selene greek mythology

Occasionally Selenes chariot was pulled by oxen or bulls, again differentiating it from the faster vehicle of her brother. [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. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). The goddess had one temple that was also an oracle near Thalamae in Laconia. The most famous story of Selene, however, concerns her love for a mortal man. Most famous classical poets describe her beauty as so intriguing that gods and mortals alike could not resist her godly charms. E.g., Thucydides, Histories 7.50.4; Tacitus, Annals 1.28.1ff. This eventually led to the identification of Selene with Artemis, also associated with fertility and the moon in various ways. [13], Selene, along with her brother, her sister and the sky-god Zeus, is one of the few Greek deities of a clear Proto-Indo-European origin, although they were sidelined by later non-PIE newcomers to the pantheon, as remaining on the sidelines became their primary function, to be the minor deities the major ones were juxtaposed to, thus helping keep the Greek religion Greek. 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. Goddess Selene is often portrayed in art and in myths generally, riding a chariot across the sky. However, hers might not be a name that is quite as well-known. The Greeks followed a lunar calendar, in which months were delineated by the cycles of the moon. [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). In her later identification with Artemis, Selene came to be called Phoebe or Cynthia. [142] In Theocritus' second Idyll, a young girl invokes Selene in a love-spell. 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. Deciphering the Role of Helios, the Sun God of Greek Mythology. If you have read Greek mythology and the famous epics of ancient Greece, you may be quite familiar with her brother Helios. The masculine form, Phoebus, was used in reference to either Apollo or. [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. 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]. (2022, December 7). Were building the worlds most authoritative, online mythology resource, with engaging, accessible content that is both educational and compelling to read. The pair could also have been the parents of the beautiful and vain Narcissus, for whom the Narcissus flower is named, according to Nonnus, the Greek epic poet of the Roman era. [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: 116, no. By all accounts, Selene seemed to have played a major role in this war. Selene goddess of the moon, Athenian red-figure kylix C5th B.C., Antikensammlung Berlin. Together, they fittingly created three sources of celestial illumination. Way). She was said to represent the full moon. Her brother is Helios, the Sun and her sister is Eos, the Dawn. Selene and Helios together were said to be the parents of the four Horae, the goddesses of the seasons. The light that humans saw from earth emanate from them, a legacy of their lustrous father. If your web page requires an HTML link, please insert this code: . 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. This claim has been takenby Plutarch at first, and subsequently by modern astronomersto mean that she could predict the time and general area where an eclipse of the Moon would occur. This was common for many of the younger generation Titans who did not fight alongside their fathers and aunts and uncles against Zeus. Each day she drives her two-horse chariot, heralding the breaking of the new day and her brother's arrival. The Greeks (like many other ancient peoples) were notoriously terrified of eclipses, viewing them as signs of the gods displeasure.[3]. Corrections? 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. 500450 BCE. Hesiod, Catalogue of Women frag. Hypothesis to the scholia on Pindars Nemean Odes. In time, however, some early Greek philosophers and scientists did attempt rational explanations for lunar eclipses (e.g., Democritus, frag. [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. Hyginus, preface to Fabulae. [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. [75] Cicero seems to make Selene responsible for Endymion's sleep, so that "she might kiss him while sleeping". [90], When Zeus desired to sleep with the mortal queen Alcmene and sire Heracles, he made the night last three days, and ordered Selene via Hermes to dawdle in the sky during that time. 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. [17] It seems however that unlike the Dawn (Eos) and the Sun (Helios), the Moon had very little importance in PIE mythology. Selene personified the moon and was one of the Greek goddesses of the night. These were the fifty daughters who were fathered by Endymion the fifty months represented the four-year cycle of the Olympiads. https://mythopedia.com/topics/selene, Avi Kapach is a writer, scholar, and educator who received his PhD in Classics from Brown University. Quintus Smyrnaeus makes Selene, by her brother Helios, the mother of the Horae, goddesses and personifications of the four seasons; Winter, Spring, Summer, and Autumn. 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. [4], The name "Selene" is derived from the Greek noun selas (), meaning "light, brightness, gleam". [102], Plutarch recorded a fable-like story in which Selene asked her mother to weave her a garment to fit her measure, and her mother replied that she was unable to do so, as she kept changing shape and size, sometimes full, then crescent-shaped and others yet half her size. Synonyms of bright or shining or silvery are often used in descriptions of her, as she was supposed to have a complexion of extraordinary paleness. Cf. Selene and Endymion relief, Alessandro and Lancellotto Pusterla's gravestone, 16th century. While we often think little of the moon today, in the ancient Greek world the moons cyclical movement through the sky played a central role in their concept of time. Selenes siblings and Selene herself carried on their fathers legacy by shining light from the heavens upon the earth. [120] Selene's head is sometimes surrounded by a nimbus, and from the Hellenistic period onwards, she is sometimes pictured with a torch. Selene was not the only lunar goddess of the Greeks. The Greeks recognized several goddesses as having a connection to the moon, but none was as closely associated with it as Selene. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. [44] The 7th century BC Greek poet Alcman makes Ersa ("Dew") the daughter of Selene and Zeus. Selene was the Greek goddess of the moon. In other versions, Endymion was actually taken to Mount Olympus. [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". [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. Also known as Mene, she is traditionally the daughter of the Titans Hyperion and Theia, and sister of the sun god Helios and the dawn goddess Eos. [118], Selene is commonly depicted with a crescent moon, often accompanied by stars; sometimes, instead of a crescent, a lunar disc is used. In Greek mythology, Selene was traditionally depicted as a beautiful young woman, with perhaps paler than usual skin. In Greek, the name Endymion means one who dives and Max Muller thought that the myth was a symbolic representation of how the sun set by diving into the sea and then the moon arose. In later times, Selene was often associated with Artemis in the same way that her brother Helios was associated with Artemis brother Apollo. Let's take a closer look at her story. In her Full Moon state, she is Panselene or . The goddess of the moon does not seem to have been the object of much ritual worship in the early Greek period. Quintus of Smyrna, Posthomerica 10.336ff; cf. Selene, daughter of the Titans Hyperion and Theia, was the personification of the moon. 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. In this case, the story of Selene embracing Endymion, or Moon embraces Diver, refers to the sun setting and the moon rising. She was unique, however, in her relationship with the orb itself. [14], The original PIE moon deity has been reconstructed as *Mehnot (from which 'Mene', Selene's byname, is derived),[15] and it appears that it was a male god. She fell madly in love with him and asked Zeus to let him stay asleep forever, remaining eternally young and beautiful (in some traditions, it was Endymion himself who requested this unending sleep). [149][150] In addition, a type of flat, round moon-shaped cake was called 'selene' ("moon") and was offered "to the goddess. -Quintus Smyrnaeus, Fall of Troy 10. Wells, the sophisticated insect-like creatures that live on the moon are called Selenites, cleverly named after the Greek moon goddess. Described by Pausanias, it contained statues of Pasipha and Helios. 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. Her lunar sphere or crescent was either a crown set upon her head or the fold of a raised, shining cloak. 10; Pisander, Fragmente der griechischen Historiker (FGrH) 16 frag. Her father was the Titan god of heavenly light, while her mother represented the blue color of the sky. Selene, (Greek: Moon) Latin Luna, in Greek and Roman religion, the personification of the moon as a goddess. Selene could still see her sleeping love whenever she pleased, but the pressures of time and mortality were taken off her. 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. Selenes role in this war was not only to fight against the giants. "[2][150][151], The ancient Greeks called Monday "day of the Moon" ( ) after her. 260 M-W; Epimenides, FHG 4 frag. 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