Selene

:This page is on the Greek goddess. For other uses, see Selene (disambiguation).

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In Greek mythology, Selene (Σελήνη, "moon") (the Roman moon goddess being Luna ) was an ancient lunar deity, and the daughter of the Titans

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Hyperion and Theia.

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A moon goddess is invariably a major role. If her name is Greek it is connected with selas "light" (Kerenyi p. 197). Selene was eventually largely supplanted by Artemis, thus, later writers sometimes describe her as a daughter of Zeus, or of Pallas. In the Homeric Hymn to Hermes, with its characteristically insistent patrilineality, she is "bright Selene, daughter of the lord Pallas, Megamedes' son."

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In the traditional divine genealogy, Helios, the sun, is her brother: after her brother, Helios finished his journey across the sky, Selene began her own journey as night fell upon the earth. Her sister Eos is goddess of the dawn. Eos, it will be remembered, also carried off a human lover, Cephalus (Burkert 1985 p. 176).

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Apollonius of Rhodes (4.57) tells how she loved a handsome shepherd— or in the version Pausanias knew a king of Elis, or a hunter— named Endymion from Asia Minor. He was so beautiful that Selene asked Zeus to grant him eternal life so he would never leave her: her asking permission of Zeus reveals itself as an Olympian transformation of an older myth: Cicero (Tusculanae Disputationes) recognized that the moon goddess had acted autonomously. Alternatively, Endymion made the decision to live forever in sleep. Every night, Selene slipped down behind Mount Latmus near Miletus. (Pausanias v.1.5). Selene had fifty daughters from Endymion, including Naxos. The sanctuary of Endymionat Heracleia on the southern slope, is a horseshoe-shaped chamber with an entrance hall and pillared forecourt.

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Though the story of Endymion is best known today, the Homeric hymns tell that Selene also bore Zeus three daughters including Pandia, the "utterly shining" full moon, and, according to some sources, the Nemean Lion as well. She also had an affair with Pan, who seduced her by wrapping himself in a sheepskin (Kerenyi p 19) gave her the yoke of white oxen that drew the chariot in which she is represented in sculptured reliefs, with her windblown veil above her head like the arching canopy of sky.

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In art, Selene was depicted as a beautiful woman with a pale face, riding a silver chariot pulled by a yoke of oxen or a pair of horses. Often, she was shown riding a horse or bull, wearing robes and a half-moon on her head and carrying a torch.

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In Rome, Luna ("moon") had a temple on the Aventine Hill. It was built in the 6th century BC but was destroyed in the Great Fire of Rome under Nero.

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In the collection known as the Homeric hymns there is a Hymn to Selene Selene is described in Apollodorus 1.2.2; Hesiod's Theogony 371; Nonnius 48.581; Pausanias 5.1.4; and Strabo 14.1.6, among others.

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The name is the root of selenology, the study of the moon that corresponds to geology. The name appears in fiction as the character Adam Selene in the novel The Moon is a Harsh Mistress by Robert A. Heinlein.

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The chemical element selenium was named after Selene.

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Greek mythology: Greek mythology comprises the collected narratives of Greek gods, goddesses, heroes, and heroines, originally created and spread within an oral-poetic tradition. Our surviving sources of mythology are literary reworkings of this oral tradition, supplemented by interpretations of iconic imagery, some...

Roman: Roman or Romans has several meanings, primarily related to the Roman citizens, but also applicable to typography, math, and several geographic locations....

Lunar deity: In the study of mythology, a lunar deity is a god or goddess associated with or symbolizing the moon: see moon (mythology). These deities can have a variety of functions and traditions depending upon the culture, but they are often related to or an enemy of the solar deity....