Selene, the luminous goddess of the moon, glides across the night sky in a chariot drawn by silver horses. She brings light to darkness, order to time, and beauty to the heavens. Greeks revered her not only as the celestial body but as the personification of the moon’s quiet, persistent power.
More than just a radiant presence, Selene influences sleep, tides, emotions, and the rhythms of nature. Her glow evokes both mystery and serenity, and her myths tell of longing, devotion, and the bittersweet burden of immortality.
Symbolism
Selene embodies purity, constancy, and feminine radiance. She is often depicted as a graceful woman with a pale face, wearing a crescent moon on her brow. In classical art, she rides a chariot pulled by winged horses or oxen, her silver light trailing behind her.
She is associated with silver, milk-white robes, and the dewy freshness of the night. Her cyclical nature—waxing and waning—links her to the passage of time, the female body, and change.
Appearances in Myth
- Endymion: Selene falls in love with Endymion, a beautiful mortal shepherd or king. She asks ZZeuseus (or Hypnos, in some versions) to grant him eternal sleep so she can gaze upon him forever. Each night, she descends to caress him in his slumber, preserving his beauty but keeping him forever out of reach. Some myths say she bore him fifty daughters—one for every lunar month in a cycle of four years.
- Titan Lineage: Selene is a Titaness, daughter of Hyperion (light) and Theia (sight), and sister to Helios (the sun) and Eos (the dawn). Together, they represent the sky’s daily and nightly motions. She predates the Olympian order, yet persists through every age.
- Role in Magic and Timekeeping: As the visible moon, Selene becomes a natural goddess of calendars, omens, and lunar magic. Priests and priestesses honored her in conjunction with Hecate and Artemis in moon-based rituals.
Worship and Cult
Selene’s worship remained relatively low-profile but persistent, often blending with that of Artemis and Hecate. In Thessaly and Asia Minor, some cults invoked her for fertility, protection, or prophetic dreams. She also appeared in Orphic hymns and magical texts, where her power guided spiritual transformation.
Romans later merged her with Luna, the goddess of the moon, and built temples in her name, including one on the Aventine Hill.
Modern Appearances
Literature and Art
- Romantic poets invoked Selene as a symbol of unreachable beauty and melancholy love.
- In Mythology by Edith Hamilton and The Greek Myths by Robert Graves, Selene’s myth with Endymion stands as one of Greek mythology’s most tender.
Popular Culture
- Sailor Moon – The anime series draws heavily from Selene’s imagery and myth, especially in character names and lunar iconography.
- Percy Jackson & the Olympians – While Selene herself does not appear, her influence lingers in the moon-related powers and symbols associated with Artemis and Hecate.
Astronomy
The word selenology, the study of the moon, and chemical element selenium both derive from Selene’s name.
