From her immortal head a radiance is shown from heaven and embraces earth; and great is the beauty that ariseth from her shining light. She was worshipped at the new and full moons. [89] One day, in Nonnus' account, Ampelus rode on a bull, and proceeded to compare himself to Selene, saying that he was her equal, having horns and riding bulls just like her. ), The name Selene (Greek , translit. Selene was more than just a lunar goddess, she was the embodiment of the moon and its light. 127 ff (trans. This she shared with her siblings and other goddesses like Nyx. The moon was also believed to bring the night dew that nourished the plants and to bring sleep and rest to humankind. -Quintus Smyrnaeus, Fall of Troy 10. Many people believed that labor and childbirth was easiest during the full moon and prayed to Selene for aid. 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. Her father was the Titan god of heavenly light, while her mother represented the blue color of the sky. But on nights the moon could not be seen, there was a very good reason for her absence. These were the fifty daughters who were fathered by Endymion the fifty months represented the four-year cycle of the Olympiads. She began to do this every night, leaving her chariot behind and making the sky dark with her absence. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). "From the panteon of the gods to the Pantheon of Rome" in, This page was last edited on 1 March 2023, at 02:32. Selene leaving her chariot, Roman mosaic, Andalusia. 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. The Origin of Hotdogs, The History of Boracay Island in The Philippines. [34] She also had a sacred statue (which stood alongside one of her brother Helios) in the public market of Elis.[35]. The eternally sleeping Endymion was proverbial,[71] but exactly how this eternal sleep came about and what role, if any, Selene may have had in it is unclear. Endymion In their stories, it is Diana, the Roman counterpart of Artemis, who falls in love with the beautiful mortal. For this the Greek gods were to be worshiped. Her name is linked with those of various other goddesses, such as Artemis and Hecate, who are also associated with the moon. The name Selene is also quite popular in the English-speaking world. Her sister Eos was the light of dawn and their brother Helios drew the chariot of the sun across the sky each day. Although Zeus had taken many mortal lovers, the goddess of the moon had been abandoning her duties and could cause chaos if she continued. How old is the United States of America? [143] The idyll opens with the girl ordering her maid to bring potions and magical utensils, followed by an invocation to Selene and Hecate, and finally the rather lengthy spell itself; once she finishes her spell, the girl recounts to Selene of how she met and was betrayed by her lover, and calls upon the goddess to witness and help her, hence the love tail is woven into the love spell. [2] She was often associated with cycles of growth and agriculture, female menstruation, and mysterious diseases like epilepsy and demonic possession. Because Basileia's other brothers envied these offspring, and feared that Hyperion would try to seize power for himself, they conspired against him. 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. They brought night and day, shed light on the earth, were responsible for the turning of the months, and facilitated agriculture. Selene was so enamored of the young man that she left the sky to see him more closely. These were Eiar, Theros, Cheimon, and Phthinoporon, Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter. For the people of old, natural phenomena was an important part of their worship. 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. Names of the Goddess. All Rights Reserved. [104] Zeus agrees, urged by Selene's complaints and having long intended to deal with the philosophers himself. I have been in love with all things related to Mythology. Selene's Roman name was Lunar. There are different versions of this story. [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. [158] HMS Selene (P254), a 1944 British submarine and Ghia Selene, a concept car from the Ghia design studio from 1959, also bore her name. [141], Selene played an important role in love magic. The Moirai In some traditions the Fates were seen as three aspects of the lunar goddess. Upon the head of Selene was normally found a crown that was representative of the spherical moon. Another myth describes how Selene held her own against the monster Typhoeus when he attacked the gods. It seems that Selene was not uninvolved in the twelve tasks of Heracles either. However, in the science fiction book The First Men on the Moon by H.G. "[42], According to the Homeric Hymn to Selene, the goddess bore Zeus a daughter, Pandia ("All-brightness"),[43] "exceeding lovely amongst the deathless gods". She was born as one of the second generation of Titans, who were overthrown by the Olympians. Some nymphs in Greek mythology were famous, but others were only known in a certain time Apollo: The God of Music, Poetry, and Light, Hecate Greek Goddess of Witchcraft : The Complete Guide. "[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). Helios was one of the Titans, son of Hyperion and Theia and brother of Eos (the Dawn) and Selene (the Moon ). This was the mythological explanation for the movement of the moon across the sky. [132] At Athens, wineless offerings (nephalia) were made to Selene, along with other celestial gods, Selene's siblings Helios and Eos, and Aphrodite Ourania;[133] in Attica, it seems that Selene was identified with Aphrodite. Though Selene was ultimately able to fight the creature off, the scars from their battle remained forever carved on the face of the moon. It was devoted to Selene, under the name Pasiphae, and to Helios. Selene was written off and Artemis became the goddess of the moon, hunting, and animals. One of the names given for Selene, and occasionally for an independent personification, was Mene. Hyperions role is not fully known today, but given that he was the god of heavenly light in all its forms, it may be assumed that his children, powerful as they were in their individual capacities, only held a fraction of the might of their Titan father. Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. She drives her moon chariot across the heavens. [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. Selene - Mythology. 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. Kapach, A. 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]. The goddess had one temple that was also an oracle near Thalamae in Laconia. Selene goddess of the moon, Athenian red-figure kylix C5th B.C., Antikensammlung Berlin. As Luna, she had temples at Rome on the Aventine and Palatine hills. Selene, daughter of the Titans Hyperion and Theia, was the personification of the moon. Those that do exist are somewhat generic (like the previously mentioned epithets). Seneca, Madness of Hercules 83; Hyginus, Fabulae 30; Aelian, On Animals 12.7 (citing Epimenides); etc. Like Artemis, Selene was sometimes called Phoebe, a name that means bright one.. E.g., Thucydides, Histories 7.50.4; Tacitus, Annals 1.28.1ff. Selene was the Greek goddess of the moon. This eventually led to the identification of Selene with Artemis, also associated with fertility and the moon in various ways. 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. [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. Selene. Mythopedia, December 07, 2022. https://mythopedia.com/topics/selene. In her Full Moon state, she is Panselene or . (Also, the name of the Titan Goddess Phoebe and an epithet of Artemis.). Selene was one of the three children of Hyperion and Theia, two of the original twelve Titans. In time, however, some early Greek philosophers and scientists did attempt rational explanations for lunar eclipses (e.g., Democritus, frag. That was a basic unit of how the Greeks measured time in the old days. The talkative Myia would sit with Endymion as he slept his eternal sleep, chattering endlesslyso much so that Endymion eventually woke up. [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. [122] As frequently depicted on Roman sarcophagi, Selene, holding a billowing veil forming a crescent over her head, descends from her chariot to join her lover, who slumbers at her feet. Greek mythology has beautiful explanations for many natural phenomena. 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). 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. Occasionally Selenes chariot was pulled by oxen or bulls, again differentiating it from the faster vehicle of her brother. For centuries, those affected by mental illness were referred to as lunatics.. 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. 10; Pisander, Fragmente der griechischen Historiker (FGrH) 16 frag. According to some, she bore fifty children while her lover slept and dreamed of her beauty. [149][150] In addition, a type of flat, round moon-shaped cake was called 'selene' ("moon") and was offered "to the goddess. 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. While other goddesses were associated with the night in more general terms, Selene was believed to be the embodiment of the moon herself. Was the Griffin a Bird from Greek Mythology? 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. 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. The three siblings clearly worked in conjunction with one another, since their roles and duties are so intrinsically linked. [95], Anaxagoras also reports that the Nemean lion was said to have fallen from the moon. [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 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. She was the goddess of the dawn and brought new light to the world every morning. The concept of Selene as the lunar goddess also made her an important goddess of childbirth and female fertility. 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