The myth of Selene, the moon goddess

The myth of Selene is the myth of the moon goddess, a figure that had relative importance among the Greeks and much more prominence among the Romans. She was responsible for not leaving mortals in darkness when her brother Helios, the sun, set. on the horizon.

In the myth of Selene, this goddess is represented as a beautiful woman, with a pale and smooth complexion, who wore a crescent crown on her head. She sometimes rode on a bull, but more frequently He could be seen traveling in a silver chariot, drawn by two white oxen or two winged horses. Like her brother, the Sun, did during the day, she traveled through the night in that vehicle.

The moon goddess always wore white robes and carried a torch in her hand. The myth of Selene had a special influence on the measurement of time among the greeks. In this society the months were made up of three periods, each of 10 days, in accordance with the phases of the moon. It was believed that it not only ruled the night, but also produced dew.

The origin of the myth of Selene

The myth of Selene says that this goddess belonged to the second generation of Titans and that she was the daughter of Hyperion and Thea. Hyperion was a titan who barely appeared in Greek mythology; Despite this, he was considered the god of observation. He was also associated with the first light of day, just before the sun rose.

Thea, Hyperion’s sister and wife, was a titan and was thought to rule sight., since the Greeks believed that the eyes cast rays on things and this was what allowed them to see them. One of Tea’s functions was to give shine to precious metals.

Hyperion and Thea had three sons: Helios, the sun; Selene, the moon; and Eos, the dawn . Every day Helios was supposed to begin a journey across the entire expanse of the sky; When he finished, darkness came and then it was Selene who had to relieve him to make a similar trip in the night. Eos, for its part, had the mission of surrounding the world to announce the presence of Helios every day.

Selene and great love

The myth of Selene says that this goddess had several lovers, divine and mortal. However, his great love story He lived it with a humble mortal named Endymion. It is said that he was one of the most beautiful men on Earth, comparable only to Adonis or Narcissus.

Endymion was a shepherd and guided the flocks at night. On one occasion, he was on Mount Latmus and felt so tired that he could not help but fall asleep in a grotto. Selene managed to perceive it and then she descended to the cave with her carriage and saw the beautiful shepherd sleeping. The place was illuminated with the brightness of the goddess and this awakened Endymion.

Selene did not know that Endymion was already in love with her and that he fell asleep every night thinking about the moon.. Therefore, when the goddess finally noticed him, the romance was mutual.

However, she was a goddess, therefore immortal, while he was a mortal. The myth of Selene tells that she personally went to ask Zeus for a solution, because she wanted to unite forever with the shepherd.

eternal loves

Endymion, for his part, asked Hypnos, god of sleep, for help. Both Zeus and Hypnos eventually helped them. They could not make the shepherd immortal, since this was equivalent to giving him the status of god. But they couldn’t leave him as an ordinary mortal either, since this would distress Selene.

The solution they found was leave Endymion eternally asleep. He could only open his eyes during the night to meet Selene. This is how this love story came to fruition and 50 children were born from it, which correspond to the 50 moons or lunar phases that exist in the year.

However, according to the myth of Selene, This was not the only lover of the goddess. With Zeus he had the beautiful Pandia, goddess of the full moon and the raising of children; also to Ersa, the goddess of the morning dew; and Nemea, nymph of a spring in a place with the same name as her. With his brother Helios he conceived the four Horai or the four seasons.

Greek mythology reports great beauty in the explanation of the natural phenomena that we know. The myth of Selene, the moon goddess, reflects, once again, how the Greeks observed the world and the behavior of nature with great fascination.

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