Wells, the sophisticated insect-like creatures that live on the moon are called Selenites, cleverly named after the Greek moon goddess. iPhone History: A Timeline of Every Model in Order This was called a casting down of the moon, or in the case of a solar eclipse, of the sun. 3. Nonnus describes how, as Ampelus was riding a bull, he made the mistake of comparing himself to Selene. Sometimes this develops in later worship as they are identified with other deities or gods. Selene and Endymion relief, Alessandro and Lancellotto Pusterla's gravestone, 16th century. There are different versions of this story. 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. Selene had a relationship with the god Pan, according to Virgil. However, in the science fiction book The First Men on the Moon by H.G. Grapevines then rose from Ampelus corpse, from which the heartbroken Dionysus made wine for the first time. In later eras, she became associated with madness as well. [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. The people of Sparta claimed that Ares had been nursed by a nymph called Thero. In this case, the story of Selene embracing Endymion, or Moon embraces Diver, refers to the sun setting and the moon rising. [64][65] Those who brought down the Moon were thought to bring ill fortune upon themselves, as evidenced by the proverb ("you are bringing down the Moon on yourself") said for those who caused self-inflicted evils; some witches supposedly avoided this fate by sacrificing their children or their eyeballs. [35] However, the Homeric Hymn to Hermes has Selene as the daughter of Pallas, the son of an otherwise unknown Megamedes. 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. She was the Greek goddess of the Moon and her sisters were the Eos and Helios. 500450 BCE. Her Roman equivalent is Luna. She is pale, beautiful and indefinably alluring. She was also well known for her many affairs with men and her love that possibly . 80; Acusilaus, FHG 1 frag. Though Selene, as the moon, was undeniably important to the ancient Greeks, there are very few descriptions of her in literature. 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.. They included: The lunar goddesses sometimes worked together. Whatever his profession, the handsome young man frequently slept beneath the open sky. While her husbands team of horses usually consisted of four animals, Selenes chariot, like her light, was less powerful. Epimenides, in the theogony that was ascribed to him, also calls her lovely haired, perhaps due to the Homeric Hymns themselves. The altars to Selene were few and far between. And a memorial of her couch abides still neath the oaks; for mid the copses round was poured out milk of kine; and still do men marvelling behold its whiteness. In some later accounts, she is known as the Horned Selene, perhaps due to the crescent moon upon the crown of her head. 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. Selene, like her siblings, was a Titan goddess because of her birth but they were no less important to the Greeks. 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. [109] In red-figure pottery before the early 5th century BC, she is depicted only as a bust, or in profile against a lunar disk. 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. My name is Mike and for as long as I can remember (too long!) [7] The Greek word mene, meant the moon, and the lunar month. Selene was a beautiful goddess with long, flowing . 573 Bernab. Selene was not the only goddess the Greeks associated with the moon. 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. In Greek mythology, Selene was traditionally depicted as a beautiful young woman, with perhaps paler than usual skin. 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. She was depicted as a woman riding sidesaddle on a horse or driving a chariot drawn by a pair of winged steeds. Seneca, Madness of Hercules 83; Hyginus, Fabulae 30; Aelian, On Animals 12.7 (citing Epimenides); etc. [47] Nonnus has Selene and Endymion as the parents of the beautiful Narcissus, although in other accounts, including Ovid's Metamorphoses, Narcissus was the son of Cephissus and Liriope.[48]. [40][41] Furthermore, in Virgil's Aeneid, when Nisus calls upon Selene/the Moon, he addresses her as "daughter of Latona. 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. [52] There are no mentions of Selene's chariot in either Homer or Hesiod,[53] but the Homeric Hymn to Selene, gives the following description: The air, unlit before, glows with the light of her golden crown, and her rays beam clear, whensoever bright Selene having bathed her lovely body in the waters of Ocean, and donned her far-gleaming raiment, and yoked her strong-necked, shining team, drives on her long-maned horses at full speed, at eventime in the mid-month: then her great orbit is full and then her beams shine brightest as she increases. Having risen to power in the generation of Zeus, they were universally revered and worshiped. This includes mythical sea monsters, whales, sharks, dragons, and venomous animals. 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. [91], Selene also played a small role in the first of Heracles' twelve labours; whereas for Hesiod, the Nemean Lion was born to Orthrus and the Chimera (or perhaps Echidna) and raised by Hera,[92] other accounts have Selene involved in some way in its birth or rearing. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). Virgil, Georgics 3.391ff; Servius on Virgils Georgics 3.391 (citing the second-century BCE poet Nicander as the original source). All Rights Reserved. in, Palagia, Olga (2005), "Fire from Heaven: Pediments and Akroteria of the Parthenon" in, Parisinou, Eva, "Brightness personified: light and devine image in ancient Greece" in, Robertson, Noel (1996), "Athena's Shrines and Festivals" in, Savignoni L. 1899. [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. The goddess of the moon does not seem to have been the object of much ritual worship in the early Greek period. Two winged steeds pulled her across the sky each night. fr. Helios, the son of Hyperion and Theia, was their second child. [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". Her name is linked with those of various other goddesses, such as Artemis and Hecate, who are also associated with the moon. Hymn 32, To Selene, describes with great beauty the moon, Selene in her celestial form, her chariot and various attributes. She and her brother did not just pull the chariots of their respective orbs through the sky. Depending on the author, the chariot was either silver,[6] snow white,[7] or gold. The name of the moon goddess is surrounded by accounts of the consorts she had and their children. Selene's Role She was the goddess of the moon, which she drove every night across the skies. 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. Selene was one of the three children of Hyperion and Theia, two of the original twelve Titans. 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. [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. [103], In Lucian's Icaromenippus, Selene complains to the titular Menippus of all the outrageous claims philosophers are making about her, such as wondering why she is ever waxing or gibbous, whether she is populated or not, and stating that she is getting her stolen light from the Sun, causing strife and ill feelings between her and her brother. [72] A scholiast on Apollonius says that, according to Epimenides, Endymion fell in love with Hera, and Zeus punished him with eternal sleep. The talkative Myia would sit with Endymion as he slept his eternal sleep, chattering endlesslyso much so that Endymion eventually woke up. 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). [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. Instead, Zeus collected all the herbs for himself. Selene's Roman name was Lunar. Plato, Republic 2.364e; Philochorus, Fragmenta Historicorum Graecorum (FHG) 1 frag. Omissions? Selene was said to have several consorts but the man that the goddess of the moon was most linked with was the mortal Endymion. She drives her moon chariot across the heavens. With his sister, the Titaness Theia, Hyperion fathered Helios (the Sun), Selene (the Moon) and Eos (the Dawn).. Hyperion was, along with his son Helios, a personification of the sun, with the two sometimes . Knowing he would be there whenever she wanted to see him, the goddess no longer worried he would leave or die before she got to see him again. Selene - or Luna as the Romans called her - is the goddess of the moon, driving a horse-drawn chariot across the night sky. Greek mythology has beautiful explanations for many natural phenomena. Helios was married to Perse, but he had quite a few extramarital affairs, and a number of children . Hypothesis to the scholia on Pindars Nemean Odes. In Greek mythology, Ceto was a goddess of the water. [5], Selenes moon chariotsimilar to the sun chariot of her brother Helios and the dawn chariot of her sister Eoswas probably her most distinctive and consistent attribute. According to Nonnus, Typhoeus battled Selene by chucking bulls at her, then violently rushing her. Homeric Hymns 32.14ff, trans. 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. The personification of the Sun, he was portrayed as driving a four-horse chariot across the sky on a daily basis. Together, they fittingly created three sources of celestial illumination. Their names differed from the other triads of Horae and they were considered to be the personifications of the four seasons itself. In other versions, Endymion was actually taken to Mount Olympus. The Greek word Phoebe means bright and the word Cynthia means from Mount Cynthus which was said to be the birthplace of Artemis. Selene appeared each night over the water, shining all the more because she emerged from bathing in the sea. Like most of the Titans, Selene was rarely worshipped in the ancient world. The first depictions of Selenes moon chariot goes back to the early 5th century BCE. Selene and Helios together were said to be the parents of the four Horae, the goddesses of the seasons. Both Epimenides and the Greek philosopher Anaxagoras seem to use the exact words fell from the moon while speaking of the savage Lion of Nemea, Epimenides again using the words fair tressed Selene.. 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. Selene herself most often wore a crown of gleaming silver, which matched her silver chariot. The masculine form, Phoebus, was used in reference to either Apollo or. [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. [45] Selene and Zeus were also said to be the parents of Nemea, the eponymous nymph of Nemea, where Heracles slew the Nemean Lion, and where the Nemean Games were held. As the goddess of the division of the months, Selene was a goddess of time. Did a Lion-Headed Monster Exist in Greek Mythology. 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. Kapach, A. 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. Selene then turned Lilaeus into a mountain, Mt. E.g., Thucydides, Histories 7.50.4; Tacitus, Annals 1.28.1ff. Quintus of Smyrna, Posthomerica 10.336ff; cf. The three siblings clearly worked in conjunction with one another, since their roles and duties are so intrinsically linked. A variation of this symbol was the nimbus, which surrounded her head, depicting the celestial light she bestowed on the world. There are three different ways you can cite this article. [104] Zeus agrees, urged by Selene's complaints and having long intended to deal with the philosophers himself. While Selenes best known consort may have been Endymion and the mythic romance between the moon goddess and the mortal has been documented in many places, he was not the only person that she was involved with. [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. [2], Selene was also called Mene. According to the Homeric Hymn 32, Selene and Zeus together had a daughter named Pandia. 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. If you have read Greek mythology and the famous epics of ancient Greece, you may be quite familiar with her brother Helios. Occasionally Selenes chariot was pulled by oxen or bulls, again differentiating it from the faster vehicle of her brother. 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. 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. [118], Selene is commonly depicted with a crescent moon, often accompanied by stars; sometimes, instead of a crescent, a lunar disc is used. In another story she was loved by Pan. 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. This is a relatively late text. The lunar goddess was also important for her influence over female fertility cycles and childbirth. 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. -Quintus Smyrnaeus, Fall of Troy 10. How old is the United States of America? By all accounts, Selene seemed to have played a major role in this war. [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. [141], Selene played an important role in love 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"). Many people believed that labor and childbirth was easiest during the full moon and prayed to Selene for aid. 14)" in, Osborne, Robin, "Looking on Greek Style. Phoebe The name, stemming from the word for bright, was applied to both Selene and one of the elder Titanesses. But unlike other night goddesseslike Nyx, Hecate, and sometimes even ArtemisSelene represented the moon itself. There was an Athenian festival named the Pandia, held in honor of Zeus, which was perhaps celebrated on a full moon night. Oil lamp fragment with the head of Selene, early classical period, Muse de Die. Seneca, Madness of Hercules 83; Hyginus, Fabulae 30; Aelian, On Animals 12.7 (citing Epimenides); etc. But the Greek cult of Selene grew more and more prevalent towards the end of the Hellenistic period (32331 BCE). Without Selene giving way to Eos, Helios could not bring the sun back to the world. 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"). [93] Aelian states: "They say that the Lion of Nemea fell from the moon", and quotes Epimenides as saying:[94], For I am sprung from fair-tressed Selene the Moon, who in a fearful shudder shook off the savage lion in Nemea, and brought him forth at the bidding of Queen Hera. This was known as the Gigantomachy. H. G. Evelyn-White; cf. One of the names given for Selene, and occasionally for an independent personification, was Mene. Selene. Mythopedia, 7 Dec. 2022. https://mythopedia.com/topics/selene. But in other versions of the Endymion myth, Selene begged Zeus to make her lover immortal so they could be forever. 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]. Corrections? [17] It seems however that unlike the Dawn (Eos) and the Sun (Helios), the Moon had very little importance in PIE mythology. Is the Mother of Castor and Pollux a Goddess? Selene, one of the younger generation of Titans, was also the Greek goddess of the moon. That leaves Artemis and Selene. [134], Selene was sometimes associated with childbirth, for it was believed that during the full moon women had the easiest labours; this helped in her identification with the goddess Artemis,[138] as well as other goddesses connected to women's labours. Selene was the ancient Greek Titan goddess of the moon. [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"). Helius, Selene, Eos, Atlas, Prometheus, Pandora, Nike, Boreas, Zephyrus, Astra) GREEK VASE PAINTINGS GALLERY 8 (83 IMAGES) [88], Ampelus was a very beautiful satyr youth, loved by the god Dionysus. The name Selene is probably derived from the Greek selas, meaning "light".She was also called Mene, which means "month" referring to the lunar month which was calculated from the new moon to the dark moon and Phoebe, meaning "bright". [8], Selene began appearing in the visual arts around the early fifth century BCE. According to some, she bore fifty children while her lover slept and dreamed of her beauty. 68 A75 D-K). She drives her moon chariot across the heavens. She also had a statue, alongside Helios, in the public marketplace of Elis. 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