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]. Selene, goddess of the moon, truly represented the moon itself to the Greeks. Helios was one of the Titans, son of Hyperion and Theia and brother of Eos (the Dawn) and Selene (the Moon ). iPhone History: A Timeline of Every Model in Order [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. Her father was the Titan god of heavenly light, while her mother represented the blue color of the sky. The moon goddess was said to have had several lovers, including Zeus and the wild god Pan. These were the fifty daughters who were fathered by Endymion the fifty months represented the four-year cycle of the Olympiads. Selene is the goddess of the moon. Another myth describes how Selene held her own against the monster Typhoeus when he attacked the gods. The Greeks followed a lunar calendar, making Selene one of the most important deities in the passage of time. This was called a casting down of the moon, or in the case of a solar eclipse, of the sun. Two of these were Artemis, the goddess of the hunt, and Hecate, the goddess of witchcraft. [8], Selene began appearing in the visual arts around the early fifth century BCE. 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.. For centuries, those affected by mental illness were referred to as lunatics.. Her brother, Helios, is the god of the sun, and her sister, Eos, is the goddess of the dawn. Endymion Thus, Selene falling for Endymion was supposed to represent moonrise every night. A variation of this symbol was the nimbus, which surrounded her head, depicting the celestial light she bestowed on the world. [4] Here she is represented as a radiant goddess, wearing a crown and beautiful robes and riding a horse-drawn chariot across the night sky: From her immortal head a radiance is shown from heaven and embraces earth; and great is the beauty that ariseth from her shining light. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Gods of Death Artemis has been commonly associated with Selene. Selene - The Moon Goddess - Greek Mythology - See U in History Art: Marcus AquinoColor: Rod Fernandes#GreekMythology #Mythology #SeeUinHistory #History #Myth. Greek Mythology >> Galleries GALLERIES. [141], Selene played an important role in love magic. Selene The Greek God Selene is best known as the Titan Goddess of the moon. Hesiod, Theogony 371ff; Apollodorus, Library 1.2.2; etc. [8] The masculine form of mene (men) was also the name of the Phrygian moon-god Men. [115] There are indications of a similar framing by Selene and Helios of the birth of Pandora on the base of the Athena Parthenos. If youve ever wondered what role the moon played in ancient life, here is your chance to learn about how the Greeks viewed Selene, the personification of the moon. SELENE was the Titan goddess of the moon. Modern audiences do not often think about Selenes cyclical nature, however. 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. In her later identification with Artemis, Selene came to be called Phoebe or Cynthia. But while there, he committed some transgression (usually, he was said to have fallen in love with Zeus wife Hera). Selene was, while not worshiped openly, apparently the object of many spells and invocations addressed to her by young women. [32], The usual account of Selene's origin is given by Hesiod in his Theogony, where the sun-god Hyperion espoused his sister Theia, who gave birth to "great Helios and clear Selene and Eos who shines upon all that are on earth and upon the deathless Gods who live in the wide heaven". [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. Selene is probably most famous for her love of Endymion, a handsome young man from Asia Minor (though some said that he was from Elis). Helios, the son of Hyperion and Theia, was their second child. Her brother Helios shone as the sun, while her sister Eos was the goddess of the dawn. According to Lucian, Selene had a rival for Endymions love named Myia. Selene was not the only goddess the Greeks associated with the moon. [95], Anaxagoras also reports that the Nemean lion was said to have fallen from the moon. Having risen to power in the generation of Zeus, they were universally revered and worshiped. Selenes siblings and Selene herself carried on their fathers legacy by shining light from the heavens upon the earth. This was known as the Gigantomachy. Her brother is Helios, the Sun and her sister is Eos, the Dawn. Each day she drives her two-horse chariot, heralding the breaking of the new day and her brother's arrival. The three children have become much more well-known in general Greek literature than their parents, especially after the fall from grace of Hyperion, who stood by his brother Cronus in the latters war against Zeus and was banished to Tartarus for it. Chiswick House, London, UK. 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]. 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. 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. fr. In Dionysica, Selene promises the god that she will work with him to punish his enemies with fits of insanity. She was depicted as a woman riding sidesaddle on a horse or driving a chariot drawn by a pair of winged steeds. Many of these old communities followed the lunar calendar and that made the moon a center of their faith and worship in many ways. Her father was the Titan god of heavenly light, while her mother represented the blue color of the sky. To link to this article in the text of an online publication, please use this URL: https://historycooperative.org/selene-greek-goddess-of-the-moon/. "[2][150][151], The ancient Greeks called Monday "day of the Moon" ( ) after her. She is the daughter of the Titans Hyperion and Theia, and sister of the sun-god Helios, and Eos, goddess of the dawn. So she is a sure token and a sign to mortal men. Selene and Endymion by Sebastiano Ricci (1713). She walked as quietly as possible to avoid frightening Endymion as he slept. According to the Homeric Hymn 32, Selene and Zeus together had a daughter named Pandia. [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. [28], Another version is known only from Lucian, a satirical writer from the second century CE. 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). Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). [72] A scholiast on Apollonius says that, according to Epimenides, Endymion fell in love with Hera, and Zeus punished him with eternal sleep. Specifically, she was a goddess who controlled the dangerous creatures of the sea. Nonnus, Dionysiaca 12.1ff (who names Helios as the father of the Horae but does not name the mother). 3 (cited in the scholia on Apollonius of Rhodes Argonautica 4.57). This she shared with her siblings and other goddesses like Nyx. These two goddesses have additional association with Hecate. Selene, like her siblings, was a Titan goddess because of her birth but they were no less important to the Greeks. In ancient Greek mythology and religion, Selene ( / slini /; Greek: pronounced [seln], meaning "Moon" [2]) is the personification of the Moon. 14)" in, Osborne, Robin, "Looking on Greek Style. Way). [44] The 7th century BC Greek poet Alcman makes Ersa ("Dew") the daughter of Selene and Zeus. In fact, there were several female deities who shared this domain. Selene saw him as she passed overhead and fell deeply in love. She was the Greek goddess of the Moon and her sisters were the Eos and Helios. [112], Selene was often paired with her brother Helios. In some versions, Zeus cursed Endymion because he fell in love with Queen Hera, wife of Zeus. Seln) was also the ancient Greek word meaning moon. The etymology is uncertain, but it appears to be related to the Greek word (slas, light) and the Proto-Indo-European word *l(o)uksneh- (moon), from which we also derive the Latin word for moon, luna. The animals, however, were almost always shown as pure white regardless of their type. The bull panicked, threw Ampelus and gored him to death. The first mention of the moon goddess in Greek mythology was probably in the Homeric Hymns. Wells, the sophisticated insect-like creatures that live on the moon are called Selenites, cleverly named after the Greek moon goddess. Selene's Role She was the goddess of the moon, which she drove every night across the skies. Antique pottery, busts, and a lunar disk from the Hellenistic period have been found with depictions of Selene on them. Whatever his profession, the handsome young man frequently slept beneath the open sky. Omissions? Greek mythology has beautiful explanations for many natural phenomena. [146], Her and her brother's worship is also attested in Gytheum, a town in Laconia near Sparta, via an inscription (C.I.G. 527532; Shear, pp. Selene. Mythopedia, December 07, 2022. https://mythopedia.com/topics/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. So she is a sure token and a sign to mortal men. With Zeus she is the mother of Pandeia goddess of dew. [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. [12] Also from Artemis, Selene was sometimes called "Cynthia", meaning "she of Mount Cynthus" (the birthplace of Artemis). [34] She also had a sacred statue (which stood alongside one of her brother Helios) in the public market of Elis.[35]. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. This is at times accompanied by stars to depict the night sky, but the crescent moon was perhaps the most recognizable of Selenes symbols. Certain types of insanity were said to be brought on by the moons influence, and it was believed that Selene had the power to create lunacy with purpose. Several lovers are attributed to her in various myths, including Zeus, Pan, and the mortal Endymion. In antiquity, Selene would also often be depicted either riding upon a bull, or upon a silvery chariot drawn by two winged horses. Only a handful of religious centers of Selene are known from the ancient world. Even if he were sleeping, he would not be parted from the goddess he loved by death. That the myths contained a considerable element of fiction was recognized by the more critical Greeks, such as the philosopher Plato in the 5th-4th century bce. 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. Most famous classical poets describe her beauty as so intriguing that gods and mortals alike could not resist her godly charms. As Luna, she had temples at Rome on the Aventine and Palatine hills. [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". Apollonius of Rhodes, Argonautica 4.54ff; Pausanias, Description of Greece 5.1.4; Apollodorus, Library 1.7.5; cf. 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. Her fifty daughters with Endymion marked the fifty lunar months that passed between celebrations of the Olympiad. [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 Greeks recognized several goddesses as having a connection to the moon, but none was as closely associated with it as Selene. 14 In works of art, however, the two divinities are usually distinguished; the face of Hail, white-armed goddess, bright Selene, mild, bright-tressed queen! [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. [142] In Theocritus' second Idyll, a young girl invokes Selene in a love-spell. She and her brother did not just pull the chariots of their respective orbs through the sky. 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"). Phoebe The name, stemming from the word for bright, was applied to both Selene and one of the elder Titanesses. Thus, both the sun and the moon were seen as gods embodied in those forms. Selene was so enamored of the young man that she left the sky to see him more closely. Selene, the goddess of the moon, has two siblings: Eos, the goddess of the dawn, and Helios, the sun god. In many paintings and sculptures, Selene is traditionally depicted with the crescent moon in her vicinity. In many cases it rested on her brow or jutted out on either side of her head like a crown or horns. [104] Zeus agrees, urged by Selene's complaints and having long intended to deal with the philosophers himself. Grapevines then rose from Ampelus corpse, from which the heartbroken Dionysus made wine for the first time. She was known for being the only Greek moon goddess portrayed as the embodiment of the moon by the ancient poets. The name of the moon goddess is surrounded by accounts of the consorts she had and their children. [33] The Homeric Hymn to Helios follows this tradition: "Hyperion wedded glorious Euryphassa, his own sister, who bare him lovely children, rosy-armed Eos and rich-tressed Selene and tireless Helios",[34] with Euryphassa ("widely shining") probably being an epithet of Theia. Kapach, Avi. Selene. [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: [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"). Though Selene had many consorts, the most famous of them was Endymion, a handsome young mortal. While her brother was clad in shining gold, her light was softer and more clear. The talkative Myia would sit with Endymion as he slept his eternal sleep, chattering endlesslyso much so that Endymion eventually woke up. 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