NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Selene

In Greek mythology, Selene (Σελήνη, "moon"; English IPA: /sɛˈliːniː/) 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". Selene may refer to: Selene, a character in the film Underworld Selene, a lunar deity in Greek mythology. ... The bust of Zeus found at Otricoli (Sala Rotonda, Museo Pio-Clementino, Vatican) Greek mythology is the body of stories belonging to the Ancient Greeks concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. ... The ancient Greeks proposed many different ideas about the primordial gods in their mythology. ... Twelve Olympians, also known as the Dodekatheon (Greek: Î”Ï‰Î´ÎµÎºÎ¬Î¸ÎµÎ¿Î½ < Î´Ï‰Î´ÎµÎºÎ±, dodeka, twelve + Î¸ÎµÎ¿Î½, theon, of the gods), in Greek religion, were the principal gods of the Greek pantheon, residing atop Mount Olympus. ... The ancient Greeks had a very small number of see gods. ... For other uses, see Chthon (disambiguation). ... In Greek mythology, the Muses (Greek , Mousai: perhaps from the Proto-Indo-European root *men- think[1]) are a number of goddesses or spirits who embody the arts and inspire the creation process with their graces through remembered and improvised song and stage, writing, traditional music and dance. ... Asclepius (Greek also rendered Aesculapius in Latin and transliterated Asklepios) was the god of medicine and healing in ancient Greek mythology, according to which he was born a mortal but was given immortality as the constellation Ophiuchus after his death. ... This article is about the race of Titans in Greek mythology. ... Oceanus, with his wife, Tethys, ruled the seas before Poseidon. ... In Greek mythology, Tethys was a Titaness and sea goddess who was both sister and wife of Oceanus. ... This article is about Hyperion, a Titan in Greek mythology. ... In Greek mythology, Theia (also written Thea or Thia), also called Euryphaessa (wide-shining), was a Titan. ... In Greek mythology, Coeus (also Koios) was the Titan of intelligence. ... Phoebe (pronunced fee-bee) was one of the original Titans, one set of sons and daughters of Uranus and Gaia. ... Cronus is not to be confused with Chronos, the personification of time. ... Rhea (or Ria meaning she who flows) was the Titaness daughter of Uranus and of Gaia. ... Mnemosyne (Greek , IPA in RP and in General American) (sometimes confused with Mneme or compared with Memoria) was the personification of memory in Greek mythology. ... In Greek mythology, Hesiod mentions Themis among the six sons and six daughtersâ€”of whom Cronos was oneâ€”of Gaia and Ouranos, that is, of Earth with Sky. ... In Greek mythology, Crius was one of the Titans, a son of Uranus and Gaia. ... In Greek mythology Iapetus, or Iapetos, was a Titan, the son of Uranus and Gaia, and father (by an Oceanid named Clymene or Asia) of Atlas, Prometheus, Epimetheus, and Menoetius and through Prometheus and Epimetheus and Atlas an ancestor of the human race. ... Eos, by Evelyn De Morgan (1850 - 1919), 1895 (Columbia Museum of Art, Columbia, SC): for a Pre-Raphaelite painter, Eos was still the classical pagan equivalent of an angel Eos (dawn) was, in Greek Mythology, the Titan goddess of the dawn, who rose from her home at the edge of... For other uses, see Helios (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Leto (disambiguation). ... Asteria in Greek mythology can refer to: // In Greek mythology, Asteria was the sixth Amazon killed by Heracles when he came for Hippolytes girdle. ... In Greek mythology, Atlas was one of the primordial Titans. ... For other uses, see Prometheus (disambiguation). ... In Greek mythology, Epimetheus (hindsight, literally hind-thought) was the brother of Prometheus (foresight, literally fore-thought), a pair of Titans who acted as representatives of mankind (Kerenyi 1951, p 207). ... For other uses, see Menoetius. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (2300x1850, 2553 KB) Description Description: The Moon-goddess Selene accompanied by the Dioscures, or Phosphoros (the Morning Star) and Hesperos (the Evening Star). ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (2300x1850, 2553 KB) Description Description: The Moon-goddess Selene accompanied by the Dioscures, or Phosphoros (the Morning Star) and Hesperos (the Evening Star). ... The bust of Zeus found at Otricoli (Sala Rotonda, Museo Pio-Clementino, Vatican) Greek mythology is the body of stories belonging to the Ancient Greeks concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. ... This article is about Earths moon. ... An 18th century drawing of Khoikhoi worshipping the moon In mythology, a lunar deity is a god or goddess associated with or symbolizing the moon: see moon (mythology). ... This article is about the race of Titans in Greek mythology. ... This article is about Hyperion, a Titan in Greek mythology. ... In Greek mythology, Theia (also written Thea or Thia), also called Euryphaessa (wide-shining), was a Titan. ... A head of Minerva found in the ruins of the Roman baths in Bath Roman mythology, the mythological beliefs of the people of Ancient Rome, can be considered as having two parts. ...

Like most moon deities, Selene plays a fairly large role in her 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, For other uses, see Artemis (disambiguation). ... â€¹ The template below (Expand) is being considered for deletion. ... The anonymous Homeric Hymns are a collection of ancient Greek hymns. ... The Greek epic poet Nonnus (Greek Nonnos), a native of Panopolis (Akhmim) in the Egyptian Thebaid, probably lived at the end of the 4th or the beginning of the 5th century AD. He produced the Dionysiaca, an epic tale of the god Dionysus, a paraphrase of the Gospel of John... Pausanias (Greek: ) was a Greek traveller and geographer of the 2nd century A.D., who lived in the times of Hadrian, Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius. ... The Greek geographer Strabo in a 16th century engraving. ...

The etymology of Selene is uncertain, but if the word is of Greek origin, it is likely connected to the word selas, meaning "light".^[2] Boreion Selas is the Greek name for Aurora Borealis. The name is the root of selenology, the study of the geology of the Moon. The chemical element selenium was also named after Selene. Aurora borealis Polar aurorae are optical phenomena characterized by colorful displays of light in the night sky. ... Exploring Shorty crater during the Apollo 17 mission to the Moon. ... For other uses, see Selenium (disambiguation). ...

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. 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' For other uses, see Yoke (disambiguation). ...

Myths

Genealogy

In the traditional pre-Olympian divine genealogy, Helios, the sun, is Selene's brother: after her brother, 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^[4]. 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,^[5] which mirrors a myth of Selene and Endymion. For other uses, see Helios (disambiguation). ... Animated map exhibiting the worlds oceanic waters. ... Eos, by Evelyn De Morgan (1850 - 1919), 1895 (Columbia Museum of Art, Columbia, SC): for a Pre-Raphaelite painter, Eos was still the classical pagan equivalent of an angel Eos (dawn) was, in Greek Mythology, the Titan goddess of the dawn, who rose from her home at the edge of... Cephalus and Aurora, by Nicolas Poussin (c. ... Endymion and Selene, by Sebastiano Ricci (Chiswick House, London) In Greek mythology, Endymion was a handsome Aeolian shepherd or hunter, or, in the version Pausanias knew,[1] a king, who ruled Elis in Asia Minor; Endymion was the son, perhaps with Aethlius or with Zeus himself, of the nymph Calyce. ...

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." For other uses, see Zeus (disambiguation). ... For other meanings of Pallas, see Pallas (disambiguation). ... The anonymous Homeric Hymns are a collection of ancient Greek hymns. ... Patrilineality (a. ...

Lovers

Apollonius of Rhodes (4.57) tells how Selene loved a mortal, the handsome hunter or shepherd—or, in the version Pausanias knew, a king— of Elis, named Endymion, from Asia Minor. He was so beautiful that Selene asked Zeus to grant him eternal sleep (she learned from her sister never to ask for eternal life and be left with a grasshopper in your hands) 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, the Menae, by Endymion, including Naxos, the nymph of Naxos Island. The sanctuary of Endymion at Heraclea on the southern slope of Latmus is a horseshoe-shaped chamber with an entrance hall and pillared forecourt. Apollonius of Rhodes, also known as Apollonius Rhodius (Latin; Greek ApollÅnios Rhodios), early 3rd century BC - after 246 BC, was an epic poet, scholar, and director of the Library of Alexandria. ... Elis, or Eleia (Greek, Modern: Î‰Î»Î¹Î´Î± Ilida, Ancient/Katharevousa: Î‰Î»Î¹Ï‚, also Ilis, Doric: Î†Î»Î¹Ï‚) is an ancient district within the modern prefecture of Ilia. ... Endymion and Selene, by Sebastiano Ricci (Chiswick House, London) In Greek mythology, Endymion was a handsome Aeolian shepherd or hunter, or, in the version Pausanias knew,[1] a king, who ruled Elis in Asia Minor; Endymion was the son, perhaps with Aethlius or with Zeus himself, of the nymph Calyce. ... Anatolia (Greek: ανατολη anatole, rising of the sun or East; compare Orient and Levant, by popular etymology Turkish Anadolu to ana mother and dolu filled), also called by the Latin name of Asia Minor, is a region of Southwest Asia which corresponds today to... For other uses, see Cicero (disambiguation). ... The lower half of the benches and the remnants of the scene building of the theater of Miletus (August 2005) Miletus (Carian: Anactoria Hittite: Milawata or Millawanda, Greek: ÎœÎ¯Î»Î·Ï„Î¿Ï‚ transliterated Miletos, Turkish: Milet) was an ancient city on the western coast of Anatolia (in what is now Aydin Province, Turkey), near... Pausanias (Greek: ) was a Greek traveller and geographer of the 2nd century A.D., who lived in the times of Hadrian, Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius. ... The Menai were the goddesses of the phases of the moon. ... Naxos (Greek: ÎÎ¬Î¾Î¿Ï‚; Italian: Nicsia; Turkish: NakÅŸa) is a Greek island, the largest island (428 kmÂ²) in the Cyclades island group in the Aegean. ... It has been suggested that this article be split into multiple articles accessible from a disambiguation page. ...

Though the story of Endymion is the best-known one today, the Homeric hymn to Selene (xxxii) tells that Selene also bore Zeus a daughter, Pandia, the "utterly shining" full moon. According to some sources, the Nemean Lion was her offspring as well. 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. For other uses, see Zeus (disambiguation). ... In Greek mythology, the Goddess Pandia (all bright) was the personification of brightness and a daughter of Zeus and Selene. ... The Nemean Lion (Latin: Leo Nemaeus) was a vicious monster in Greek mythology that lived in Nemea. ... Pan (Greek , genitive ) is the Greek god of shepherds and flocks, of mountain wilds, hunting and rustic music: paein means to pasture. ... Sheepskin is the hide of a sheep, sometimes also called lambswool. ...

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.^[6]^[7] Image File history File links Download high resolution version (768x1024, 186 KB)Roman statue of the goddess Luna/Selene By antmoose File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (768x1024, 186 KB)Roman statue of the goddess Luna/Selene By antmoose File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... An 18th century drawing of Khoikhoi worshipping the moon In mythology, a lunar deity is a god or goddess associated with or symbolizing the moon: see moon (mythology). ... The Aventine Hill is one of the seven hills on which ancient Rome was built. ... According to the historian Tacitus, the Great Fire of Rome started on the night of 18 July in the year 64, among the shops clustered around the Circus Maximus. ... For other uses, see Nero (disambiguation). ... 17th century aviaries on the hill, built by Rainaldi for Odoardo Cardinal Farnese: once wirework cages surmounted them. ... is the 90th day of the year (91st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 236th day of the year (237th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 241st day of the year (242nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...

Modern use

The Selene mythology is a theme in the song My Selene by Finnish power metal band Sonata Arctica Power metal is a style of heavy metal music typically with the aim of evoking an epic feel, combining characteristics of traditional metal with thrash metal or speed metal, often within symphonic context. ... Sonata Arctica is a Finnish power metal band from the town of Kemi, originally assembled in 1996. ...

Sailor Moon, a popular japanese animation series from the 1990's, is loosely based on the Myth of Selene. Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 800 Ã— 600 pixelsFull resolutionâ€Ž (3,488 Ã— 2,616 pixels, file size: 2. ... Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 800 Ã— 600 pixelsFull resolutionâ€Ž (3,488 Ã— 2,616 pixels, file size: 2. ... The front of the Pergamon museum in Berlin The Pergamon Museum (in German, Pergamonmuseum) is one of the museums on the Museum Island in Berlin. ...

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.
^ Homeric Hymn.
^ Homeric Hymn.
^ Burkert, Walter (1985). Greek Religion (p. 176).
^ 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.
^ Selena ranked 815th and Selene 2555th in a common US-based listing of Most Popular Female First Names".

The Bibliotheke was renowned as the chief work of Greek historian and scholar. ... Roman bronze bust, the so-called Pseudo-Seneca, now identified by some as possibly Hesiod Hesiod (Hesiodos, ) was an early Greek poet and rhapsode, who presumably lived around 700 BC. Hesiod and Homer, with whom Hesiod is often paired, have been considered the earliest Greek poets whose work has survived... Theogony (Greek: Î˜ÎµÎ¿Î³Î¿Î½Î¯Î±, theogonia = the birth of God(s)) is a poem by Hesiod describing the origins and genealogies of the gods of the ancient Greeks, composed circa 700 BC. The title of the work comes from the Greek words for god and seed. // Hesiods Theogony is a large-scale... The anonymous Homeric Hymns are a collection of ancient Greek hymns. ... One of the founders of modern studies in Greek mythology, Karl (Carl, Károly) Kerényi (January 19, 1897 - April 14, 1973) was born in Hungary but became a citizen of Switzerland in 1943. ...

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