From her immortal head a radiance is shown from heaven and embraces earth and great is the beauty that ariseth from her shining light. She was, however, the subject of one of the thirty-three Homeric Hymns, which gives the following description:Īnd next, sweet voiced Muses, daughters of Zeus, well-skilled in song, tell of the long-winged Moon. There is no mention of Selene as a goddess in either the Iliad or the Odyssey of Homer, while her only mention in Hesiod's Theogony is as the daughter of Hyperion and Theia, and sister of Helios and Eos. Surviving descriptions of Selene's physical appearance and character, apart from those which would apply to the moon itself, are scant. Statue of Selene in white marble, second half of the 3rd century AD 'Helen' is related to 'Helios' instead, and it seems that the two figures stem from a common Proto-Indo-European ancestor, the Sun Maiden. Īlthough attempts have been made to connect Selene to Helene due to the similarity of their names, in two early dedications to Helen from Laconia her name is spelled with a digamma ( Ancient Greek: Ϝελένα, romanized: Weléna), ruling out any possible connection between them. It seems however that unlike the Dawn (Eos) and the Sun (Helios), the Moon had very little importance in PIE mythology. In PIE mythology, the Moon, which is a male figure, was seen as forming a pair–usually wedlock–with the Sun, which is a female figure, and which in Greek mythology is recognized in the male deity and Selene's brother Helios. The original PIE moon deity has been reconstructed as *Meh₁not (from which 'Mene', Selene's byname, is derived), and it appears that it was a male god. Selene, along with her brother, her sister and the sky-god Zeus, is one of the few Greek deities of a clear Proto-Indo-European origin, although they were sidelined by later non-PIE newcomers to the pantheon, as remaining on the sidelines became their primary function, to be the minor deities the major ones were juxtaposed to, thus helping keep the Greek religion Greek. Also from Artemis, Selene was sometimes called "Cynthia", meaning "she of Mount Cynthus" (the birthplace of Artemis). Just as Helios, from his identification with Apollo, is called Phoebus ("bright"), Selene, from her identification with Artemis, is also called Phoebe (feminine form). Īlthough no clear attestation for Selene herself (or any prodecessor of hers) has been discovered yet in Mycenaean Greek, the word for month 'men' has been found in Linear B spelled as □□ (me-no, from genitive form μηνός, mēnós). The Greek Stoic philosopher Chrysippus interpreted Selene and Men as, respectively, the female and male aspects of the same god. Mene and Men both derive from Proto-Hellenic *méns ("month"), itself from Proto-Indo-European *mḗh₁n̥s (meaning moon, the lunar month), which probably comes from the root *meh₁- ("to measure"), and is cognate with the English words "Moon" and "month". The masculine form of mene ( men) was also the name of the Phrygian moon-god Men. The Greek word mene, meant the moon, and the lunar month. In the Doric and Aeolic dialects, her name was also spelled Σελάνα ( Selána) and Σελάννα ( Selánna) respectively. The name "Selene" is derived from the Greek noun selas ( σέλας), meaning "light, brightness, gleam". Part of a series onĭetail of a sarcophagus depicting Endymion and Selene, shown with her characteristic attributes of lunate crown and billowing veil ( velificatio) Selene and Artemis were also associated with Hecate and all three were regarded as moon and lunar goddesses, but only Selene was regarded as the personification of the Moon itself. In post-classical times, Selene was often identified with Artemis, much as her brother, Helios, was identified with Apollo. Several lovers are attributed to her in various myths, including Zeus, Pan, and the mortal Endymion. She drives her moon chariot across the heavens. Also known as Mene, she is traditionally the daughter of the Titans Hyperion and Theia, and sister of the sun god Helios and the dawn goddess Eos. In ancient Greek mythology and religion, Selene ( / s ɪ ˈ l iː n iː/ Greek: Σελήνη pronounced, meaning "Moon" ) is the goddess and personification of the Moon. Hyperion and Theia, or Pallas, the son of Megamedes or Helios.įifty daughters and Narcissus to Endymion Pandia and Ersa to Zeus four Horae to Helios Musaeus Detail of Selene from a Roman sarcophagusĬrescent, chariot, torch, billowing cloak, bull, moon
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |