There were still several goddesses who shared Selenes lunar domain, however. 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. Selene (Greek mythology) The goddess of the Moon. [79] While Quintus Smyrnaeus wrote that, while Endymion slept in his cave beside his cattle: and slid from heaven to earth; for passionate love, drew down the immortal stainless Queen of Night. [25], Two other sources also mention her hair. [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. She was born as one of the second generation of Titans, who were overthrown by the Olympians. [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. She announced the coming of her younger brother. [68] However, the first account of the story comes from the third-century BC Argonautica of Apollonius of Rhodes, which tells of Selene's "mad passion" and her visiting the "fair Endymion" in a cave on Mount Latmus:[69], And the Titanian goddess, the moon, rising from a far land, beheld her [Medea] as she fled distraught, and fiercely exulted over her, and thus spake to her own heart: In later times, Selene was often associated with Artemis in the same way that her brother Helios was associated with Artemis brother Apollo. Worshiped as one of the important celestial lights of the heavens, Selene was also reputedly revered as a deity of agriculture and fertility. [93] Aelian states: "They say that the Lion of Nemea fell from the moon", and quotes Epimenides as saying:[94], For I am sprung from fair-tressed Selene the Moon, who in a fearful shudder shook off the savage lion in Nemea, and brought him forth at the bidding of Queen Hera. Selene leaving her chariot, Roman mosaic, Andalusia. See esp. [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). This was the mythological explanation for the movement of the moon across the sky. Selenes siblings and Selene herself carried on their fathers legacy by shining light from the heavens upon the earth. [2] She was often associated with cycles of growth and agriculture, female menstruation, and mysterious diseases like epilepsy and demonic possession. [97] Hyginus says that Selene had "nourished" the lion in a "two-mouthed cave". [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. According to Nonnus, Typhoeus battled Selene by chucking bulls at her, then violently rushing her. 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. [16] In PIE mythology, the Moon, which is a male figure, was seen as forming a pairusually wedlockwith the Sun, which is a female figure, and which in Greek mythology is recognized in the male deity and Selene's brother Helios. The goddess of the hunt became associated with the moon and lunar cycles. [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. The Greeks followed a lunar calendar, making Selene one of the most important deities in the passage of time. [62] References to this magical trick, variously referred to as (kathairen), are scattered throughout ancient literature, whereas eclipses of both the Sun and the Moon were called kathaireseis ("casting-downs") by the Greek populace. 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. [63][66], Selene is best known for her affair with the beautiful mortal Endymion. So she is a sure token and a sign to mortal men. All of these qualities bound Selene to the natural phenomena of time and seasons and the rejuvenation of nature as well, even apart from her ability to shed light. While her husbands team of horses usually consisted of four animals, Selenes chariot, like her light, was less powerful. Often she was shown in a chariot drawn by a team of horses or oxen, but other times there was no chariot, and Selene would instead appear on the back of a horse or mule. [4], The name "Selene" is derived from the Greek noun selas (), meaning "light, brightness, gleam". 245 M-W; Pherecydes, FHG 1 frag. Like every celestial goddess , there was a yin to Selene's yang; In this case, there were two yins. [35] However, the Homeric Hymn to Hermes has Selene as the daughter of Pallas, the son of an otherwise unknown Megamedes. "[2][150][151], The ancient Greeks called Monday "day of the Moon" ( ) after her. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. Hypothesis to the scholia on Pindars Nemean Odes. Selene, the moon goddess, was reputed to have had many children by various fathers. Helios was one of the Titans, son of Hyperion and Theia and brother of Eos (the Dawn) and Selene (the Moon ). As the goddess of the division of the months, Selene was a goddess of time. Selene was the Greek goddess of the moon. the crescent moon, full moon, and dark moon, as delinted by the divisions of the calendar month).[154]. Other examples of lunar goddesses and gods are Selenes Roman equivalent Luna, the Mesopotamian Sin, the Egyptian god Khonsu, the Germanic Mani, the Japanese Shinto god Tsukuyomi, the Chinese Change, and the Hindu god Chandra. Her chariot was made of shining silver, bringing soft, clear light each night. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. [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. Finally, although this account is more in doubt, some stories say that Selene and her brother Helios together birthed one of the generations of the Horae, the goddesses of the seasons. There are three different ways you can cite this article. In ancient Greek mythology and religion, Selene ( / slini /; Greek: pronounced [seln], meaning "Moon" [2]) is the personification of the Moon. The most well-known story of Selene is her love of the mortal man Endymion. But while there, he committed some transgression (usually, he was said to have fallen in love with Zeus wife Hera). Attic red-figure kylix showing Selene riding the chariot of the moon, drawn by two winged horses. Seneca, Madness of Hercules 83; Hyginus, Fabulae 30; Aelian, On Animals 12.7 (citing Epimenides); etc. In this case, the story of Selene embracing Endymion, or Moon embraces Diver, refers to the sun setting and the moon rising. As Luna, she had temples at Rome on the Aventine and Palatine hills. [44] The 7th century BC Greek poet Alcman makes Ersa ("Dew") the daughter of Selene and Zeus. The story about the two says that Selene saw the mortal shepherd king Endymion, whom Zeus had cursed to an eternal sleep, and fell so in love with him that she wanted to spend eternity at the side of the human. Offended, she sent a gadfly to sting the bull; the surprised creature threw Ampelus and proceeded to gore him to death. She was descended . What are Hades Powers that are Really Scary? Whether this Pallas (called the son of Megamedes) is the same as the Titan Pallas or a different individual entirely is unclear. In some later accounts, she is known as the Horned Selene, perhaps due to the crescent moon upon the crown of her head. [121], In later second and third century AD Roman funerary art, the love of Selene for Endymion and his eternal sleep was a popular subject for artists. She was also well known for her many affairs with men and her love that possibly . Selene fought back the giant, locking horns with Typhon; afterwards, she carried many scars on her orb, reminiscent of their battle. She was unique, however, in her relationship with the orb itself. In some stories, Selene herself entreated Zeus to save her lover from the ravages of old age that would come for him as a mortal. Because Basileia's other brothers envied these offspring, and feared that Hyperion would try to seize power for himself, they conspired against him. 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.. If you thought Artemis was the Greek goddess of the moon, you are only partially right. [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. Did a Lion-Headed Monster Exist in Greek Mythology. There was an Athenian festival named the Pandia, held in honor of Zeus, which was perhaps celebrated on a full moon night. Instead, Zeus collected all the herbs for himself. 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]. Same thing happened with Helius and Apollo. However, in the science fiction book The First Men on the Moon by H.G. [114] From Pausanias, we learn that Selene and Helios also framed the birth of Aphrodite on the base of the Statue of Zeus at Olympia. fr. What are Pan God Powers in Greek Mythology? Selene detail from a sarcophagus, imperial period. Their names differed from the other triads of Horae and they were considered to be the personifications of the four seasons itself. In the Homeric Hymn to Selene, she bears the beautiful Pandeic to Zeus, while Alcman says they are the parents of Herse, the dew. [112], Selene was often paired with her brother Helios. Rheinisches Museum Fr Philologie, vol. Grapevines then rose from Ampelus corpse, from which the heartbroken Dionysus made wine for the first time. It seems that Selene was not uninvolved in the twelve tasks of Heracles either. Robert S. P. Beekes, Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden: Brill, 2009), 2:131819. In the most familiar account, Selene first saw the beautiful Endymion as he lay sleeping in a cave on Mount Latmus. Hecate and her followers, for example, asked Selene for her cooperation in their magic. [76] The Roman playwright Seneca, has Selene abandoned the night sky for Endymion's sake having entrusted her "shining" moon chariot to her brother Helios to drive. We knew of her that she was a goddess of the moon, but so was Artemis (Greek mythology) . 1. Privacy Policy. [134], Selene was sometimes associated with childbirth, for it was believed that during the full moon women had the easiest labours; this helped in her identification with the goddess Artemis,[138] as well as other goddesses connected to women's labours. 112114; Palagia 2005, Examples, among many others, include sarcophagi in the, This Epigenes has been tentatively identified with, Although usually the daughter of Hyperion and Theia, as in, Online version at Demonax | Hellenic Library, Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, The American School of Classical Studies at Athens, "Kaguya Another Chapter for the Lunar Saga", Online version at Harvard University Press, Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae, Online version at the Perseus Digital Library, Online version at the Perseus Digital Library (Latin), Classical mythology in western art and literature, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Selene&oldid=1142206020, Articles containing Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text, Articles having different image on Wikidata and Wikipedia, Pages using sidebar with the child parameter, Wikipedia articles incorporating a citation from the 1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica with Wikisource reference, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, Cohen, Beth, "Outline as a Special Technique in Black- and Red-figure Vase-painting", in. Hesiod, Theogony 371ff; Apollodorus, Library 1.2.2; etc. 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. Kapach, Avi. Her brother Helios shone as the sun, while her sister Eos was the goddess of the dawn. 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. 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. Nyx is the goddess of the night and is thus associated with the new moon. The altars to Selene were few and far between. Privacy. Selene could still see her sleeping love whenever she pleased, but the pressures of time and mortality were taken off her. The Greeks followed a lunar calendar, in which months were delineated by the cycles of the moon. Selene, one of the younger generation of Titans, was also the Greek goddess of the moon. Greek months began with the first new moon and were organized into three ten-day weeks that roughly followed the progression of the lunar cycle. As time progressed, they merged into one identity. The first mention of the moon goddess in Greek mythology was probably in the Homeric Hymns. The goddess Selene was the daughter of Titius Hyperion and Theia. She was depicted as a woman riding sidesaddle on a horse or driving a chariot drawn by a pair of winged steeds. [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. She was known for being the only Greek moon goddess portrayed as the embodiment of the moon by the ancient poets. His rites also brought a form of madness about in his followers, who often celebrated under the light of the moon. Accessed March 1, 2023. The most famous story of Selene, however, concerns her love for a mortal man. Kapach, A. The lunar goddess was also important for her influence over female fertility cycles and childbirth. Her grandparents are Gaia, (Mother Earth) and Uranus (Father Sky). The name Selene is also quite popular in the English-speaking world. It is unclear how much of a choice Endymion himself may have had in the matter, although there are versions of the myth which say that Endymion had fallen in love with the beautiful moon goddess as well and asked Zeus to keep him in a state of eternal sleep so that he could be with her forever. Specifically, she was a goddess who controlled the dangerous creatures of the sea. With Zeus she is the mother of Pandeia goddess of dew. [86] Additionally, on a rein guide for a chariot a goddess thought to be Selene with a crescent and veil over her head is depicted, who stands with Helios on a gate tower and tries to repel the attacks of snake-legged Giants. There were other goddesses worshiped by the Greeks who were widely associated with the moon themselves. Selene, goddess of the moon, truly represented the moon itself to the Greeks. However, hers might not be a name that is quite as well-known. Selene herself most often wore a crown of gleaming silver, which matched her silver chariot. Plato, Republic 2.364e; Philochorus, Fragmenta Historicorum Graecorum (FHG) 1 frag. (Also, the name of the Titan Goddess Phoebe and an epithet of Artemis.). This she shared with her siblings and other goddesses like Nyx. [126] Pausanias also described seeing two stone images in the market-place of Elis, one of the sun and the other of the moon, from the heads of which projected the rays of the sun and the horns of the crescent moon. There are different versions of this story. This, of course, is not the first celestial body to be named after the goddess since Selene is the proper Greek name for the moon itself. Selene The Greek God Selene is best known as the Titan Goddess of the moon. [148] Records show that a type of cake called (bos, "ox") decorated with horns to represent the full moon or an ox was offered to her and other divinities like Hecate, Artemis and Apollo. 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