Selene

Selene was the Titan goddess of the moon.

Residence: The Sky
Symbols: Moon, torch, crescent and bull
Parents: Hyperion and Theia
Siblings: Eos and Helius
Consort: Endymion
Children: Fifty daughters of Endymion
Roman equivalent: Luna

Detail of Selene from a Roman sarcophagus
Detail of Selene from a Roman sarcophagus.

She was depicted as a woman riding sidesaddle on a horse or driving a chariot drawn by a pair of winged steeds. Her lunar sphere or crescent was either a crown set upon her head or the fold of a raised, shining cloak. She was sometimes said to drive a team of oxen and her lunar crescent was likened to a pair of bull’s horns.

Selene’s great love was the shepherd prince Endymion. The beautiful boy was granted eternal youth and immortality by Zeus and placed in a state of eternal slumber in a cave near the peak of Lydian Mount Latmus. His heavenly bride consorted with him there in the night.

Roman statue of Selene. (c) Sailko
Selene from a Roman altar piece, flanked by either the Dioscuri, or by Phosphorus and Hesperus.
Selene and Endymion, painting by Sebastiano Ricci (1713), Chiswick House.

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