Home Forum Members Newsletter Photos Symposia Rituals Temenoi Eranoi & Thiasoi Exegetai Mantikoi Agon Retreat The Gods Hellenismos Shop Links Join Contact

Selene Selene (Selhnh) is the archaic lunar deity and daughter of the titans Hyperion and Theia. She is depicted as a woman either riding side saddle on a horse or in a chariot drawn by a pair of winged steeds. Her lunar sphere or crescent is represented as either a crown set upon her head or as the fold of a raised, shining cloak. Sometimes she is said to drive a team of oxen and her lunar crescent was likened to the horns of a bull. In later times the triad Hekate-Artemis-Selene appears in Roman-era poetry. Blessing: As well as being a goddess of the Moon, Selene was also seen as having dominion over the months, childbirth, the growth of plants and animals, lunacy and moonstone. Epithets: Aiglê (Radiance), Eileithyia (Come to Aid), Mênê (Moon), Pasiphae (All-Shining), Symbols: Cresent & Full Moon, Horses, Veil, Cymbals, Torches Animal(s): Horses, Oxen Sacrifices: Aromatics, Moonstone, Selenite, Honey, Milk, Jasmine Myths: Selene & Endymion: The seduction of Endymion is the love affair that brings Selene the most fame. She fell in love with the shepard, Endymion, and seduced him while he lie sleeping in a cave. Some sources say Endymion was a king or a hunter, rather than a shepherd. Her seduction of Endymion resulted in the birth of fifty daughters, one of which was Naxos. Since Selene was so deeply in love with Endymion she asked Zeus to allow him to decide his own fate. Zeus granted Selene's request, and Endymion chose never to grow old and to sleep eternally. However, Endymion's eternal sleep did not prevent him from Selene's nightly visitations and she gave birth to his daughters - all 50 of them! - representing the 50 lunar months between Olympiads. The Nemean Lion: Some sources report that the fearful Nemean Lion fell to earth from the moon as a result of an affair between Zeus and Selene. Other sources say that She nursed and suckled the beast. Zeus: Selene was said to have had an affair with Zeus which produced three daughters: Pandeia, Ersa, Nemea. Pan: The goat-footed God of Nature and Wild Places was said to have onces seduced Selene by disguising himself by wrapping his form in the fleece of a white sheep and then gave her a herd 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. Primary Cult Centre(s): In his Guide to Greece, Pausanias comments on a few minor examples. Firstly in Lakedaimonia, on a road between Oitylos and Thalamai about "eighty stades" long there was a sanctuary of Ino that had an oracle. Here, statues in bronze of Helios and Pasiphae stood in an open part of the sanctuary. There was also a sacred spring where "water, sweet to drink" flows. Pausanias makes note that Pasiphae is a title of Selene and not a local goddess of the people of Thalamai. (Pausanias, Guide to Greece 3.26.1) It is also mentioned that images on the throne in the temple of Zeus at Olympia depict Selene riding what is thought to be a horse though it is also said that the steed is actually a mule and that a "silly story" surrounds this claim. (Pausanias, Guide to Greece 5.11.8) In the market-place at Elis, stone images of Selene and Helios once stood. Selene is depicted with "horns" emmanating from her head. (Pausanias, Guide to Greece 6.24.6) Ovid (Fasti 3.883) comments on Selene (as Luna) ruling the months and that "Luna closes this month's time with her worship on the Aventine Hill." The Greek geographer, Strabo, describes the ritual performed in honor of Selene by the Albanians in book 11 of his work, Geographica: "As for gods, they honor Helius, Zeus, and Selene, but especially Selene; her temple is near Iberia. The office of priest is held by the man who, after the king, is held in highest honor; he has charge of the sacred land, which is extensive and well-populated, and also of the temple slaves, many of whom are subject to religious frenzy and utter prophecies. And any one of those who, becoming violently possessed, wanders alone in the forests, is by the priest arrested, bound with sacred fetters, and sumptuously maintained during that year, and then led forth to the sacrifice that is performed in honor of the goddess, and, being anointed, is sacrificed along with other victims. The sacrifice is performed as follows: Some person holding a sacred lance, with which it is the custom to sacrifice human victims, comes forward out of the crowd and strikes the victim through the side into the heart, he being not without experience in such a task; and when the victim falls, they draw auguries from his fall and declare them before the public; and when the body is carried to a certain place, they all trample upon it, thus using it as a means of purification." Festivals: Noumenia - The festival of the New Moon honours all of the Gods, as well as specifically the Goddess Selene, Apollon Noumenios, the Ancestors and the Agathos Daimon. Dikhomenia - The 15th of the lunar month is celebrated as the Dikhomenia (from the ancestor of the modern word dikhiazo "I bisect, I divide"), which occurs on or very close to the full moon. This day is sacred to Selene. Ways to honor: Take the time to gaze up at the Moon; offer up libations and read the Hymns to Selene. Mark the Noumenia and the Dikhomenia. Learn the myths surrounding this Goddess and write poetry for or about Her; Selene was a favourite topic of many poets, especially love poets. A moonlit night brings the feeling of romance. It is said that Selene's moon rays fall upon sleeping mortals, as her kisses fell upon her love, Endymion. Hymns: Orphic Hymn To The Moon The Fumigation from Aromatics. "Hear, Goddess queen, diffusing silver light, Bull-horn'd and wand'ring thro' the gloom of Night. With Stars surrounded, and with circuit wide Night's torch extending, thro' the heav'ns you ride: Female and Male with borrow'd rays you shine, And now full-orb'd, now tending to decline, Mother of ages, fruit-producing Moon, Whose amber orb makes Night's reflected noon: Lover of horses, splendid, queen of Night, All-seeing pow'r bedeck'd with starry light. Lover of vigilance, the foe of strife, In peace rejoicing, and a prudent life: Fair lamp of Night, its ornament ad friend, Who giv'st to Nature's works their destin'd end. Queen of the stars, all-wise Diana hail! Deck'd with a graceful robe and shining veil; Come, blessed Goddess, prudent, starry, bright, come moony-lamp with chaste and splendid light, Shine on these sacred rites with prosp'rous rays, And pleas'd accept thy suppliant's mystic praise." Homeric Hymn #32 to Selene "And next, sweet voiced Mousai, daughters of Zeus, well skilled in song, tell of the long-winged Mene (Moon). From her immortal head a radiance is shown from heaven and embraces earth; and great is the beauty that ariseth from her shining light. The air, unlit before, glows with the light of her golden crown, and her rays beam clear, whensoever bright Selene having bathed her lovely body in the waters of Okeanos, and donned her far-gleaming raiment, and yoked her strong-necked, shining team, and drives on her long-maned horses at full speed, at eventime in the mid-month: then her great orbit is full and then her beams shine brightest as she increases. So she is a sure token and a sign to mortal men. Once Kronides [Zeus] was joined with her in love; and she conceived and bare a daughter Pandeia, exceeding lovely amongst the deathless gods. Hail, white-armed goddess, bright Selene, mild, bright-tressed queen! And now I will leave you and sing the glorious of men half-divine, whose deeds minstrels, the servants of the Mousai, celebrate with lovely lips." For more information: Aelian, On Animals - Greek Natural History C2nd - C3rd AD Aeschylus, Seven Against Thebes - Greek Tragedy C5th BC Apollodorus, The Library - Greek Mythography C2nd BC Apollonius Rhodius, The Argonautica - Greek Epic C3rd BC Aratus, Phaenomena - Greek Astronomy C3rd BC Cicero, De Natura Deorum - Latin Philosophy C1st BC Euripides, Phoenicians - Greek Tragedy C5th BC Greek Lyric I Alcaeus, Fragments - Greek Lyric C6th BC Greek Lyric I Sappho, Fragments - Greek Lyric C6th BC Greek Lyric II Alcman, Fragments - Greek Lyric C7th BC Greek Lyric IV Ion of Chios, Fragments - Greek Lyric BC Greek Lyric V Anonymous, Fragments - Greek Lyric BC Greek Lyric V Timotheus, Fragments - Greek Lyric BC Hesiod, Theogony - Greek Epic C8th-7th BC Hyginus, Fabulae - Latin Mythography C2nd AD Musaeus, Hero and Leander - Greek Poetry BC Ovid, Fasti - Latin Epic C1st BC - C1st AD Ovid, Metamorphoses - Latin Epic C1st BC - C1st AD Pausanias, Guide to Greece - Greek Geography C2nd AD Propertius, Elegies - Latin Elegy C1st BC Quintus Smyrnaeus, Fall of Troy - Greek Epic C4th AD Seneca, Hercules Furens - Latin Tragedy C1st AD Seneca, Medea - Latin Tragedy C1st AD Seneca, Oedipus - Latin Tragedy C1st AD Seneca, Phaedra - Latin Tragedy C1st AD Seneca, Troades - Latin Tragedy C1st AD Statius, Achilleid - Latin Epic C1st AD Statius, Silvae - Latin Epic C1st AD Statius, Thebaid - Latin Epic C1st AD Strabo, Geography - Greek Geography C1st BC - C1st AD Suidas - Byzantine Lexicon C10th AD The Homeric Hymns - Greek Epic C8th-4th BC The Orphic Hymns - Greek Hymns BC Tryphiodorus, The Taking of Ilias - Greek Epic C5th AD Valerius Flaccus, The Argonautica - Latin Epic C1st AD Virgil, Georgics - Latin Idyllic C1st BC Burkert, Walter (1985) Greek Religion (p. 176) Grimal, Pierre (1986) Dictionary of Classical Mythology (p415) Grimal, Pierre (1986) The Dictionary of Classical Mythology (p. 262) Hamilton, Edith (1942) Mythology (p154) Hansen, William (2004) Classical Mythology (p. 220) Houtzager, Guus (2003) The Complete Encyclopedia of Greek Mythology (p. 229) Kerenyi, Karl (1951) The Gods of the Greeks (pp. 19, 197) Klapp, William (1935) Manual of Mythology (p76, p118, p123, p128) Powell, Barry (1998) Classical Myth (p80-82, p634) Schmidt, Joel (1965) Larousse Greek and Roman Mythology (p248-249) Links: Selene Greek Mythology - Selene The Long Winged Moon Myth Man's Homework Help Centre - Selene Wikipedia - Selene