Goddess Selene (mythology of Ancient Greece)

In ancient Greek mythology, as in any other pantheon, there is a personification of the Moon. They had Selena among the Hellenes. The mythology of Ancient Rome has a similar character - Diana. Often they are considered a reflection of the same image.

Goddess of the Moon

In ancient Greek mythology, one of the central characters is the titans - the gods of the second generation. They had many children. In the turn of these offspring of the third generation was Selena. Mythology ascribes to her the image of the moon. The Greeks treated the lonely night light with special respect.

Titan Hyperion and his wife Tei had three children. One of the bottoms was Selena. Mythology reveals the name of her brother Helios - the solar deity, and also Eos - the goddess of the dawn. Thus, these relatives represented the whole heavenly element. For the Greeks, the distant cloudy distances were an unknown world beyond the limits of human consciousness. Therefore, a special mystical shade was the image that Selena possessed. Mythology says that it belongs to the titan parents, the youngest daughter, born after Helios and Eos.

Relations with other gods

To understand who Selene is in Greek mythology, it is enough to look at her relationship with other deities of the ancient Greek pantheon. It is believed that she was one of the lovers of Zeus. From this connection, Pandia was born, in honor of which in Athens every year a lavish celebration dedicated to the vernal equinox was held. On this day, the moon goddess washed in the ocean waters, put on silver garments and harnessed the mighty horses into her chariot to again set off across the sky.

Also Selena of Greek mythology was associated with Pan. This god of wild nature, pastoralism and shepherds was carried away by the moon. To attract Selena, a powerful native of Arcadia turned into a magnificent white sheep.

Cult of Selena

Selene was worshiped in many areas of ancient Greece. In Olympia, there is still an antique depiction of a goddess riding a horse. The famous geographer Strabo mentioned that the daughter of a titan was especially revered even in the most remote corners of the ancient civilization of that time (for example, in the inaccessible mountainous Albania). Most often Selene devoted marble monuments. The color of this natural material reminded the Greeks of the moonlight. Selenium could be depicted alone or inside its heavenly chariot. The goddess had much in common with Artemis. She was not only beautiful, but also a wise woman. She knew all the stars and the oldest secrets of the sky.

The poets of that time wrote their works, drawing inspiration from the stories about which Greek mythology told . Selena is present in the poems and poems of Pindar and Aeschylus. Masters of literature compared it with a sparkling night eye. For the Greeks, the moon was not just a night decoration. The heavenly body was used as a landmark, it was possible to count the days on it.

In addition, the moon was also a beacon for the stars that she led. In this regard, the poets compared Selena with a beautiful woman carrying a torch. The goddess was associated with silver and the silver color that came from the moon, illuminated the night sky.

Endymion

Selena fell in love with the famous young boy Endymion. He was the king of Elis, where he had a long cult. According to the local belief, Selena gave birth to Endymion fifty children, which symbolized the fifty lunar cycles between the Olympic Games. The names of some of them have survived to this day. Nemea is the new moon, Pandeya symbolizes the decreasing phase, Meniscus is a crescent moon, and Mena is the full moon.

Endymion begged Zeus for immortality and eternal youth at the price of an unaware sleep. Every night Selena returns to the boy and silently admires him. Greek priests and poets believed that this plot is the personification of the daily meeting of the Sun and the Moon.

Night Wanderer

Along with the arrival of the night, Selena in the sky replaced Gemer, who personified the day. The moon goddess had not only horses, but also buffaloes with mules, whom she too could harness in a chariot.

Selene in Greek mythology had an obligatory attribute in the form of wings, which helped her to travel along the starry ocean. On her head was a crown of gold. The decoration with its light dispelled the night gloom and helped the travelers not to get off the road. Every full moon the Greeks made a sacrifice in honor of the daughter of Hyperion.

Modern Greek preserved the name of Selena as the common name of the moon as a heavenly body. Thanks to this, the image of the goddess is one of the most explicit and straightforward in ancient mythology. In honor of Selena was named an asteroid, discovered in 1905 by the German astronomer Max Wolf, who was fond of ancient Greek history.