Selene
Goddess of the moon. Selene was the daughter of Hyperion and Theia. The Romans identified her as Luna.
Selene was the sister of Helius (Sun) and Eos (Dawn). Selene was the mother of a daughter named Pandia, by Zeus.
Selene may have been seduced by Pan, who offered a beautiful fleece as a gift.
Selene was famous for falling in love with Endymion, an early king of Elis and shepherd. Endymion was so beautiful that she bore him fifty daughters. Zeus gave Endymion a choice of remaining mortal or being forever young. Endymion chose eternal youth, but this gift required Endymion to sleep forever.
According to the Homeric Hymns, her head shine with radiance and she wore a golden crown. Selene also bathed in the Ocean before wearing a glowing dress. She drove a chariot, drawn by long-maned horses, as she traveled the night sky.
She was sometimes confused with Artemis and Hecate, who were also identified with the Moon. She was thought to drive a chariot across the sky like her brother and sister. In the Homeric Hymn, she was described as having a long wings, suggesting that she could fly like a bird. Her head shone with her beauty and radiance.
According to Diodorus, Selene killed herself when the Titans drowned her brother in the Eridanus River. She and her brother were transformed into the deities of the moon and sun. See Creation, Cosmogony of Diodorus Siculus.
Related Information
Name
Selene, Σελήνη – "Moon".
Luna (Roman)
Sources
Theogony was written by Hesiod.
The Great Eoiae was possibly written by Hesiod.
Homeric Hymn to Selene.
Library was written by Apollodorus.
Description of Greece was written by Pausanias.
By Jimmy Joe