Selene (goddess)
Selene is the Greek goddess of the moon, renowned for her beauty and often depicted wearing a crescent moon crown while driving a chariot drawn by horses across the night sky. She is the daughter of the Titans Hyperion and Theia, and her siblings include Helios, the sun god, and Eos, the goddess of dawn. In mythology, Selene is portrayed as a unique embodiment of the moon, with various stories highlighting her romantic liaisons, particularly with the mortal shepherd Endymion, with whom she bore fifty daughters known as the Menai. While Selene is not the only moon goddess in Greek mythology, her attributes have often been conflated with those of Artemis, who later became more prominently associated with lunar worship. Selene's Roman equivalent is Luna. Despite her significance, Selene's worship was not as widespread as that of other deities, and her presence in religious practices diminished over time. Artistic representations of Selene can be found in ancient sculptures, coins, and reliefs, illustrating her lasting cultural impact.
Selene (goddess)
Symbol:Moon
Country or Culture:Greek
Mother: Theia
Father:Hyperion
Siblings: Eos; Helios
Children: Pandia, Ersa, Nemea, the Horai, the Menai
Overview
Selene is the Greek goddess of the moon. She is described as having been very beautiful, often wearing a crown shaped like a crescent moon and riding her horse-drawn chariot across the sky in accordance with the moon phases. Selene’s parents were the Titans Hyperion and Theia, and her siblings were Eos and Helios. While Selene is not the only goddess associated with the moon in Greek mythology, many stories depict Selene as the only goddess to have embodied, or become, the moon. According to various myths, while she lived, Selene had many lovers and an enormous number of children, including the almighty Zeus and the mortal shepherd Endymion. The Greeks later associated many of Selene’s qualities with the goddess Artemis. Selene’s Roman counterpart is Luna, who also personified the moon.
In Mythology
Selene has appeared in the works of many of ancient civilization’s most reputable authors including Hesiod’s Theogony, Apollonius of Rhodes’ Voyage of the Argonauts,Virgil’s Georgics, the Homeric Hymn to Selene, Pausanias’s Description of Greece, and Apollodorus’s Library. Selene was born to the Titan god of the sun Hyperion and his sister Theia. Her brother Helios was considered the embodiment of the sun in the same way Selene embodied the moon. Selene’s sister Eos was the goddess of the dawn who rose each morning to bring light to Earth. In some myths, Selene transforms into the moon after she commits suicide in agony over her brother Helio’s death. As the moon incarnate, Selene is described as having a radiance that waxes and wanes in conjunction with the moon phases. During what is known as the Gigantomachy, an important battle in Greek mythology, Zeus blocked Selene’s rays from lighting the mythical Giants’ way, leading to the Olympian’s victory over the creatures.
The most popular myth concerning Selene involves her love of the young shepherd Endymion. According to this myth, one night, as Selene drove her moon chariot across the sky, she spotted the handsome Endymion asleep in the grass. Selene was so smitten by mortal Endymion’s beauty that she asked Zeus to give him eternal youth, preferably in his sleeping form. Zeus put him into an eternal sleep, so he would not age or die. Selene would visit the chamber where Endymion slept to gaze upon his exquisite beauty. With Endymion, Selene supposedly conceived fifty daughters known as the Menai, or goddesses of the lunar months.
Selene is also romantically connected to the gods Zeus, Pan, and her brother Helios in various myths. According to the Homeric Hymns, Zeus and Selene conceived the goddesses Pandia (Greek for "all brightness") and Ersa (Greek for "dew"). Some accounts also name Selene and Zeus as the parents of Nemea, a nymph, and Dionysus, the god of wine. In his epic poem Posthomerica, Greek poet Quintus of Smyrna designated Selene the mother of the Horae, or goddesses of the seasons, whom she conceived with Helios. Plato’s renowned work The Republic also credits Selene as the mother of the great Greek poet Musaeus. Several mythographies also suggest Selene bore the Nemean Lion, a feared monster of Greek mythology.
Origins and Cults
The worship of lunar deities permeated a number of ancient cultures throughout history. Though the moon played an important role in deity cult and worship in the Hellenistic period (323 BCE – 31 BCE) of Greek history, earlier periods did not give much reverence to the moon goddess Selene. The Greeks did not honor the goddess Selene beyond embedding images of the moon on jewelry and other ornaments. Selene’s association with the moon is mainly cited in folklore and poetry. Religious properties would later become attached to the moon due to their connections to the goddesses Artemis and Hecate. Artemis’s affiliation with the moon eventually outshone Selene’s recognition, and Selene’s attributes eventually merged with Artemis’s. Selene’s brother Helios underwent a similar transference with the emergence of Apollo, who became primarily associated with the sun. An ancient festival known as Pandia supposedly celebrated Selene’s daughter, the "all bright" goddess, and took place on the night of the first full moon of spring.
Selene appears in some artwork. Early sightings of her likeness are described in Pausanias’s Description of Greece, which mentions statues of Selene and Helios found at the shrine of oracles in the Peloponnesian region of Laconia. Images of Selene have also been found on ancient reliefs, cases, paintings, gems, and coins of antiquity. Selene can be seen on the Pergamon Altar, a stone monument built in the second century BCE depicting the great battle known as the Gigantomachy.
Bibliography
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Fiore, John. Symbolic Mythology: Interpretations of the Myths of Ancient Greece and Rome. San Jose: Writers Club Press, 2001.Print.
Dictionary. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012. Print.
Morford, Mark P. O., and Robert J. Lenardon. Classical Mythology. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010. Print.
Neils, Jennifer. Worshipping Athena: Panathenaia and Parthenon. MadiSon: University of Wisconsin Press, 1996. Print.
Roman, Luke, and Monica Roman Encyclopedia of Greek and Roman Mythology. New York: Infobase Publishing, 2010. Print.
"Selene." TheTheoi Project. The Theoi Project, n.d. Web. 25 June 2016.
Smith, William, Ed. "Sele’ne" A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. Perseus Digital Library, n.d. Web. 25 June 2016.