| Type: | Greek |
| Selene | |
| God Of: | Personification of the Moon |
| Script Name: | Greek |
| Script: | Σελήνη |
| Abode: | Sky |
| Other Names: | Mene (Μήνη) |
| Day: | Monday (hēméra Selḗnēs) |
| Animals: | Horse, bull, mule |
| Planet: | Moon[1] |
| Symbol: | Crescent, chariot, torch, billowing cloak, bull, moon |
| Consort: | Endymion |
| Parents: | Hyperion and Theia |
| Siblings: | Helios and Eos |
| Children: | Fifty daughters, Narcissus, Pandia, Ersa, Horae, Musaeus |
| Roman Equivalent: | Luna |
| Equivalent2 Type: | Phrygian |
| Equivalent2: | Men |
In ancient Greek mythology and religion, Selene (; Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: [[wikt:Σελήνη|Σελήνη]] in Greek, Modern (1453-); pronounced as /selɛ̌ːnɛː/, meaning "Moon")[2] is the goddess and personification of the Moon. 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. She drives her moon chariot across the heavens. Several lovers are attributed to her in various myths, including Zeus, Pan, and the mortal Endymion. In post-classical times, Selene was often identified with Artemis, much as her brother, Helios, was identified with Apollo.[3] 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.
Her equivalent in Roman religion and mythology is the goddess Luna.[4]
The name "Selene" is derived from the Greek noun selas (Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: σέλας), meaning "light, brightness, gleam".[5] In the Doric and Aeolic dialects, her name was also spelled Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: Σελάνα (Selána) and Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: Σελάννα (Selánna) respectively.[2]
Selene was also called Mene.[6] The Greek word mene, meant the moon, and the lunar month.[7] The masculine form of mene (men) was also the name of the Phrygian moon-god Men.[8] 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".[9] The Greek Stoic philosopher Chrysippus interpreted Selene and Men as, respectively, the female and male aspects of the same god.[10]
Although no clear attestation for Selene herself (or any prodecessor of hers) has been discovered, in Mycenaean Greek the word for month 'men' has been found in Linear B spelled as {{script|Linb| (me-no, from genitive form Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: μηνός, mēnós).[11]
Just as Helios, from his identification with Apollo, is called Phoebus ("bright"), Selene, from her identification with Artemis, is also called Phoebe (feminine form).[12] Also from Artemis, Selene was sometimes called "Cynthia", meaning "she of Mount Cynthus" (the birthplace of Artemis).[13]
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.
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. The Greek offshoot of this deity however is female, as the ancient Greeks' gender view of the world was reflected in their language. The ancient Greek language had three grammatical genders (masculine, feminine and neuter), so when a god or a goddess personified an object or a concept, they inherited the gender of the corresponding noun; selene, the Greek noun for 'Moon', is a feminine one (whereas men is a masculine one), so the deity embodying it is also by necessity female.[14] 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. It seems however that unlike the Dawn (Eos) and the Sun (Helios), the Moon had very little importance in PIE mythology.
Although attempts have been made to connect Selene to Helen of Troy due to the similarity of their names, in two early dedications to Helen from Laconia her name is spelled with a digamma (Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: Ϝελένα|Weléna), ruling out any possible connection between them. 'Helen' is more likely related to 'Helios' instead, and it seems that the two figures stem from a common Proto-Indo-European ancestor, the Sun Maiden.
Surviving descriptions of Selene's physical appearance and character, apart from those which would apply to the moon itself, are scant. There is no mention of Selene as a goddess in either the Iliad or the Odyssey of Homer,[15] while her only mention in Hesiod's Theogony is as the daughter of Hyperion and Theia, and sister of Helios and Eos.[16] She was, however, the subject of one of the thirty-three Homeric Hymns, which gives the following description: