Selene (elsewhere translated as "rich-", "lovely-", or "well-tressed"),[26] while Epimenides uses the epithet ("lovely-haired"). 1. Other tales said that the sleep put on Endymion was more of a punishment than a gift. Most famous classical poets describe her beauty as so intriguing that gods and mortals alike could not resist her godly charms. [34] She also had a sacred statue (which stood alongside one of her brother Helios) in the public market of Elis.[35]. Hurwit, Jeffery M. (2017), "Helios Rising: The Sun, the Moon, and the Sea in the Sculptures of the Parthenon", Jones, Prudence H., "A Goddess Arrives: Nineteenth Century Sources of the New Age Triple Moon Goddess" in. [8] The masculine form of mene (men) was also the name of the Phrygian moon-god Men. She was unique, however, in her relationship with the orb itself. Selene. Mythopedia, December 07, 2022. https://mythopedia.com/topics/selene. The most important of Selenes symbols was her moon chariot. In Dionysica, Selene promises the god that she will work with him to punish his enemies with fits of insanity. Although she counts as a goddess in her own right, Selene often gets associated with archer goddess, Artemis, who is also a moon goddess. Her request granted, Selene visited him regularly; some sources even reported that they had children together (see above).[27]. Mitchell, Lucy M., "Sculptures of the Great Pergamon Altar" in The Century Magazine, 1883. 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. The idea that Selene would also give easy labours to women paved way for identification with Hera and the Roman Juno and Lucina, three other childbirth goddesses; Plutarch calls Selene "Hera in material form. And now thou thyself too hast part in a like mad passion; and some god of affliction has given thee Jason to be thy grievous woe. Artemis is also a Goddess of the moon. Ceto - Goddess of the Water. 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. Updates? When Selene spied him sleeping in a cave, she immediately fell in love and asked Zeus to extend his sleep for all eternity. Myth Early History Selene was the daughter of the titans, Hyperion and Theia, sister to Helios (the sun) and Eos (dawn). She was also well known for her many affairs with men and her love that possibly . [16][18], Although attempts have been made to connect Selene to Helene due to the similarity of their names, in two early dedications to Helen from Laconia her name is spelled with a digamma (Ancient Greek: , romanized:Welna), ruling out any possible connection between them. Together, they fittingly created three sources of celestial illumination. The scientist Jons Jacob Berzelius named it such since the element was very similar in nature to tellurium, which was named after the Earth, whose Greek name is Tellus. Selene was, while not worshiped openly, apparently the object of many spells and invocations addressed to her by young women. 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. The chemical element Selenium was named after Selene by Jns Jacob Berzelius, because of the element's similarity to the element tellurium, named for the Earth (Tellus).[156][157]. Virgil, Georgics 3.391ff; Servius on Virgils Georgics 3.391 (citing the second-century BCE poet Nicander as the original source). According to the Catalogue of Women, Endymion was the son of Aethlius (a son of Zeus), and Zeus granted him the right to choose when he would die. [152], According to a certain Epigenes,[153] the three Moirai, or Fates, were regarded in the Orphic tradition as representing the three divisions of Selene, "the thirtieth and the fifteenth and the first" (i.e. The myth of Selene, the moon goddess, is no exception. [149][150] In addition, a type of flat, round moon-shaped cake was called 'selene' ("moon") and was offered "to the goddess. How Did Uranus get its Name as Per Greek Mythology? During the night, Selene would drive her chariot with the moon across the sky. 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. [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). Hesiod, Catalogue of Women frag. Selene, the goddess of the moon, was the youngest of the three siblings. For other uses, see, Detail of Selene from a Roman sarcophagus, A winged Selene seems to be unique to this. [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. Selene - or Luna as the Romans called her - is the goddess of the moon, driving a horse-drawn chariot across the night sky. What are Pan God Powers in Greek Mythology? Kapach, Avi. Goddess Selene is often portrayed in art and in myths generally, riding a chariot across the sky. Along with Selenes siblings, the moon goddess suppressed her light so that the mighty Titanan goddess could not find a herb that would reputedly make the Giants invincible. Artemis has been commonly associated with Selene. For centuries, those affected by mental illness were referred to as lunatics.. Though Selene had many consorts, the most famous of them was Endymion, a handsome young mortal. Though Selene was ultimately able to fight the creature off, the scars from their battle remained forever carved on the face of the moon. Altes Museum, Berlin, Germany. [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. 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. Endymion was, depending on the source, a prince in exile or a simple shepherd. [106], According to pseudo-Plutarch, Lilaeus was an Indian shepherd who only worshipped Selene among the gods and performed her rituals and mysteries at night. The light that humans saw from earth emanate from them, a legacy of their lustrous father. Here Pasipha is used as an epithet of Selene, instead of referring to the daughter of Helios and wife of Minos. She was often said to be the mother of the Horai, the personifications of the division of time and the seasons. Athena, also spelled Athene, in Greek religion, the city protectress, goddess of war, handicraft, and practical reason, identified by the Romans with Minerva. Selene is a Titan goddess in Greek mythology. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Gods of Death [107], Ovid mentions how in the myth of Phaethon, Helios' son who drove his father's chariot for a day, when Phaethon lost control of the chariot and burned the earth, Selene in the sky looked down to see in amazement her brother's horses running wild lower than normal. Pandia Usually said to be the daughter of Selene and Zeus, Pandia was also sometimes given as another name for Selene herself. The Origin of Hotdogs, The History of Boracay Island in The Philippines. Sometimes these were winged horses, although some later accounts had the chariot drawn by bulls. [141], Selene played an important role in love magic. Selene's Roman name was Lunar. Privacy Policy. [140] Nonnus also identified Selene with Eileithyia. But the Greek cult of Selene grew more and more prevalent towards the end of the Hellenistic period (32331 BCE). However, Selene was not one of them. [63][66], Selene is best known for her affair with the beautiful mortal Endymion. In her later identification with Artemis, Selene came to be called Phoebe or Cynthia. Also known as Mene, she is traditionally the daughter of the Titans Hyperion and Theia, and sister of the sun god Helios and the dawn goddess Eos. [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. Selene was written off and Artemis became the goddess of the moon, hunting, and animals. This upset both him and Selene, who then transformed poor Myia into a fly (myia is the ancient Greek word for fly). That leaves Artemis and Selene. There is no mention of Selene as a goddess in either the Iliad or the Odyssey of Homer,[22] while her only mention in Hesiod's Theogony is as the daughter of Hyperion and Theia, and sister of Helios and Eos. In other words, Selene was the moon (similar to the Roman Luna or even the Norse Mni). Whatever his profession, the handsome young man frequently slept beneath the open sky. While her husbands team of horses usually consisted of four animals, Selenes chariot, like her light, was less powerful. Eos represented the warm light that could be seen coming up above the horizon before the sun appeared in full. 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]. "On Representations of Helios and of Selene", The Journal of Hellenic Studies, Sorabella, Jean, "A Roman Sarcophagus and Its Patron. This irritated Endymion, and enraged Selene, who transforms the girl into a fly (Ancient Greek: , romanized:mua). Though Selene almost never appears in modern adaptations of Greek mythology, she is nonetheless present in pop culture as the personification of the moon. Mythopedia. As the goddess of the division of the months, Selene was a goddess of time. Selene was a Titan goddess in Greek mythology, daughter of the Titans Hyperion and Theia. Selenes Roman counterpart was called Luna (from the Latin word meaning moon). [96] Pseudo-Plutarch's On Rivers has Hera collaborating with Selene, "employing magical incantations" to create the Nemean Lion from a chest filled with foam. [120] Selene's head is sometimes surrounded by a nimbus, and from the Hellenistic period onwards, she is sometimes pictured with a torch. [113] Selene and Helios also appear on the North Metopes of the Parthenon, with Selene this time entering the sea on horseback. E.g., Thucydides, Histories 7.50.4; Tacitus, Annals 1.28.1ff. [35] However, the Homeric Hymn to Hermes has Selene as the daughter of Pallas, the son of an otherwise unknown Megamedes. Selene. Mythopedia, 7 Dec. 2022. https://mythopedia.com/topics/selene. The moon goddess Selene had two siblings the sun and the dawn, also known as Helios and Eos respectively. 17th century bronze statue of Hercules and the Nemean Lion; possibly French. She began to do this every night, leaving her chariot behind and making the sky dark with her absence. Selene and Endymion, in the mural above the stage of the Friedrich von Thiersch Saal in the Wiesbaden Kurhaus. 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. 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. Privacy. 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. They included: The lunar goddesses sometimes worked together. 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