Editing Selene (section)

== Mythology ==
=== Goddess of the Moon ===
[[File:Diana-selene, da originale ellenistico, da porta s. sebastiano 02.JPG|thumb|Statue of Selene, shown wearing the crescent on her forehead and holding a torch in her right hand, while her veil billows over her head.]]

Like her brother Helios, the Sun god, who drives his sun chariot across the sky each day, Selene is also said to drive a chariot across the heavens.<ref>Hard, [https://books.google.com/books?id=r1Y3xZWVlnIC&pg=PA46 p. 46]; Keightley; [https://books.google.com/books?id=YhsYAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA54 p. 54]; [[Pindar]], ''Olympian'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0162%3Abook%3DO.%3Apoem%3D3 3.19–20]; [[Euripides]], ''[[The Suppliants (Euripides)|The Suppliants]]'', [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0006.tlg008.perseus-eng1:990-1008 990&ndash;994]; [[Theocritus]], [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/theocritus-poems_i-xxx/2015/pb_LCL028.57.xml 2.163&ndash;166]; [[Ovid]], ''[[Fasti (poem)|Fasti]]'' [https://archive.org/details/ovidsfasti00oviduoft/page/128/mode/2up?view=theater 3.109–110], [https://archive.org/details/ovidsfasti00oviduoft/page/216/mode/2up?view=theater 4.373–374], ''[[Metamorphoses]]'' [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/ovid-metamorphoses/1916/pb_LCL042.75.xml 2.208&ndash;209]; [[Gaius Valerius Flaccus|Valerius Flaccus]], ''Argonautica'' [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/valerius_flaccus-argonautica/1934/pb_LCL286.275.xml 5.410&ndash;415]; [[Statius]], [[Thebaid (Latin poem)|''Thebaid'']] [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/statius-thebaid/2004/pb_LCL207.67.xml 1.336&ndash;341].</ref> There are no mentions of Selene's chariot in either [[Homer]] or [[Hesiod]],<ref>Keightley, [https://books.google.com/books?id=YhsYAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA54 p. 54].</ref> but the ''[[Homeric Hymns|Homeric Hymn to Selene]]'', gives the following description:

{{blockquote|The air, unlit before, glows with the light of her golden crown, and her rays beam clear, whensoever bright Selene having bathed her lovely body in the waters of Ocean, and donned her far-gleaming raiment, and yoked her strong-necked, shining team, drives on her long-maned horses at full speed, at eventime in the mid-month: then her great orbit is full and then her beams shine brightest as she increases. So she is a sure token and a sign to mortal men.<ref>''[[Homeric Hymns|Homeric Hymn to Selene]]'' (32) [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0138%3Ahymn%3D32 5–14].</ref>}}

The earliest known depiction of Selene driving a chariot adorns the inside of an early 5th century BC [[red-figure]] cup attributed to the [[Brygos Painter]], showing Selene plunging her chariot, drawn by two winged horses, into the sea (Berlin Antikensammlung F 2293).<ref>Cohen, pp. [https://books.google.com/books?id=SCA2AgAAQBAJ&pg=PA156 156–157], [https://books.google.com/books?id=SCA2AgAAQBAJ&pg=PA177 177–179]; Savignoni, [https://books.google.com/books?id=q0EaAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA267 pp. 267&ndash;268]; ''[[Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae|LIMC]]'' [http://ark.dasch.swiss/ark:/72163/080e-74476cdb1abcc-3  11564 (Selene, Luna 47)], image [https://www.iconiclimc.ch/limc/imageview.php?image=ec5c193a36ad4901b93316d668406b4f&total=6&term=%22Luna+47%22 11842X101.jpg]; [[Beazley Archive]] [http://www.beazley.ox.ac.uk/record/FF922369-A326-4645-870F-1DEBDFEB9D0C 203909]. For Selene (?) driving another pair of winged horses see Savignoni, Plate X (following [https://books.google.com/books?id=q0EaAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA264 p. 264]); Zschietzschmann, pp. XII, 23; [[Beazley Archive]], [http://www.beazley.ox.ac.uk/record/F7110D3A-E2AE-4BAD-A262-C5ABD2DB8F95 15412]; note however ''[[Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae|LIMC]]'' [http://ark.dasch.swiss/ark:/72163/080e-7563328f80339-3 31573], which identifies this figure as [[Nyx]] (Night).</ref> The geographer [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]], reports seeing a relief of Selene driving a single horse, as it seemed to him, or as some said, a mule, on the pedestal of the [[Statue of Zeus at Olympia]] (c. 435 BC).<ref>Keightley, [https://books.google.com/books?id=YhsYAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA54 p. 54]; [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]], [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Paus.+5.11.8 5.11.8].</ref> While the sun chariot has four horses, Selene's usually has two,<ref>Morford, [https://archive.org/details/classicalmytholo0000morf_8ed/page/63/mode/2up?view=theater p. 63]; ''[[Oxford Classical Dictionary]]'', s.v. Selene; Kerényi, [https://archive.org/details/godsofgreeks00kerrich/page/196/mode/2up?view=theater p. 196]. For an example of Selene driving the less usual four horses see Morford, [https://archive.org/details/classicalmytholo0000morf_8ed/page/353/mode/2up?view=theater p. 353].</ref> described as "snow-white" by [[Ovid]].<ref>Ovid, ''Fasti'' [https://archive.org/details/ovidsfasti00oviduoft/page/216/mode/2up?view=theater 4.374].</ref> In some later accounts the chariot was drawn by oxen or bulls.<ref>Keightley, [https://books.google.com/books?id=YhsYAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA54 p. 54]; [[Claudian]], ''Rape of Proserpine'' [https://archive.org/details/claudia02clau/page/374/mode/2up?view=theater 3.403]; [[Libanius]], ''[[Progymnasmata]]'' [https://books.google.com/books?id=kRi-If9IAOYC&pg=PA257 Encomium 8]; [[Nonnus]], ''Dionysiaca'' , [https://archive.org/stream/dionysiaca01nonnuoft#page/18/mode/2up 1.222], [https://archive.org/stream/dionysiaca01nonnuoft#page/74/mode/2up 2.406], [https://archive.org/stream/dionysiaca01nonnuoft#page/262/mode/2up 7.247], [https://archive.org/stream/dionysiaca01nonnuoft#page/370/mode/2up 11.186]; [https://archive.org/stream/dionysiaca01nonnuoft#page/396/mode/2up 12.5]; [http://archive.org/stream/dionysiaca03nonnuoft#page/472/mode/2up 48.668]. For an image of Selene driving bulls, see [[British Museum]]  [https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/G_1956-0517-1 1956,0517.1]
 = [[Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae|''LIMC'']] [http://ark.dasch.swiss/ark:/72163/080e-74601d88997c7-0 13303 (Selene, Luna 61)].</ref>  Though the moon chariot is often described as being silver,<ref>Grimal, s.v. Selene; [[Nonnus]], ''[[Dionysiaca]]'' [https://archive.org/stream/dionysiaca03nonnuoft#page/310/mode/2up 44.192].</ref> for [[Pindar]] it was golden.<ref>[[Pindar]], ''Olympian'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0162%3Abook%3DO.%3Apoem%3D3 3.19–20]. For the use of "golden" in reference to the moon, see: Allen, [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0029%3Atext%3Dcomm%3Apoem%3D32 [6<nowiki>]</nowiki> "χρυσέου"].</ref>

In antiquity, the [[lunar eclipse]] phenomena were thought to be caused by witches, particularly the ones from [[Thessaly]], who brought the Moon/Selene down with spells and invocations of magic.<ref>ní Mheallaigh, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=h6ECEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA38 38]</ref> References to this magical trick, variously referred to as {{lang|grc|καθαιρεῖν}} (''kathaireĩn''), are scattered throughout ancient literature, whereas eclipses of both the Sun and the Moon were called ''kathaireseis'' ("casting-downs") by the Greek populace.<ref name=":hill">Hill, D. E. "THE THESSALIAN TRICK." Rheinisches Museum Für Philologie, vol. 116, no. 3/4, 1973, pp. [http://www.jstor.org/stable/41244743 221–38]. [[JSTOR]]. Accessed 18 Jul. 2022.</ref> A famous example of that is [[Aglaonice]] of Thessaly, an ancient Greek astronomer, who was regarded as a sorceress for her (self-proclaimed) ability to make the Moon disappear from the sky ({{lang|grc|καθαιρεῖν τὴν σελήνην}}: ''kathaireĩn tén selénen''). This claim has been taken–by [[Plutarch]] at first, and subsequently by modern astronomers–to mean that she could predict the time and general area where an eclipse of the Moon would occur.<ref>{{cite book | last = Ogilvie | first = Marilyn Bailey | date = 1986 |title = Women in Science | publisher = [[The MIT Press]] | isbn = 0-262-15031-X | url-access = registration | url = https://archive.org/details/womeninscience00mari }}</ref><ref>{{Citation  | last = Schmitz  | first = Leonhard  | contribution = Aganice  | editor-last = Smith  | editor-first = William  | title = [[Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology]]  | volume = 1  | pages = 59  | place = Boston  | date = 1867  | contribution-url = http://www.ancientlibrary.com/smith-bio/0068.html  | access-date = 2007-12-28  | archive-date = 2010-06-16  | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100616135039/http://www.ancientlibrary.com/smith-bio/0068.html  | url-status = dead}}</ref> Those who brought down the Moon were thought to bring ill fortune upon themselves, as evidenced by the proverb ''{{lang|grc|ἐπὶ σαυτῷ τὴν σελήνην καθαιρεῖς}}'' ("you are bringing down the Moon on yourself") said for those who caused self-inflicted evils; some witches supposedly avoided this fate by sacrificing their children or their eyeballs.<ref name=":hill"/><ref>[[Scholia]] ad [[Zenobius]] ''Epitome'' 401</ref>

In popular and common belief, Selene as the Moon came to be associated with physical growth, menstruation and sickness, the latter particularly in the context of demonic possession or even epilepsy.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia | last = Gordon | first = Richard L. | location = Ilmmünster | date = 2006 | url = https://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/brill-s-new-pauly/selene-e1107170 | title = Selene | encyclopedia = [[Brill's New Pauly]] | publisher = Brill Reference Online | editor-first1 = Hubert | editor-last1 = Cancik | editor-first2 = Helmuth | editor-last2 = Schneider | translator = Christine F. Salazar | access-date = September 15, 2023 | doi = 10.1163/1574-9347_bnp_e1107170| url-access = subscription }}</ref> Owing to her role as the moon goddess, she was sometimes called ''Nyctimedusa'' ({{langx|grc|Νυκτιμέδουσα|Nuktimédousa}}), meaning "queen of the night".<ref>{{cite web | access-date = April 9, 2023 | url = https://lsj.gr/wiki/νυκτιμέδουσα | title = νυκτιμέδουσα | website = lsj.gr}}</ref>

=== Endymion ===
[[File:Wall painting - Selene and Endymion - Pompeii (VI 9 6-7) - Napoli MAN 9240.jpg|thumb|[[Endymion (mythology)|Endymion]] as hunter (with dog), sitting on rocks in a landscape, holding two spears, looking at Selene who descends to him. Antique fresco from [[Pompeii]].]]
[[File:Sebastiano Ricci 015.jpg|thumb|upright=0.9|''Selene and Endymion'', by [[Sebastiano Ricci]] (1713), [[Chiswick House]], England.]]

Selene is best known for her affair with the beautiful mortal [[Endymion (mythology)|Endymion]].<ref>Roman and Roman, [https://books.google.com/books?id=tOgWfjNIxoMC&pg=PT446 p. 434]; Hard, pp. [https://books.google.com/books?id=r1Y3xZWVlnIC&pg=PA46 46], [https://books.google.com/books?id=r1Y3xZWVlnIC&pg=PA46 411]; Athanassakis and Wolkow, [https://books.google.com/books?id=TTo3r8IHy0wC&pg=PA89 p. 89]; Gantz, p. 35. The story was especially popular with [[Hellenistic period|Hellenistic]] and Roman poets, for which Fowler 2013, [https://books.google.com/books?id=scd8AQAAQBAJ&pg=PA134 p. 134], describes the theme as "irresistible", e.g. [[Catullus]], [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/catullus-poems/1913/pb_LCL006.129.xml 66.5&ndash;6]; ''[[Palatine Anthology]]'', [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/greek_anthology_5/1916/pb_LCL067.187.xml 5.123], [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/greek_anthology_5/1916/pb_LCL067.207.xml 5.165], [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/greek_anthology_6/1916/pb_LCL067.329.xml?rskey=n0rAo8&result=1 6.58]; [[Propertius]], ''Elegies'' [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/propertius-elegies/1990/pb_LCL018.145.xml 2.15.15&ndash;16]; [[Ovid]], ''[[Amores (Ovid)|Amores]]'' [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/ovid-amores/1914/pb_LCL041.371.xm 11.13.43&ndash;44], ''[[Ars Amatoria]]'' [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/ovid-art_love/1929/pb_LCL232.123.xml 3.83], ''Heroides'' [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/ovid-heroides/1914/pb_LCL041.187.xml 15.89&ndash;90], [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/ovid-heroides/1914/pb_LCL041.249.xml 18.59&ndash;74]; [[Seneca the Younger|Seneca]], ''[[Medea (Seneca)|Medea]]'' [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/seneca_younger-medea/2018/pb_LCL062.323.xml 93&ndash;101], [[Phaedra (Seneca)|''Phaedra'']] [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/seneca_younger-phaedra/2018/pb_LCL062.445.xml 309&ndash;316], [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/seneca_younger-phaedra/2018/pb_LCL062.453.xml 406&ndash;422], [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/seneca_younger-phaedra/2018/pb_LCL062.481.xml 785&ndash;794]; [[Gaius Valerius Flaccus|Valerius Flaccus]], ''Argonautica'' [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/valerius_flaccus-argonautica/1934/pb_LCL286.415.xml 8.28&ndash;30]. [[Gaius Julius Hyginus|Hyginus]], ''[[Fabulae]]'' [https://topostext.org/work/206#271 271], includes "Endymion, son of Aetolus, whom Luna loved" under the heading "Youths Who Were Most Handsome".</ref> The late 7th-century&nbsp;– early 6th-century BC poet [[Sappho]] apparently mentioned Selene and Endymion.<ref>Fowler 2013, [https://books.google.com/books?id=scd8AQAAQBAJ&pg=PA133 p. 133]; Gantz, p. 35; [[Sappho]]  [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/sappho-fragments/1982/pb_LCL142.187.xml fr. 199 Campbell] [= Scholia on [[Apollonius of Rhodes]]' ''[[Argonautica]]'' 4.57].</ref> However, the first account of the story comes from the third-century BC ''[[Argonautica]]'' of [[Apollonius of Rhodes]], which tells of Selene's "mad passion" and her visiting the "fair Endymion" in a cave on [[Mount Latmus]]:<ref>Gantz, p. 35.</ref>

{{Poem quote|And the Titanian goddess, the moon, rising from a far land, beheld her [Medea] as she fled distraught, and fiercely exulted over her, and thus spake to her own heart:

"Not I alone then stray to the Latmian cave, nor do I alone burn with love for fair Endymion; oft times with thoughts of love have I been driven away by thy crafty spells, in order that in the darkness of night thou mightest work thy sorcery at ease, even the deeds dear to thee. And now thou thyself too hast part in a like mad passion; and some god of affliction has given thee Jason to be thy grievous woe.  Well, go on, and steel thy heart, wise though thou be, to take up thy burden of pain, fraught with many sighs."<ref>[[Apollonius of Rhodes]], ''[[Argonautica]]''  [https://archive.org/stream/argonautica00apoluoft#page/298/mode/2up 4.54&ndash;65].</ref>}}

The eternally sleeping Endymion was proverbial,<ref>Fowler 2013, [https://books.google.com/books?id=scd8AQAAQBAJ&pg=PA133 pp. 133&ndash;134]; Frazer's note to [[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollodorus]], [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Apollod.+1.7.5 1.7.5]; e.g. [[Plato]], ''[[Phaedo]]'', [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Plat.+Phaedo+72c 72c]; [[Aristotle]], ''[[Nicomachean Ethics]]'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0054%3Abook%3D10%3Achapter%3D8%3Asection%3D7 10.8.7].</ref> but exactly how this eternal sleep came about and what role, if any, Selene may have had in it is unclear. According to the ''[[Catalogue of Women]]'', Endymion was the son of [[Aethlius]] (a son of Zeus), and Zeus granted him the right to choose when he would die.<ref>Gantz, p. 35; Fowler 2013, [https://books.google.com/books?id=scd8AQAAQBAJ&pg=PA134 p. 134]; Hard, [https://books.google.com/books?id=r1Y3xZWVlnIC&pg=PA411 p. 411]; [[Hesiod]] [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/hesiod-catalogue_women/2018/pb_LCL503.59.xml fr. 10.58&ndash;62 Most] [= fr. 10a.58&ndash;62 Merkelbach-West].</ref> A scholiast on Apollonius says that, according to [[Epimenides]], Endymion fell in love with Hera, and Zeus punished him with eternal sleep.<ref>Fowler 2013, pp. [https://books.google.com/books?id=scd8AQAAQBAJ&pg=PA133 133]&ndash; [https://books.google.com/books?id=scd8AQAAQBAJ&pg=PA134 134]; Hard, [https://books.google.com/books?id=r1Y3xZWVlnIC&pg=PA411 p. 411]; Gantz, p. 35; Scholia on [[Apollonius of Rhodes]]’ ''[[Argonautica]]'' 4.57&ndash;58 [= Epimenides, [http://demonax.info/doku.php?id=text:epimenides_of_crete_fragments fr. 14] = Epimenides [https://books.google.com/books?id=j0nRE4C2WBgC&pg=PA98 fr. 12 Fowler] = ''[[FGrHist]]'' 457 F10 = 3B14 [[Hermann Alexander Diels|Diels]]]. The same scholiast gives another story involving Endymion's love for Hera, this time attributed to the ''[[Great Ehoiai]]'', saying that "Endymion was carried up by Zeus to heaven, but that he was seized by desire for Hera and was deceived by the phantom of a cloud, and that because of this desire he was thrown out and went down to Hades", see [[Hesiod]] [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/hesiod-other_fragments/2018/pb_LCL503.307.xml fr. 198 Most] [= fr. 260 Merkelbach-West = Scholia on [[Apollonius of Rhodes]]’ ''[[Argonautica]]'' 4.58]; see also [[Acusilaus]] [https://books.google.com/books?id=j0nRE4C2WBgC&pg=PA23 fr. 36 Fowler].</ref>  However, [[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollodorus]] says that because of Endymion's "surpassing beauty, the Moon fell in love with him, and Zeus allowed him to choose what he would, and he chose to sleep for ever, remaining deathless and ageless".<ref>[[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollodorus]], [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Apollod.+1.7.5 1.7.5] [= [[Zenobius]] 3.76].</ref> [[Theocritus]] portrays Endymion's sleep as enviable because (presumably) of Selene's love for him.<ref>Gantz, p. 35; [[Theocritus]], [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/theocritus-poems_i-xxx/2015/pb_LCL028.67.xml 3.49&ndash;50]. See also [[Theocritus]], [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/theocritus-poems_i-xxx/2015/pb_LCL028.277.xml 20.37&ndash;39].</ref> [[Cicero]] seems to make Selene responsible for Endymion's sleep, so that "she might kiss him while sleeping".<ref>Hard, [https://books.google.com/books?id=r1Y3xZWVlnIC&pg=PA411 p. 411]; [[Cicero]], ''[[Tusculan Disputations]]'' [https://archive.org/stream/cicerostusculand00ciceuoft#page/50/mode/2up 1.38.92, p. 50]. See also [[Ovid]], ''[[Amores (Ovid)|Amores]]'', [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/ovid-amores/1914/pb_LCL041.371.xm 11.13.43&ndash;44]: "Look, how many hours of slumber has Luna bestowed upon the youth she loves! [Endymion]"; Gantz, p. 35, discussing Selene's role, says that "no source claims that the sleep was her idea, and likely enough (given its role in some quarters as a punishment, and his love for Hera), she was not always a part of the story." Gantz also notes that "Vases and artifacts from the second half of the fifth century on may possibly show Selene leaving an awake Endymion."</ref> The Roman playwright [[Seneca the Younger|Seneca]], has Selene abandoned the night sky for Endymion's sake having entrusted her "shining" moon chariot to her brother Helios to drive.<ref>[[Seneca the Younger|Seneca]], ''[[Phaedra (Seneca)|Phaedra]]'', [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/seneca_younger-phaedra/2018/pb_LCL062.445.xml 309&ndash;316].</ref> The Greek satirist [[Lucian]]'s dialogue between Selene and the [[List of love and lust deities|love goddess]] [[Aphrodite]] has the two goddesses commiserate about their love affairs with Endymion and [[Adonis]], and suggests that Selene has fallen in love with Endymion while watching him sleep each night.<ref>Gantz, p. 35; [[Lucian]], ''[[Dialogues of the Gods]]'' [https://archive.org/details/lucianvolviiloeb00luci/page/n343/mode/2up 19 (11)].</ref> In his dialogue between Aphrodite and Eros, Lucian also has Aphrodite admonish her son Eros for bringing Selene "down from the sky".<ref>[[Lucian]], ''[[Dialogues of the Gods]]'' [https://archive.org/details/lucianvolviiloeb00luci/page/n345/mode/2up 20 (12)].</ref> While [[Quintus Smyrnaeus]] wrote that, while Endymion slept in his cave beside his cattle:

{{blockquote|Divine Selene watched him from on high,
and slid from heaven to earth; for passionate love
drew down the immortal stainless Queen of Night."<ref>[[Quintus Smyrnaeus]], ''[[Posthomerica|The Fall of Troy]]'' [https://archive.org/stream/falloftroy00quin#page/428/mode/2up 10.125&ndash;131].</ref>}}

[[Lucian]] also records an otherwise unattested myth where a pretty young girl called [[Myia (mythology)|Muia]] becomes Selene's rival for Endymion's affections; the chatty maiden would endlessly talk to him while he slept, causing him to wake up. This irritated Endymion, and enraged Selene, who transforms the girl into a fly ({{langx|grc|μυῖα|muía}}). In memory of the beautiful Endymion, the fly still grudges all sleepers their rest and annoys them.<ref>[[Lucian]], ''The Fly'' [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/lucian-fly/1913/pb_LCL014.91.xml?result=28&rskey=1dOrZ1 10].</ref>

Philologist [[Max Müller]]'s interpretation of solar mythology as it related to Selene and Endymion concluded that the myth was a narrativized version of linguistic terminology. Because the Greek ''endyein'' meant "to dive," the name Endymion ("Diver") at first simply described the process of the setting sun "diving" into the sea. In this case, the story of Selene embracing Endymion, or Moon embraces Diver, refers to the sun setting and the moon rising.<ref>Powell, pp. 670&ndash;671.</ref>

=== Gigantomachy ===
[[File:Altar Pérgamo Selene 02.JPG|thumb|left|Selene riding horseback, detail of the Gigantomachy frieze, [[Pergamon Altar]], [[Pergamon museum]], Berlin, c. 180&ndash;159 BC.<ref>Museum of Classical Archaeology Databases [https://museum.classics.cam.ac.uk/collections/casts/great-altar-zeus-pergamon-selene 385a].</ref>]]

[[Gaia]], angered about her children the [[Titans]] being thrown into [[Tartarus]] following their defeat, brought forth the [[Giants (Greek mythology)|Giants]], to attack the gods, in a war that was called the [[Gigantomachy]]. When Gaia heard of a prophecy that a mortal would help the gods to defeat the giants, she sought to find a herb that would make them undefeatable. Zeus heard of that, and ordered Selene as well as her siblings [[Helios]] ([[Sun]]) and [[Eos]] ([[Dawn]]) not to shine, and harvested all of that plant for himself.<ref>[[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollodorus]], [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0022%3Atext%3DLibrary%3Abook%3D1%3Achapter%3D6%3Asection%3D1 1.6.1].</ref> Selene's participation in the battle is evidenced by her inclusion in the Gigantomachy frieze of the [[Pergamon Altar]], fighting against Giants next to her siblings Helios and Eos and her mother Theia in the southern frieze.<ref>Picón and Hemingway, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=Vr3WCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA47 47]</ref><ref name=":han">Honan, p. [https://archive.org/details/guidetopergamonm00perg/page/20/mode/2up?q=&view=theater 20]</ref> Selene gallops sidesaddle in advance, and wears a woolen undergarment and a mantle.<ref name=":han"/> Additionally, on a rein guide for a chariot a goddess thought to be Selene with a crescent and veil over her head is depicted, who stands with Helios on a gate tower and tries to repel the attacks of snake-legged Giants.<ref>Now housed in the [[Museum of Fine Arts, Boston]] and can be seen [https://collections.mfa.org/objects/153313/rein-guide-for-a-chariot-with-a-scene-of-the-battle-of-the-g?ctx=9f6c1772-3544-4c76-85a7-593a85983117&idx=82 here].</ref>

=== Fight with Typhon ===
According to the late account of [[Nonnus]], when the gigantic monster [[Typhon]] laid siege against the heavens, he attacked Selene as well by hurling bulls at her, though she managed to stay in her course, and rushed at her hissing like a viper. Selene fought back the giant, locking horns with Typhon; afterwards, she carried many scars on her orb, reminiscent of their battle.<ref>[[Nonnus]], ''[[Dionysiaca]]'' [https://archive.org/stream/dionysiaca01nonnuoft#page/18/mode/2up 1.213&ndash;223].</ref>

=== Ampelus ===
[[Ampelos|Ampelus]] was a very beautiful satyr youth, loved by the god [[Dionysus]].<ref>[[Ovid]], ''[[Fasti]]'' [https://archive.org/stream/ovidsfasti00oviduoft#page/150/mode/2up 3.409&ndash;410].</ref> One day, in Nonnus' account, Ampelus rode on a bull, and proceeded to compare himself to Selene, saying that he was her equal, having horns and riding bulls just like her. The goddess took offense, and sent a gadfly to sting Ampelus' bull. The bull panicked, threw Ampelus and gored him to death.<ref>[[Nonnus]], ''[[Dionysiaca]]'' [https://archive.org/stream/dionysiaca01nonnuoft#page/370/mode/2up 11.167&ndash;223].</ref>

=== Heracles ===
[[File:Arte romana, statuetta di nyx o selene, I secolo ac.JPG|thumb|right|[[Roman Empire|Roman-era]] bronze statuette of Selene ''[[velificans]]'' or [[Nyx]] (Night) ([[Getty Villa]]).]]

When Zeus desired to sleep with the mortal queen [[Alcmene]] and sire Heracles, he made the night last three days, and ordered Selene via [[Hermes]] to dawdle in the sky during that time.<ref>Stuttard, [https://archive.org/details/greekmythologytr0000stut/page/114/mode/2up?view=theater p. 114]; [[Lucian]], ''[[Dialogues of the Gods]]'' [https://archive.org/details/lucianvolviiloeb00luci/page/308/mode/2up 14 (10)].</ref>

Selene also played a small role in the first of Heracles' twelve [[Labours of Hercules|labours]]; whereas for Hesiod, the [[Nemean Lion]] was born to [[Orthrus]] and the [[Chimera (mythology)|Chimera]] (or perhaps [[Echidna (mythology)|Echidna]]) and raised by [[Hera]],<ref>Hard, [https://books.google.com/books?id=r1Y3xZWVlnIC&pg=PA63 p. 63]; [[Hesiod]], ''[[Theogony]]'' [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/hesiod-theogony/2018/pb_LCL057.29.xml 326&ndash;329 (Most)].</ref> other accounts have Selene involved in some way in its birth or rearing.<ref>Cook, [https://archive.org/stream/zeusstudyinancie01cookuoft#page/456/mode/2up pp. 456–457]; Hard, [https://books.google.com/books?id=r1Y3xZWVlnIC&pg=PA256 p. 256].</ref> [[Claudius Aelianus|Aelian]] states: "They say that the Lion of Nemea fell from the moon", and quotes [[Epimenides]] as saying:<ref>Cook, [https://archive.org/stream/zeusstudyinancie01cookuoft#page/456/mode/2up p. 456]; Gantz, p. 25; Burkert 1972, [https://books.google.com/books?id=0qqp4Vk1zG0C&pg=PA346 p. 346 n. 47]; West 1983, pp. 47–48.</ref>

{{blockquote|For I am sprung from fair-tressed Selene the Moon, who in a fearful shudder shook off the savage lion in Nemea, and brought him forth at the bidding of Queen Hera.<ref>[[Claudius Aelianus|Aelian]], ''On Animals'' [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/aelian-characteristics_animals/1958/pb_LCL449.23.xml 12.7] [= [[Epimenides]] fr. 3B2 [[Hermann Alexander Diels|Diels]] = [https://books.google.com/books?id=B75GgVdxYT0C&pg=PA10, fr. 2 Freeman] ([http://demonax.info/doku.php?id=text:epimenides_of_crete_fragments Online version at Demonax | Hellenic Library].  Gantz, p. 25, remarks that this refers to Selene "probably in her role as the moon rather than the goddess".</ref>}}

[[Anaxagoras]] also reports that the Nemean lion was said to have fallen from the moon.<ref>Burkert 1972, [https://books.google.com/books?id=0qqp4Vk1zG0C&pg=PA346 p. 346 with n. 48]; [[Anaxagoras]], [https://books.google.com/books?id=PA6HMrSrjfkC&pg=PA111 fr. A77 Curd] [= Scholia on [[Apollonius of Rhodes]]'s ''[[Argonautica]]'' 1.498]. See also [[Plutarch]], ''[[Moralia]]'' [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/plutarch-moralia_table_talk/1961/pb_LCL424.399.xml?rskey=UQkRts&result=2&mainRsKey=m1fL2Z 677 A] [= [[Euphorion of Chalcis|Euphorion]] [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/euphorion_chalcis-poetic_fragments/2010/pb_LCL508.337.xml fr. 107 Lightfoot] = fr. 84 Powell = fr. 47 Meineke] (Nemean Lion called "Menê’s fierce-eyed son"). For other accounts see Cook, [https://archive.org/stream/zeusstudyinancie01cookuoft#page/457/mode/2up p. 457 notes 2 and 3].</ref> [[Pseudo-Plutarch]]'s ''On Rivers'' has Hera collaborating with Selene, "employing magical incantations" to create the Nemean Lion from a chest filled with foam.<ref>[[Pseudo-Plutarch]], ''On Rivers'' [http://www.roman-emperors.org/Pseudo-P%20Revised.pdf#page=22 18.4]; Cook, [https://archive.org/stream/zeusstudyinancie01cookuoft#page/457/mode/2up p. 457 n. 3].</ref> Hyginus says that Selene had "nourished" the lion in a "two-mouthed cave".<ref>[[Gaius Julius Hyginus|Hyginus]], ''Fabulae'' [https://topostext.org/work/206#30 30]; Cook, [https://archive.org/stream/zeusstudyinancie01cookuoft#page/456/mode/2up p. 456].</ref>

=== Pan ===
According to [[Virgil]], Selene also had a tryst with the god [[Pan (god)|Pan]], who seduced her with a "snowy bribe of wool".<ref>[[Virgil]], ''[[Georgics]]'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0058%3Abook%3D3%3Acard%3D384 3.391–393].</ref> Scholia on Virgil add the story, ascribed to [[Nicander]], that as part of the seduction, Pan wrapped himself in a sheepskin.<ref>Hard, [https://books.google.com/books?id=r1Y3xZWVlnIC&pg=PA46 p. 46]; Gantz, p. 36; Kerényi, pp. [https://archive.org/details/godsofgreeks00kerrich/page/175/mode/2up?view=theater 175], [https://archive.org/details/godsofgreeks00kerrich/page/196/mode/2up?view=theater 196]; Grimal, s.v. Selene; Keightley, [https://books.google.com/books?id=YhsYAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA55 p. 55]; [[Servius (grammarian)|Servius]], ''Commentary on the Georgics of Vergil'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A2007.01.0092%3Abook%3D3%3Acommline%3D391 3.391]; [[Macrobius]], ''[[Saturnalia (Macrobius)|Saturnalia]]'' [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/macrobius-saturnalia/2011/pb_LCL511.473.xml 5.22.9&ndash;10]. Hard describes this "tale" as "interesting but poorly attested", and says that the "rusticity of the tale suggests that it may have originated as a local legend in Arcadia."</ref>

=== Other accounts ===
[[File:Palazzo gerini, cortile, busti 11 selene.JPG|Bust of Selene, in the courtyard of [[Palazzo Gerini]].|thumb|left|230px]]

[[Diodorus Siculus]] recorded an unorthodox version of the myth, in which Basileia, who had succeeded her father Uranus to his royal throne, married her brother Hyperion, and had two children, a son Helios and a daughter Selene, "admired for both their beauty and their chastity". Because Basileia's other brothers envied these offspring, and feared that Hyperion would try to seize power for himself, they conspired against him. They put Hyperion to the sword, and drowned Helios in the river Eridanus. Selene herself, upon discovering this, took her own life. After these deaths, her brother appeared in a dream to their grieving mother and assured her that he and his sister would now transform into divine natures; and:<ref>Caldwell, p. 40, on lines 207&ndash;210; [[Diodorus Siculus]], [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Diodorus_Siculus/3D*.html#57 3.57].</ref>

[[File:Antalya Museum Selene statue 9650.jpg|thumb|220px|Roman statue of Selene, marble 2nd century AD, Museum of Antalya.]]

{{Blockquote|that which had formerly been called the "holy fire" in the heavens would be called by men Helius ("the sun") and that addressed as "menê" would be called Selenê ("the moon").<ref>[[Diodorus Siculus]], [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Diodorus_Siculus/3D*.html#57.5 3.57.5].</ref>}}

[[Plutarch]] recorded a [[fable]]-like story in which Selene asked her mother to weave her a garment to fit her measure, and her mother replied that she was unable to do so, as she kept changing shape and size, sometimes full, then crescent-shaped and others yet half her size.<ref>[[Plutarch]], ''[[Moralia]]'' [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/plutarch-moralia_dinner_seven_wise_men/1928/pb_LCL222.409.xml 157 C].</ref>

In Lucian's ''{{Interlanguage link|Icaromenippus|fi|Ikaromenippos}}'', Selene complains to the titular [[Menippus]] of all the outrageous claims philosophers are making about her, such as wondering why she is ever waxing or gibbous, whether she is populated or not, and stating that she is getting her stolen light from the [[Sun]], causing strife and ill feelings between her and her [[Helios|brother]]. She asks Menippus to report her grievances to [[Zeus]], with the request that Zeus wipes all these natural philosophers from the face of the earth.<ref>[[Lucian]], ''Icaromenippus'' [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/lucian-icaromenippus_sky_man/1915/pb_LCL054.301.xml 20&ndash;21].</ref> Zeus agrees, urged by Selene's complaints and having long intended to deal with the philosophers himself.<ref>[[Lucian]], ''Icaromenippus'' [http://lucianofsamosata.info/wiki/doku.php?id=home:texts_and_library:dialogues:icaromenippus#section29 29-33]</ref>

[[Claudian]] wrote that in her infancy, when her horns had not yet grown, Selene (along with Helios – their sister [[Eos]] is not mentioned with them) was nursed by her aunt, the water goddess [[Tethys (mythology)|Tethys]].<ref>[[Claudian]], ''Rape of Persephone'' [https://archive.org/details/claudia02clau/page/322/mode/2up?view=theater 2.44&ndash;54].</ref>

According to [[pseudo-Plutarch]], [[Lilaeus (mythology)|Lilaeus]] was an Indian shepherd who only worshipped Selene among the gods and performed her rituals and mysteries at night. The other gods, angered, sent him two lions to tear him apart. Selene then turned Lilaeus into a mountain, Mt. Lilaeon.<ref>[[Pseudo-Plutarch]], ''On Rivers'' 25.4; Grimal s.v. [https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofclas00grim/page/259/mode/2up?view=theater Lilaeus]. Pseudo-Plutarch attributes this story to Clitophon's ''Indica'', perhaps recording an Indian tale using names of Greek gods.</ref>

Ovid mentions how in the myth of [[Phaethon]], Helios' son who drove his father's chariot for a day, when Phaethon lost control of the chariot and burned the earth, Selene in the sky looked down to see in amazement her brother's horses running wild lower than normal.<ref>[[Ovid]], ''[[Metamorphoses]]'' [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/ovid-metamorphoses/1916/pb_LCL042.75.xml 2.208–209]</ref>