Selene
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Selene is the Titan goddess of the moon. In Greek mythology, Seléne (pronounced /seˈlɛːnɛː/; Greek: Σελήνη "moon") was an archaic lunar deity and the daughter of the Titans Hyperion and Theia.[1] In Roman mythology, the moon goddess is called Luna, Latin for "moon".
Like most moon deities, Selene plays a fairly large role in her pantheon, which preceded the Olympic pantheon. However, Selene was eventually largely supplanted by Artemis, and Luna by Diana. In the collection known as the Homeric hymns, there is a Hymn to Selene (xxxii), paired with the hymn to Helios; in it, Selene is addressed as "far-winged", an epithet ordinarily applied to birds. Selene is mentioned in Nonnus, Dionysiaca 48.581; Pausanias 5.1.4; and Strabo 14.1.6,
The etymology of Selene is uncertain, but if the word is of Greek origin, it is likely connected to the word selas, meaning "brightness".[2] Boreion Selas is the Greek name for Aurora Borealis, the "northern lights". In modern times, Selene is the root of selenology, the study of the geology of the Moon, and the chemical element selenium.
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[edit] Depictions
In post-Renaissance art, Selene is generally depicted as a beautiful woman with a pale face, riding a silver chariot pulled by a yoke of oxen, or a pair of horses, or a pair of serpentine dragons. Often, she has been shown riding a horse or bull, wearing robes and a half-moon on her head and carrying a torch. Essentially, Selene is the moon goddess but is literally defined as 'the moon'.
[edit] Myths
[edit] Genealogy
In the traditional pre-Olympian divine genealogy, Helios, the sun, is Selene's brother: after Helios finishes his journey across the sky, Selene, freshly washed in the waters of Earth-circling Ocean,[3] begins her own journey as night falls upon the earth, which becomes lit from the radiance of her immortal head and golden crown[3]. When she is increasing after mid-month, it is a "sure token and a sign to mortal men". Her sister, Eos, is goddess of the dawn. Eos also carried off a human lover, Cephalus,[4] which mirrors a myth of Selene and Endymion.
As a result of Selene being conflated with Artemis, later writers sometimes referred to Selene as a daughter of Zeus, like Artemis, or of Pallas the Titan. In the Homeric Hymn to Hermes, with its characteristically insistent patrilineality, she is "bright Selene, daughter of the lord Pallas, Megamedes' son."
[edit] Lovers
| Greek deities series |
|
|---|---|
| Primordial deities | |
| Olympians | |
| Aquatic deities | |
| Chthonic deities | |
| Personified concepts | |
| Other deities | |
| Titans | |
| The Twelve Titans: | |
| Oceanus and Tethys, | |
| Hyperion and Theia, | |
| Coeus and Phoebe, | |
| Cronus and Rhea, | |
| Mnemosyne, Themis, | |
| Crius, Iapetus | |
| Children of Hyperion: | |
| Eos, Helios, Selene | |
| Daughters of Coeus: | |
| Leto and Asteria | |
| Sons of Iapetus: | |
| Atlas, Prometheus, | |
| Epimetheus, Menoetius | |
| Sons of Crius: | |
| Astraeus, Pallas, | |
| Perses | |
Apollonius of Rhodes (4.57ff) refers to Selene, "daughter of Titan", who "madly" loved a mortal, the handsome hunter or shepherd—or, in the version Pausanias knew, a king— of Elis, named Endymion, from Asia Minor. In other Greek references to the myth, he was so handsome that Selene asked Zeus to grant him eternal sleep so that he would stay forever young and thus 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.[5]
Selene had fifty daughters, the Menae, by Endymion, including Naxos, the nymph of Naxos Island. The sanctuary of Endymion at Heracleia under Latmus on the southern slope of Latmus still exists as a horseshoe-shaped chamber with an entrance hall and pillared forecourt.
Though the story of Endymion is the best-known one today, the Homeric hymn to Selene (xxxii) tells that Selene also bore to Zeus a daughter, Pandia, the "utterly shining" full moon. According to some sources, the Nemean Lion was her offspring as well. According to Virgil[6] she also had a brief tryst with Pan, who seduced her by wrapping himself in a sheepskin[2] and 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. In the Homeric hymn, her chariot is drawn by long-maned horses.
[edit] Luna
The Roman moon goddess, Luna, had a temple on the Aventine Hill. It was built in the sixth century BC, but was destroyed in the Great Fire of Rome during Nero's reign. There was also a temple dedicated to Luna Noctiluca ("Luna that shines by night") on the Palatine Hill. There were festivals in honor of Luna on March 31, August 24 and August 29.[7][8]
[edit] Modern use
In a young adult series, Daughters of the Moon, the daughters worshiped Selene. Selene gave them their powers and their reason for fighting the Atrox.
"Selena" ranked 815th and "Selene" 2555th in a common US-based listing of Most Popular Female First Names. [9]
Selene is a Marvel comic book villainess most often an antagonist of the X-Men and the Hellfire Club.
The Sonata Arctica song "My Selene" is based on the myth of Selene and Endymion.
Two songs by progressive rock group Gong, on the albums Camembert Electrique and Angel's Egg respectively, are called "Selene".
Selena was the leader of the Moon Fae in Anne Bishop's Tir Alainn series. Her second form was a shadow hound.
Selene was an evil sorceress in books 1-6 and 14 of the 'Wicca' Series by Cate Tiernan.
Selene is an alias for Lanfear in the popular fantasy series Wheel of Time, by Robert Jordan. Lanfear's sigil is a number of stars and a crescent moon, and she is pale of skin with black hair and always wears silver and white. She is one of the strongest of the thirteen Forsaken and is in love with the reincarnation of Lews Therin Telamon, who was her lover in the Age of Legends.
Selene is the name of a planet in the PlayStation game Colony Wars. It is located in the Draco system, which also contains the star Helios. The planet is briefly referred to in the cutscene entitled "Time To Strike".
Selene is the name of the fictional protagonist from Underworld and Underworld: Evolution action films.
[edit] Notes
- ^ Bibliotheke of Pseudo-Apollodorus, 1.2.2; Hesiod gives a list of the offspring of Hyperion and Theia in Theogony, lines 371ff. In the Homeric Hymn to Helios, Theia is given the name Euryphaessa, the "far-shining" one, an epithet that would apply to Selene herself.
- ^ a b Kerenyi, Karl (1951) The Gods of the Greeks (pp. 19, 197). 1951.
- ^ a b Homeric Hymn.
- ^ Burkert, Walter (1985). Greek Religion (p. 176).
- ^ Apollonius, loc. cit.; Pausanias v.1.5.
- ^ Virgil, Georgics, iii.391.
- ^ Grimal, Pierre (1986). The Dictionary of Classical Mythology (p. 262). Oxford: Basil Blackwell. ISBN 0-631-20102-5.
- ^ Hammond, N.G.L. & Scullard, H.H. (Eds.) (1970). The Oxford Classical Dictionary (p. 625). Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-869117-3.
- ^ Female names
[edit] External links
- Theoi.com: Selene Passages from Greek texts, in translation
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