selene greek mythology

[27], In late accounts, Selene (like the moon itself) is often described as having horns. She is pale, beautiful and indefinably alluring. 116, no. 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. While her brother was clad in shining gold, her light was softer and more clear. [59] Though the moon chariot is often described as being silver,[60] for Pindar it was golden. Selene was said to have several consorts but the man that the goddess of the moon was most linked with was the mortal Endymion. Kapach, Avi. Perhaps the most colorful ancient description of Selene comes from Homeric Hymn 32 (the Homeric Hymn to Selene). There are different versions of this story. Her brother, Helios, is the god of the sun, and her sister, Eos, is the goddess of the dawn. Her brother Helios shone as the sun, while her sister Eos was the goddess of the dawn. But Selene was also called by many generic epithets that were used for other goddesses as well, including (euplokmos, she of the beautiful hair), (leuklnos, white-armed), (glaukpis, gray-eyed, bright-eyed, an epithet most commonly associated with Athena), and (kyanpis, dark-eyed, essentially the opposite of glaukpis). Mitchell, Lucy M., "Sculptures of the Great Pergamon Altar" in The Century Magazine, 1883. Selene fought back the giant, locking horns with Typhon; afterwards, she carried many scars on her orb, reminiscent of their battle. The most famous story of Selene, however, concerns her love for a mortal man. 7 (all cited in the scholia on Apollonius of Rhodes Argonautica 4.57); Sappho, frag. These two goddesses have additional association with Hecate. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Gods of Death [19] 'Helen' is related to 'Helios' instead, and it seems that they two figures stem from a common Proto-Indo-European ancestor, the Sun Maiden.[20][21]. Selene does not appear in modern adaptations of Greek myths, since she is not exactly one of the major Greek gods like Zeus or Aphrodite. 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. Selene was one of the three children of Hyperionand Theia, two of the original twelve Titans. Watched over by nymphs and visited often by the goddess, it was marked by glowing moonstones and pure white rock. 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. In antiquity, Selene would also often be depicted either riding upon a bull, or upon a silvery chariot drawn by two winged horses. 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. In later eras, she became associated with madness as well. Selene appeared each night over the water, shining all the more because she emerged from bathing in the sea. Depending on the author, the chariot was either silver,[6] snow white,[7] or gold. A variation of this symbol was the nimbus, which surrounded her head, depicting the celestial light she bestowed on the world. What are Pan God Powers in Greek Mythology? Every evening, Selene ushered in nightfall and then drove her chariot through the night before giving way to dawn. Nyx is the goddess of the night and is thus associated with the new moon. 2022 Wasai LLC. Greek mythology, body of stories concerning the gods, heroes, and rituals of the ancient Greeks. She was said to represent the full moon. [61], In antiquity, the lunar eclipse phenomena were thought to be caused by witches, particularly the ones from Thessaly, who brought the Moon/Selene down with spells and invocations of magic. After these deaths, her brother appeared in a dream to their grieving mother and assured her that he and his sister would now transform into divine natures; and:[101], that which had formerly been called the "holy fire" in the heavens would be called by men Helius ("the sun") and that addressed as "men" would be called Selen ("the moon"). Having risen to power in the generation of Zeus, they were universally revered and worshiped. [125] An oracular sanctuary existed near Thalamai in Laconia. This irritated Endymion, and enraged Selene, who transforms the girl into a fly (Ancient Greek: , romanized:mua). [142] In Theocritus' second Idyll, a young girl invokes Selene in a love-spell. However, her greatest love was a lowly mortal named Endymion. Selene herself, upon discovering this, took her own life. 14 In works of art, however, the two divinities are usually distinguished; the face of She was born as one of the second generation of Titans, who were overthrown by the Olympians. Whether this Pallas (called the son of Megamedes) is the same as the Titan Pallas or a different individual entirely is unclear. 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. A third version of the story had Endymion himself choose an ageless sleep as opposed to living a mortal life. But unlike other night goddesseslike Nyx, Hecate, and sometimes even ArtemisSelene represented the moon itself. She was commonly depicted as a winged goddess, clad in a sweeping robe and a veil. [104] Zeus agrees, urged by Selene's complaints and having long intended to deal with the philosophers himself. She was depicted as a woman riding sidesaddle on a horse or driving a chariot drawn by a pair of winged steeds. 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. These were the fifty daughters who were fathered by Endymion the fifty months represented the four-year cycle of the Olympiads. In another story she was loved by Pan. [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. Her appearance matched the night sky she drove through. Selene's Roman name was Lunar. As the most important and visible features in the sky, the people of ancient Greece thought that Selene, goddess of the moon, and her brother Helios, god of the sun, were the ones responsible for the movement of the two celestial bodies across the sky. Along with presiding over dangerous sea creatures, Ceto produced her own set of frightening . Those that do exist are somewhat generic (like the previously mentioned epithets). [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. 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. Her request granted, Selene visited him regularly; some sources even reported that they had children together (see above).[27]. She also had a statue, alongside Helios, in the public marketplace of Elis. Both of these Goddesses are also associated with Hecate. [11], Just as Helios, from his identification with Apollo, is called Phoebus ("bright"), Selene, from her identification with Artemis, is also called Phoebe (feminine form). Upon the head of Selene was normally found a crown that was representative of the spherical moon. While there were many goddesses associated with the moon and lunar powers, Selene personified the moon and its light. The most well-known story of Selene is her love of the mortal man Endymion. Hesiod, Catalogue of Women frag. Who was Vesta, the Goddess of the Hearth? 573 Bernab. 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]. [117] Selene also appears on horseback as part of the Gigantomachy frieze of the Pergamon Altar. The lunar goddess was also important for her influence over female fertility cycles and childbirth. Instead, Zeus collected all the herbs for himself. Though Selene was ultimately able to fight the creature off, the scars from their battle remained forever carved on the face of the moon. Endymion was, depending on the source, a prince in exile or a simple shepherd. Accessed March 1, 2023. 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. Pan, the god of the wild, supposedly seduced Selene while dressed in a sheepskin. 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. In the most familiar account, Selene first saw the beautiful Endymion as he lay sleeping in a cave on Mount Latmus. Selene was a Titan goddess in Greek mythology, daughter of the Titans Hyperion and Theia. See esp. Francoise Gury, Selene/Luna, in Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae (Zurich: Artemis, 1994), 7:70615. I am the owner and chief researcher at this site. There are three different ways you can cite this article. Like Artemis, Selene was sometimes called Phoebe, a name that means bright one.. Each day she drives her two-horse chariot, heralding the breaking of the new day and her brother's arrival. 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. According to Hesiods Theogony, Selene was born of Hyperion and Theia. In some versions, Zeus cursed Endymion because he fell in love with Queen Hera, wife of Zeus. The two other daughters that Selene and Zeus had together was Nemea, the nymph of the town that the Nemean Lion was from, and Ersa, the personified version of dew. Though Selene had many consorts, the most famous of them was Endymion, a handsome young mortal. "From the panteon of the gods to the Pantheon of Rome" in, This page was last edited on 1 March 2023, at 02:32. Her name was spelt differently in the different dialects of the Greeks but the meaning was the same. [87], According to the late account of Nonnus, when the gigantic monster Typhon laid siege against the heavens, he attacked Selene as well by hurling bulls at her, though she managed to stay in her course, and rushed at her hissing like a viper. That was a basic unit of how the Greeks measured time in the old days. The fifty daughters of Selene and Endymion mark the fifty lunar months of the four year Olympiad Cycle. [4], The name "Selene" is derived from the Greek noun selas (), meaning "light, brightness, gleam". the crescent moon, full moon, and dark moon, as delinted by the divisions of the calendar month).[154]. 200 (cited in the scholia on Aristophanes Frogs 1033); Orphica frag. However, Selene was not one of them. [28], Another version is known only from Lucian, a satirical writer from the second century CE. [7] The Greek word mene, meant the moon, and the lunar month. [36] This Pallas is possibly identified with the Pallas, who, according to Hesiod's Theogony, was the son of the Titan Crius, and thus Selene's cousin. At that time, he did not wish for the sun to rise for three days and sent instructions to Selene via Hermes so it should be so. SELENE was the Titan goddess of the moon. 68 A75 D-K). [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. Artemis has been commonly associated with Selene. She was depicted as a woman riding sidesaddle on a horse or driving a chariot drawn by a pair of winged steeds. Myth Early History Selene was the daughter of the titans, Hyperion and Theia, sister to Helios (the sun) and Eos (dawn). Her presence is felt in something as simple as the names of the days of the week. Two of these were Artemis, the goddess of the hunt, and Hecate, the goddess of witchcraft. 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. For centuries, those affected by mental illness were referred to as lunatics.. 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. Homeric Hymns 32.14ff, trans. Like every celestial goddess , there was a yin to Selene's yang; In this case, there were two yins. The brother and sister married each other and had three children: Eos (the goddess of the dawn), Helios (the sun god), and Selene (the moon goddess). 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. She drives her moon chariot across the heavens. Zeus heard of that, and ordered Selene as well as her siblings Helios (Sun) and Eos (Dawn) not to shine, and harvested all of that plant for himself. [84] Selene's participation in the battle is evidenced by her inclusion in the Gigantomachy frieze of the Pergamon Altar, fighting against Giants next to her siblings Helios and Eos and her mother Theia in the southern frieze. 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. There are a number of stories about the moon goddess Selene in Greek mythology, in association with the other Greek gods, especially Zeus. For other uses, see, Detail of Selene from a Roman sarcophagus, A winged Selene seems to be unique to this. Occasionally she asked her brother to take over her duties so she could spend more time on the ground with Endymion. Her chariot was made of shining silver, bringing soft, clear light each night. Quintus of Smyrna, Posthomerica 10.336ff; cf. (Similarly, Selenes brother Helios came to be identified with Artemis brother Apollo. Many of Selenes epithetsincluding (agl, gleaming), (pasiph, all-shining), and (tanyspteros, long-winged)reflected her lunar qualities and other distinctive attributes. Gaia, the primordial Titan goddess and grandmother to the Olympian gods and goddesses, was enraged when her children were defeated in the Titanomachy and imprisoned in Tartarus. [23] She was, however, the subject of one of the thirty-three Homeric Hymns, which gives the following description: And next, sweet voiced Muses, daughters of Zeus, well-skilled in song, tell of the long-winged[24] Moon. 2. Her grandparents are Gaia, (Mother Earth) and Uranus (Father Sky). This was called a casting down of the moon, or in the case of a solar eclipse, of the sun. [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. The sky was dark at night and the sun more lethargic than usual. The bull panicked, threw Ampelus and gored him to death. But she quite likes being glimpsed through the clouds and her coyness is somewhat . Mythopedia. 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.. 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. 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. [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). A womans fertility was said to be influenced by the cycles of the moon, a belief that gave English the word menses, and under Selenes influence women were said to have an easier time in childbirth than they did during the day. The personification of the Sun, he was portrayed as driving a four-horse chariot across the sky on a daily basis. Selene was the daughter of the Titans Hyperion and Theia. Selene and Endymion, fresco on ceiling by Giuseppe Antonio Orelli, circa 1730-1770, Palazzo Riva. 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. There were some witches who people thought could make the moon or the sun disappear from the sky at a specified time, although it is more likely that such people, if they did exist, simply had the ability to predict when an eclipse was going to happen. Selene had a relationship with the god Pan, according to Virgil. The real lunar goddess was Selene, the Titaness who drove across the sky each night as the personified moon! [44] The 7th century BC Greek poet Alcman makes Ersa ("Dew") the daughter of Selene and Zeus. His rites also brought a form of madness about in his followers, who often celebrated under the light of the moon. iPhone History: A Timeline of Every Model in Order Whatever his profession, the handsome young man frequently slept beneath the open sky. 13 In later times Selene was identified with Artemis, and the worship of the two became amalgamated. My name is Mike and for as long as I can remember (too long!) From her immortal head a radiance is shown from heaven and embraces earth; and great is the beauty that ariseth from her shining light. [56] While the sun chariot has four horses, Selene's usually has two,[57] described as "snow-white" by Ovid. In her Full Moon state, she is Panselene or . Selene, like her siblings, was a Titan goddess because of her birth but they were no less important to the Greeks. She is dressed in the finest silk robes and travels in her silver moon chariot drawn by luminous steeds across the heavens. Whenever the moon could not be seen in the night sky, it was because Selene had paused to take in Endymions beauty once again. [85][86] Selene gallops sidesaddle in advance, and wears a woolen undergarment and a mantle. The goddess of the hunt became associated with the moon and lunar cycles. [8] The masculine form of mene (men) was also the name of the Phrygian moon-god Men. [63][66], Selene is best known for her affair with the beautiful mortal Endymion. Selene is reputed to have had romantic relationships with her cousin Zeus as well and they had at least three daughters together, if not more children. Though Selene, as the moon, was undeniably important to the ancient Greeks, there are very few descriptions of her in literature. [55] The geographer Pausanias, reports seeing a relief of Selene driving a single horse, as it seemed to him, or as some said, a mule, on the pedestal of the Statue of Zeus at Olympia (c. 435 BC). Selene (Greek mythology) The goddess of the Moon. Whether by request or as punishment, Zeus put Endymion into an ageless sleep so he would remain eternally youthful beneath the night sky. Artemis is also a Goddess of the moon. He may have been a pioneer in the field of astronomy and some sources even claimed he was a mortal son of Zeus. 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. [75] Cicero seems to make Selene responsible for Endymion's sleep, so that "she might kiss him while sleeping". Greek mythology has beautiful explanations for many natural phenomena. Girl into a fly ( ancient Greek:, romanized: mua ) would! 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