[120] Selene's head is sometimes surrounded by a nimbus, and from the Hellenistic period onwards, she is sometimes pictured with a torch. [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. Cf. 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. Her lunar sphere or crescent was either a crown set upon her head or the fold of a raised, shining cloak. The animals, however, were almost always shown as pure white regardless of their type. 10; Pisander, Fragmente der griechischen Historiker (FGrH) 16 frag. Selene detail from a sarcophagus, imperial period. Often when one god supplanted another in a particular domain, the stories that involved that god were changed to reflect this. In rarer traditions, she is the daughter of the Titan Pallas. There were still several goddesses who shared Selenes lunar domain, however. The poem describes the radiant light that shines from her head and calls her bright Selene. The moon goddess is described as white armed goddess and bright tressed queen and the poem celebrates her loveliness. Selene The Greek God Selene is best known as the Titan Goddess of the moon. 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. Mason-Dixon Line 80; Acusilaus, FHG 1 frag. 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"). 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. They put Hyperion to the sword, and drowned Helios in the river Eridanus. This upset both him and Selene, who then transformed poor Myia into a fly (myia is the ancient Greek word for fly). [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"). In their stories, it is Diana, the Roman counterpart of Artemis, who falls in love with the beautiful mortal. [123], Moon figures are found on Cretan rings and gems (perhaps indicating a Minoan moon cult), but apart from the role played by the moon itself in magic, folklore, and poetry, and despite the later worship of the Phrygian moon-god Men, there was relatively little worship of Selene. 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. My name is Mike and for as long as I can remember (too long!) In many paintings and sculptures, Selene is traditionally depicted with the crescent moon in her vicinity. She was known for being the only Greek moon goddess portrayed as the embodiment of the moon by the ancient poets. 3. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Gods of Death 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. Hail, white-armed goddess, bright Selene, mild, bright-tressed queen! She was said to represent the full moon. The light that humans saw from earth emanate from them, a legacy of their lustrous father. Her chariot was made of shining silver, bringing soft, clear light each night. Obbink, Dirk (2002), "'All Gods are True' in Epicurus" in, Obbink, Dirk (2011) "56. The Theoi Project galleries contain more than 1,200 images of ancient Greek and Roman art. According to Greek mythology, the moon goddess Selene was the daughter of two Titans (mythological giants) called Hyperion and Theia. Updates? Helius, Selene, Eos, Atlas, Prometheus, Pandora, Nike, Boreas, Zephyrus, Astra) GREEK VASE PAINTINGS GALLERY 8 (83 IMAGES) Altes Museum, Berlin, Germany. Selene herself most often wore a crown of gleaming silver, which matched her silver chariot. 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. Her request granted, Selene visited him regularly; some sources even reported that they had children together (see above).[27]. SELENE was the Titan goddess of the moon. When Gaia heard of a prophecy that a mortal would help the gods to defeat the giants, she sought to find a herb that would make them undefeatable. Kapach, Avi. The masculine form, Phoebus, was used in reference to either Apollo or. Seneca, Madness of Hercules 83; Hyginus, Fabulae 30; Aelian, On Animals 12.7 (citing Epimenides); etc. Selene, the goddess of the moon, was the youngest of the three siblings. We learn of Selenes family, her parents and siblings and the children that she went on to have, from various different sources and Greek myths. Many of Selenes epithetsincluding (agl, gleaming), (pasiph, all-shining), and (tanyspteros, long-winged)reflected her lunar qualities and other distinctive attributes. Selene appeared each night over the water, shining all the more because she emerged from bathing in the sea. Occasionally she asked her brother to take over her duties so she could spend more time on the ground with Endymion. Selene fought back the giant, locking horns with Typhon; afterwards, she carried many scars on her orb, reminiscent of their battle. 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. H. G. Evelyn-White. What are Hades Powers that are Really Scary? She was worshipped at the new and full moons. The ancient Greeks saw her as the actual representation of the moon. She was worshipped at the new and full moons. She was unique, however, in her relationship with the orb itself. [58] In some later accounts the chariot was drawn by oxen or bulls. [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. Indeed, the Greek comic playwright Aristophanes said in the 5th century BCE that the worship of the moon was a sign of barbarian communities and not to be emulated by the Greeks. Whatever his profession, the handsome young man frequently slept beneath the open sky. She was depicted as a woman riding sidesaddle on a horse or driving a chariot drawn by a pair of winged steeds. All Rights Reserved. Selene has a minor planet named after her, called 580 Selene. Her sister Eos was the light of dawn and their brother Helios drew the chariot of the sun across the sky each day. Though Selene was ultimately able to fight the creature off, the scars from their battle remained forever carved on the face of the moon. According to Hesiods Theogony, Selene was born of Hyperion and Theia. [112], Selene was often paired with her brother Helios. The goddess of the hunt became associated with the moon and lunar cycles. She was the goddess of the dawn and brought new light to the world every morning. Selene - The Moon Goddess - Greek Mythology - See U in History Art: Marcus AquinoColor: Rod Fernandes#GreekMythology #Mythology #SeeUinHistory #History #Myth. In many cases it rested on her brow or jutted out on either side of her head like a crown or horns. Quintus of Smyrna, Posthomerica 10.336ff; cf. Without Selene giving way to Eos, Helios could not bring the sun back to the world. Selene was so enamored of the young man that she left the sky to see him more closely. [31], Ampelus was a handsome young male satyr and the first love of the god Dionysus. Her father was the Titan god of heavenly light, while her mother represented the blue color of the sky. When Selene spied him sleeping in a cave, she immediately fell in love and asked Zeus to extend his sleep for all eternity. Her brother Helios shone as the sun, while her sister Eos was the goddess of the dawn. Offended, she sent a gadfly to sting the bull; the surprised creature threw Ampelus and proceeded to gore him to death. Selenes Roman counterpart was called Luna (from the Latin word meaning moon). Euripides, Phoenician Women 17576; Nonnus, Dionysiaca 44.191. Selene, daughter of the Titans Hyperion and Theia, was the personification of the moon. She asks Menippus to report her grievances to Zeus, with the request that Zeus wipes all these natural philosophers from the face of the earth. The ancient Greeks believed that a lunar eclipse was the work of a witch, particularly the witches of Thessaly. ), The name Selene (Greek , translit. "[80], Lucian also records an otherwise unattested myth where a pretty young girl called Muia becomes Selene's rival for Endymion's affections; the chatty maiden would endlessly talk to him while he slept, causing him to wake up. These were the fifty daughters who were fathered by Endymion the fifty months represented the four-year cycle of the Olympiads. Her brother Helios shone as the sun, while her sister Eos was the goddess of the dawn. In fact, there were several female deities who shared this domain. Her fifty daughters with Endymion marked the fifty lunar months that passed between celebrations of the Olympiad. [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. 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. She was the personification of the moon, but was also associated with lunar elements such as tides, months, and even lunacy. Helios was married to Perse, but he had quite a few extramarital affairs, and a number of children . She was often said to be the mother of the Horai, the personifications of the division of time and the seasons. The goddess Selene was the daughter of Titius Hyperion and Theia. 573 Bernab. In this case, the story of Selene embracing Endymion, or Moon embraces Diver, refers to the sun setting and the moon rising. I have been in love with all things related to Mythology. Selene with sleeping Endymion, fresco in the fourth Pompeian style. This she shared with her siblings and other goddesses like Nyx. Selene then turned Lilaeus into a mountain, Mt. 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). Hymn 31, To Helios, also speaks of the two sisters of Helios where the rich-tressed Selene is once again alluded to. Different sources vary as to whether the chariot was golden or silver, but a silver chariot would seem to fit better with the goddess of the moon. In her Full Moon state, she is Panselene or . Several lovers are attributed to her in various myths, including Zeus, Pan, and the mortal Endymion. [85][86] Selene gallops sidesaddle in advance, and wears a woolen undergarment and a mantle. According to early Greek myths, Selene used to be a Titan goddess of the moon and Artemis used to be a goddess of hunting and animals. She was essentially urban and civilized, the antithesis in many respects of Artemis, goddess of the outdoors. [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. 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. The History of Guns, Greek Mythology: Stories, Characters, Gods, and Culture, Aztec Mythology: Important Stories and Characters, Greek Gods and Goddesses: Family Tree and Fun Facts, Roman Gods and Goddesses: The Names and Stories of 29 Ancient Roman Gods, Descriptions of Selene, Goddess of the Moon, Greek Myths featuring the Moon Goddess Selene, iPhone History: A Timeline of Every Model in Order, US History Timeline: The Dates of Americas Journey, Ancient Civilizations Timeline: 16 Oldest Known Cultures From Around The World, Why Are Hot Dogs Called Hot Dogs? [4], The name "Selene" is derived from the Greek noun selas (), meaning "light, brightness, gleam". 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. E.g., Thucydides, Histories 7.50.4; Tacitus, Annals 1.28.1ff. 500450 BCE. Her name is linked with those of various other goddesses, such as Artemis and Hecate, who are also associated with the moon. Nonnus, Dionysiaca 12.1ff (who names Helios as the father of the Horae but does not name the mother). It is of course a tale that began in Ancient Greece, but the story of Endymion is one taken up with vigour by Renaissance artists and the imagery of the Moon goddesses visiting the eternal sleeping mortal was often repeated. [2], Selene was also called Mene. [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. [81], Philologist Max Mller's interpretation of solar mythology as it related to Selene and Endymion concluded that the myth was a narrativized version of linguistic terminology. The months had their own personifications as well, who were all born from Selene. Selene was one of the three children of Hyperionand Theia, two of the original twelve Titans. -Quintus Smyrnaeus, Fall of Troy 10. Though Selene had many consorts, the most famous of them was Endymion, a handsome young mortal. Grapevines then rose from Ampelus corpse, from which the heartbroken Dionysus made wine for the first time. [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. Was the Griffin a Bird from Greek Mythology? [78] In his dialogue between Aphrodite and Eros, Lucian also has Aphrodite admonish her son Eros for bringing Selene "down from the sky". [46], From Pausanias we hear that Selene was supposed to have had fifty daughters, by her lover Endymion, often assumed to represent the fifty lunar months of the Olympiad. [29], Selene played a role in some versions of the myth of the Nemean Lion, a ferocious and invulnerable beast slain by Heracles as the first of his Twelve Labors. [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. Selene personified the moon and was one of the Greek goddesses of the night. In some cases, it is debated whether she indeed was the mother. In other words, Selene was the moon (similar to the Roman Luna or even the Norse Mni). 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 and her brother did not just pull the chariots of their respective orbs through the sky. She had two siblings, Helios and Eos. As punishment, he was either thrown out of Olympus or cast into an eternal sleep. 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. This is a relatively late text. 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. 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. For the people of old, natural phenomena was an important part of their worship. The phases of the moonespecially the new moon and the full moonplayed a central role in the ancient Greeks understanding of time and agriculture. Virgil, Georgics 3.391ff; Servius on Virgils Georgics 3.391 (citing the second-century BCE poet Nicander as the original source). 2022 Wasai LLC. On the other hand, her eyes and hair were believed to have been as dark as the night. [2] She was often associated with cycles of growth and agriculture, female menstruation, and mysterious diseases like epilepsy and demonic possession. Two winged steeds pulled her across the sky each night. One of the most important sources of this myth is in the Greek satirist Lucian of Samosatas Dialogues of the Gods, where Aphrodite and Selene talk about the latters love for Endymion. The most enduring story of Selene concerns the love she felt for an ordinary human man. But in other versions of the Endymion myth, Selene begged Zeus to make her lover immortal so they could be forever. In Greek mythology, Ceto was a goddess of the water. Zeus put Endymion into an eternal sleep so the goddess could see him forever as a beautiful young man. Selene featured in few myths, with the most famous ones being the tales that tell of her lovers: Zeus, Pan and the mortal Endymion. Selene and Helios together were said to be the parents of the four Horae, the goddesses of the seasons. [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. Helios was one of the Titans, son of Hyperion and Theia and brother of Eos (the Dawn) and Selene (the Moon ). The concept of Selene as the lunar goddess also made her an important goddess of childbirth and female fertility. Mene, a name that she was also commonly known by, meant the moon or the lunar month, from the root mens which meant month. This is an attribute that she shares with her Roman equivalent Luna, where the latin luna also means moon.. 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. But in the case of her daughters with Endymion, it is widely known that Selene gave birth to the fifty daughters known as the Menai. Artemis has been commonly associated with Selene. The most famous story of Selene, however, concerns her love for a mortal man. [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. [97] Hyginus says that Selene had "nourished" the lion in a "two-mouthed cave". 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. 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. The crescent moon, full moon, and dark moon corresponded to the three states of being embodied by the Fates. [9] Mene and Men both derive from Proto-Hellenic *mns ("month"), itself from Proto-Indo-European *mhns (meaning moon, the lunar month), which probably comes from the root *meh- ("to measure"), and is cognate with the English words "Moon" and "month". The second Japanese lunar orbiter spacecraft following was named SELENE (Selenological and Engineering Explorer) after Selene, and was also known as Kaguya in Japan. Occasionally Selenes chariot was pulled by oxen or bulls, again differentiating it from the faster vehicle of her brother. Described by Pausanias, it contained statues of Pasipha and Helios. The moon goddess was said to have had several lovers, including Zeus and the wild god Pan. [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). 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