In ancient Greek mythology, like in any other pantheon, there is a personification of the moon. The Greeks had Selena. The mythology of ancient Rome has a similar character - Diana. Often they are considered a reflection of the same image.
Goddess of the moon
In ancient Greek mythology, one of the central characters is the titans - the gods of the second generation. They had a lot of children. In a series of these offspring of the third generation was Selena. Mythology ascribes to her the image of the moon. The Hellenes were especially respectful of this lonely night luminary.
Titan Hyperion and his wife Teija had three children. One of the bottom was Selena. Mythology reveals the name of her brother Helios, the solar deity, as well as Eos, the goddess of dawn. Thus, these relatives personified the whole heavenly element. For the Greeks, the distant cloudy distances were an unknown world beyond the limits of human consciousness. Therefore, the image that Selena possessed received a special mystical shade. Mythology says that it falls to titan parents the youngest daughter born after Helios and Eos.
Relations with other gods
To understand who Selena is in Greek mythology, just look at her relationship with other deities of the ancient Greek pantheon. It is believed that she was one of Zeus's lovers. From this connection, Pandia was born, in honor of whom a magnificent holiday dedicated to the spring equinox was held every year in Athens . On this day, the moon goddess washed herself in the ocean waters, put on silver clothes and harnessed the mighty horses to her chariot in order to set off again through the sky.
Also Selena of ancient Greek mythology was associated with Pan. This god of wildlife, cattle breeding and shepherds was carried away by the moon. To attract Selena, a powerful native of Arcadia turned into a magnificent white ram.
Cult of selena
Selena was worshiped in many areas of ancient Greece. In Olympia, an antique image of a goddess riding a horse is still preserved. The famous geographer Strabo mentioned that the daughter of the titan was especially revered even in the most distant corners of the then ancient civilization (for example, in inaccessible mountainous Albania). Most often, marble was dedicated to Selena. The color of this natural material reminded the Greeks of a moon tint. Selena could be depicted alone or inside her celestial chariot. The goddess had much in common with Artemis. She was not only a beautiful woman, but also a wise woman. She knew all the stars and the oldest secrets of the sky.
Poets of that time wrote their works, drawing inspiration from the stories that Greek mythology told about . Selena is present in the poems and poems of Pindar and Aeschylus. Masters of literature compared it to a sparkling night eye. For the Greeks, the moon was not just a night decoration. The heavenly body was used as a guideline, days could be counted on it.
In addition, the moon was also a beacon for the stars that she led. In this regard, poets compared Selena with a beautiful woman carrying a torch. The goddess was associated with silver and silver, which came from the moon, illuminated the night sky.
Endymion
Selena fell in love with the young man Endymion, famous for his amazing beauty. He was the king of Elis, where he had a cult for a long time. According to local legend, Selena gave birth to fifty children from Endymion, who symbolized the fifty lunar cycles between the Olympic Games. The names of some of them have survived to this day. Nemea is the new moon, Pandea symbolizes the waning phase, Meniscus is the crescent, and Mena is the full moon.
Endymion begged Zeus for immortality and eternal youth at the cost of sound sleep. Every night, Selena returns to the young man and silently admires him. Greek priests and poets believed that this plot is the personification of the daily meeting of the Sun and the Moon.
Night wanderer
With the coming of night, Selena in the sky replaced Hemera, who personified the day. The moon goddess had not only horses, but also buffaloes with mules, whom she too could harness in a chariot.
Selena in Greek mythology had a mandatory attribute in the form of wings, which helped her travel the starry ocean. A crown of gold rested on her head. Decoration with its light scattered the night darkness and helped travelers not to stray from the road. Each full moon, the Greeks made a sacrifice in honor of the daughter of Hyperion.
Modern Greek retained the name Selena as the common name for the moon as a celestial body. Thanks to this, the image of the goddess is one of the most explicit and straightforward in ancient mythology. In honor of Selena, an asteroid was discovered, discovered in 1905 by the German astronomer Max Wolf, who was fond of ancient Greek history.