Selene

/si lee"nee/, n.

1. the Greek goddess of the moon. Cf. Thyone.

2. Also, Selena. a female given name.

[ < Gk Seléne the moon]

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Latin Luna

In Greek and Roman religion, the goddess that personified the Moon.

Her parents were the Titans Hyperion and Theia; her siblings were Helios and Eos, the goddess of dawn. Selene fell in love with Endymion, a handsome young shepherd; Zeus cast Endymion into eternal sleep, but Selene visited him in the cave where he slept, and he fathered her 50 daughters (one for each lunar month between Olympiads) and, according to some accounts, Narcissus. In art Selene is often represented as a woman with the crescent moon on her head. As Luna she had temples in Rome on the Aventine and Palatine hills.

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▪ Greek and Roman mythology

Greek“Moon” Latin  Luna,  

      in Greek and Roman religion, the personification of the Moon as a goddess. She was worshipped at the new and full moons. According to Hesiod's Theogony, her parents were the Titans Hyperion and Theia; her brother was Helios, the sun god (sometimes called her father); her sister was Eos (Dawn). In the Homeric Hymn to Selene, she bears the beautiful Pandeic to Zeus, while Alcman says they are the parents of Herse, the dew. She is often linked with Endymion, whom she loved and whom Zeus cast into eternal sleep in a cave on Mount Latmus; there, Selene visited him and became the mother of 50 daughters. In another story she was loved by Pan. By the 5th century BC Selene was sometimes identified with Artemis, or Phoebe, “the bright one.” She was usually represented as a woman with the moon (often in crescent form) on her head and driving a two-horse chariot. As Luna, she had temples at Rome on the Aventine and Palatine hills.

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