[88], Ampelus was a very beautiful satyr youth, loved by the god Dionysus. Selene is often eclipsed by the popularity of Artemis as a lunar goddess, but as the personification of the moon itself she had a significant impact on the lives and views of the Greek people. Homeric Hymn 4.99100. While other goddesses were associated with the night in more general terms, Selene was believed to be the embodiment of the moon herself. As the embodiment of the moon, Selene and the movement of her chariot across the night sky was important for the Greeks to measure time. Greek mythology has beautiful explanations for many natural phenomena. Two of the original twelve Titans descended from Uranus and Gaia, Hyperion was the Titan god of heavenly light while Theia was the Titan goddess of vision and the aether. There are three different ways you can cite this article. This was the mythological explanation for the movement of the moon across the sky. Magical Goddess of the Silvery Moon. Whenever the moon could not be seen in the night sky, it was because Selene had paused to take in Endymions beauty once again. [127] Selene (along with Helios, Nyx and others) received an altar at the sanctuary of Demeter at Pergamon, possibly in connection with the Orphic mysteries. Her lunar sphere or crescent was either a crown set upon her head or the fold of a raised, shining cloak. 3/4, 1973, pp. [31] Mesomedes of Crete calls her (glauk, "silvery grey"). [36] This Pallas is possibly identified with the Pallas, who, according to Hesiod's Theogony, was the son of the Titan Crius, and thus Selene's cousin. What are Pan God Powers in Greek Mythology? 116, no. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. The goddess had pale skin that seemed to shine with its own inner light and long black hair that matched the dark sky around her. Selene (Greek mythology) The goddess of the Moon. Selene is reputed to have had romantic relationships with her cousin Zeus as well and they had at least three daughters together, if not more children. [86] 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. These two goddesses have additional association with Hecate. Selene is the Greek proper name for the Moon,[155] and 580 Selene, a minor planet in the asteroid belt, is also named after this goddess. With his sister, the Titaness Theia, Hyperion fathered Helios (the Sun), Selene (the Moon) and Eos (the Dawn).. Hyperion was, along with his son Helios, a personification of the sun, with the two sometimes . [122] As frequently depicted on Roman sarcophagi, Selene, holding a billowing veil forming a crescent over her head, descends from her chariot to join her lover, who slumbers at her feet. 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. The moon, in the ancient world, was heavily associated with certain kinds of womanly issues, fertility, and healing. Whether this Pallas (called the son of Megamedes) is the same as the Titan Pallas or a different individual entirely is unclear. Zeus put Endymion into an eternal sleep so the goddess could see him forever as a beautiful young man. There are a few different versions of the myth. Epimenides, in the theogony that was ascribed to him, also calls her lovely haired, perhaps due to the Homeric Hymns themselves. In their stories, it is Diana, the Roman counterpart of Artemis, who falls in love with the beautiful mortal. [113] Selene and Helios also appear on the North Metopes of the Parthenon, with Selene this time entering the sea on horseback. Oil lamp fragment with the head of Selene, early classical period, Muse de Die. In other words, Selene was the moon (similar to the Roman Luna or even the Norse Mni). The cave in Anatolia where Endymion was said to sleep became a holy place for Selene. Even now, this moon goddess of the ancient world has not quite gone out of our lives and her presence can be felt in small but subtle reminders. As the moon, Selene occupied an important place in popular religion. [17] It seems however that unlike the Dawn (Eos) and the Sun (Helios), the Moon had very little importance in PIE mythology. Hesiod, Catalogue of Women frag. This article is about the Greek goddess. [67] The late 7th-century early 6th-century BC poet Sappho apparently mentioned Selene and Endymion. She had two siblings, Helios and Eos. Omissions? The first mention of the moon goddess in Greek mythology was probably in the Homeric Hymns. Gaia, the primordial Titan goddess and grandmother to the Olympian gods and goddesses, was enraged when her children were defeated in the Titanomachy and imprisoned in Tartarus. (Also, the name of the Titan Goddess Phoebe and an epithet of Artemis.). [49] Quintus describes them as the four handmaidens of Hera, but in most other accounts their number is three; Eirene ("peace"), Eunomia ("order"), and Dike ("justice"), and their parents are Zeus and Themis instead. In ancient Greek mythology, Selene, is the Titan goddess of the moon and is said to drive her glowing chariot powered by beautiful white horses across the sky each night. Moon gods and goddesses have existed in all ancient pantheistic cultures for a very long time. Like most of the Titans, Selene was rarely worshipped in the ancient world. 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. Her list of powers are unmatched, as far as lunar goddesses go. A womans fertility was said to be influenced by the cycles of the moon, a belief that gave English the word menses, and under Selenes influence women were said to have an easier time in childbirth than they did during the day. Her chariot was made of shining silver, bringing soft, clear light each night. She was unique, however, in her relationship with the orb itself. While we often think little of the moon today, in the ancient Greek world the moons cyclical movement through the sky played a central role in their concept of time. The three children have become much more well-known in general Greek literature than their parents, especially after the fall from grace of Hyperion, who stood by his brother Cronus in the latters war against Zeus and was banished to Tartarus for it. Greek mythology, body of stories concerning the gods, heroes, and rituals of the ancient Greeks. One of the names given for Selene, and occasionally for an independent personification, was Mene. Her lunar sphere or crescent was either a crown set upon her head or the fold of a raised, shining cloak. [68] 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:[69], 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: Her fifty daughters with Endymion marked the fifty lunar months that passed between celebrations of the Olympiad. In memory of the beautiful Endymion, the fly still grudges all sleepers their rest and annoys them. Updates? The two other daughters that Selene and Zeus had together was Nemea, the nymph of the town that the Nemean Lion was from, and Ersa, the personified version of dew. [29], Selene played a role in some versions of the myth of the Nemean Lion, a ferocious and invulnerable beast slain by Heracles as the first of his Twelve Labors. Many of Selenes epithetsincluding (agl, gleaming), (pasiph, all-shining), and (tanyspteros, long-winged)reflected her lunar qualities and other distinctive attributes. Other examples of lunar goddesses and gods are Selenes Roman equivalent Luna, the Mesopotamian Sin, the Egyptian god Khonsu, the Germanic Mani, the Japanese Shinto god Tsukuyomi, the Chinese Change, and the Hindu god Chandra. [59] Though the moon chariot is often described as being silver,[60] for Pindar it was golden. H. G. Evelyn-White. Modern audiences do not often think about Selenes cyclical nature, however. The ancient Greeks believed that a lunar eclipse was the work of a witch, particularly the witches of Thessaly. Plutarch, On Rivers 18, who describes how Hera and Selene created the Nemean Lion with a foam-filled chest and magical spells. Divine Selene watched over the earth from the sky for three days and the night lingered so that day would not dawn. Seneca, Madness of Hercules 83; Hyginus, Fabulae 30; Aelian, On Animals 12.7 (citing Epimenides); etc. In this case, the story of Selene embracing Endymion, or Moon embraces Diver, refers to the sun setting and the moon rising. "[139] Roman philosopher Cicero connected Selene's Roman counterpart Luna's name to childbirth goddess Lucina's, both deriving from "light" (thus bringing the unborn child into the light). She drives her moon chariot across the heavens. The scientist Jons Jacob Berzelius named it such since the element was very similar in nature to tellurium, which was named after the Earth, whose Greek name is Tellus. [52] There are no mentions of Selene's chariot in either Homer or Hesiod,[53] but the Homeric Hymn to Selene, gives the following description: 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. However, in the science fiction book The First Men on the Moon by H.G. Diodorus of Sicily, Library of History 3.57. Names of the Goddess. [63][66], Selene is best known for her affair with the beautiful mortal Endymion. Hail, white-armed goddess, bright Selene, mild, bright-tressed queen! [45] Selene and Zeus were also said to be the parents of Nemea, the eponymous nymph of Nemea, where Heracles slew the Nemean Lion, and where the Nemean Games were held. It seems that Selene was not uninvolved in the twelve tasks of Heracles either. While her husbands team of horses usually consisted of four animals, Selenes chariot, like her light, was less powerful. [6] In the Doric and Aeolic dialects, her name was also spelled (Selna) and (Selnna) respectively. We learn of Selenes family, her parents and siblings and the children that she went on to have, from various different sources and Greek myths. [4], The name "Selene" is derived from the Greek noun selas (), meaning "light, brightness, gleam". The sky was dark at night and the sun more lethargic than usual. [61], 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. Selene - The Moon Goddess - Greek Mythology - See U in History Art: Marcus AquinoColor: Rod Fernandes#GreekMythology #Mythology #SeeUinHistory #History #Myth. Often she was shown in a chariot drawn by a team of horses or oxen, but other times there was no chariot, and Selene would instead appear on the back of a horse or mule. Hill, D. E. "THE THESSALIAN TRICK." 1392). Selene was so enamored of the young man that she left the sky to see him more closely. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Gods of Death Selene does not appear in modern adaptations of Greek myths, since she is not exactly one of the major Greek gods like Zeus or Aphrodite. Selene the moon goddess was a minor figure in ancient Greek mythology. Selene was the goddess of the moon. [148] Records show that a type of cake called (bos, "ox") decorated with horns to represent the full moon or an ox was offered to her and other divinities like Hecate, Artemis and Apollo. This might have had a role in the later identification of Selene with Hecate, who was, after all, the goddess of witchcraft and spells. Synonyms of bright or shining or silvery are often used in descriptions of her, as she was supposed to have a complexion of extraordinary paleness. The Story of Selene. [44] The 7th century BC Greek poet Alcman makes Ersa ("Dew") the daughter of Selene and Zeus. [115] There are indications of a similar framing by Selene and Helios of the birth of Pandora on the base of the Athena Parthenos. Although Endymion slept for eternity, many sources said Selene continued to see him. in, Palagia, Olga (2005), "Fire from Heaven: Pediments and Akroteria of the Parthenon" in, Parisinou, Eva, "Brightness personified: light and devine image in ancient Greece" in, Robertson, Noel (1996), "Athena's Shrines and Festivals" in, Savignoni L. 1899. Knowing he would be there whenever she wanted to see him, the goddess no longer worried he would leave or die before she got to see him again. [5], Selenes moon chariotsimilar to the sun chariot of her brother Helios and the dawn chariot of her sister Eoswas probably her most distinctive and consistent attribute. Though Selene, as the moon, was undeniably important to the ancient Greeks, there are very few descriptions of her in literature. It did not take long for Zeus to notice something was amiss. Secretive and shy, she enjoys flitting silently through the night with a pearl-white or silvery chariot. [34] She also had a sacred statue (which stood alongside one of her brother Helios) in the public market of Elis.[35]. She fell madly in love with him and asked Zeus to let him stay asleep forever, remaining eternally young and beautiful (in some traditions, it was Endymion himself who requested this unending sleep). Selene, goddess of the moon, truly represented the moon itself to the Greeks. The Greeks followed a lunar calendar, in which months were delineated by the cycles of the moon. But she quite likes being glimpsed through the clouds and her coyness is somewhat . [32], The usual account of Selene's origin is given by Hesiod in his Theogony, where the sun-god Hyperion espoused his sister Theia, who gave birth to "great Helios and clear Selene and Eos who shines upon all that are on earth and upon the deathless Gods who live in the wide heaven". Way). In Greek mythology, Selene was traditionally depicted as a beautiful young woman, with perhaps paler than usual skin. In Greek literature, Eos is presented as a daughter of the Titans Hyperion and Theia, the sister of the sun god Helios and the moon goddess Selene. This was known as the Gigantomachy. [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). Thus, both the sun and the moon were seen as gods embodied in those forms. The great English Romantic poet John Keats wrote a poem about the mortal, entitled Endymion, with some of the most famous opening lines in the English language. In many cases it rested on her brow or jutted out on either side of her head like a crown or horns. [106], According to pseudo-Plutarch, Lilaeus was an Indian shepherd who only worshipped Selene among the gods and performed her rituals and mysteries at night. 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. The most important of Selenes symbols was her moon chariot. [27], In late accounts, Selene (like the moon itself) is often described as having horns. According to Nonnus, Typhoeus battled Selene by chucking bulls at her, then violently rushing her. 527532; Shear, pp. Artemis has been commonly associated with Selene. These were Eiar, Theros, Cheimon, and Phthinoporon, Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter. [2], Selene was also called Mene. She was often said to be the mother of the Horai, the personifications of the division of time and the seasons. [4] Here she is represented as a radiant goddess, wearing a crown and beautiful robes and riding a horse-drawn chariot across the night sky: From her immortal head a radiance is shown from heaven and embraces earth; and great is the beauty that ariseth from her shining light. Indeed, it reflects the fascinating way the Greeks observed the . Selene was said to have several consorts but the man that the goddess of the moon was most linked with was the mortal Endymion. [16][18], Although attempts have been made to connect Selene to Helene due to the similarity of their names, in two early dedications to Helen from Laconia her name is spelled with a digamma (Ancient Greek: , romanized:Welna), ruling out any possible connection between them. 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. The altars to Selene were few and far between. They put Hyperion to the sword, and drowned Helios in the river Eridanus. H. G. Evelyn-White; cf. [63] 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 ( : kathairen tn selnen). The Greeks followed a lunar calendar, making Selene one of the most important deities in the passage of time. We knew of her that she was a goddess of the moon, but so was Artemis (Greek mythology) . Her request granted, Selene visited him regularly; some sources even reported that they had children together (see above).[27]. But the Greek cult of Selene grew more and more prevalent towards the end of the Hellenistic period (32331 BCE). [47] Nonnus has Selene and Endymion as the parents of the beautiful Narcissus, although in other accounts, including Ovid's Metamorphoses, Narcissus was the son of Cephissus and Liriope.[48]. [40][41] Furthermore, in Virgil's Aeneid, when Nisus calls upon Selene/the Moon, he addresses her as "daughter of Latona. Festivals and feasts were determined by the lunar calendar, giving Selene as Mene an important role in the worship of all the gods and goddesses. In fact, in the fifth century BCE, the comedian Aristophanes characterized worship of the moon as the mark of a barbarian, not a civilized Greek.[33]. Hesiod, Theogony 371ff; Apollodorus, Library 1.2.2; etc. Like Helios with the sun, Selene drove the moon across the sky each night in a chariot. [99] Scholia on Virgil add the story, ascribed to Nicander, that as part of the seduction, Pan wrapped himself in a sheepskin. [46], From Pausanias we hear that Selene was supposed to have had fifty daughters, by her lover Endymion, often assumed to represent the fifty lunar months of the Olympiad. Hypothesis to the scholia on Pindars Nemean Odes. By the 5th century bc Selene was sometimes identified with Artemis, or Phoebe, the bright one. She was usually represented as a woman with the moon (often in crescent form) on her head and driving a two-horse chariot. Lilaeon. 10; Pisander, Fragmente der griechischen Historiker (FGrH) 16 frag. Were building the worlds most authoritative, online mythology resource, with engaging, accessible content that is both educational and compelling to read. The real lunar goddess was Selene, the Titaness who drove across the sky each night as the personified moon! Occasionally she asked her brother to take over her duties so she could spend more time on the ground with Endymion. SELENE was the Titan goddess of the moon. Corrections? [31], Ampelus was a handsome young male satyr and the first love of the god Dionysus. Plato, Republic 2.364e; Philochorus, Fragmenta Historicorum Graecorum (FHG) 1 frag. At night he drove below the edge of the world in the west, circling below Gaia to reappear on the eastern horizon by morning. Helios was one of the Titans, son of Hyperion and Theia and brother of Eos (the Dawn) and Selene (the Moon ). The Greeks (like many other ancient peoples) were notoriously terrified of eclipses, viewing them as signs of the gods displeasure.[3]. One of the most important sources of this myth is in the Greek satirist Lucian of Samosatas Dialogues of the Gods, where Aphrodite and Selene talk about the latters love for Endymion. Robert S. P. Beekes, Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden: Brill, 2009), 2:131819. Zeus slept with the human queen Alcmene, of which encounter Heracles was born. The masculine form, Phoebus, was used in reference to either Apollo or. Quintus of Smyrna, Posthomerica 10.336ff; cf. Though Selene almost never appears in modern adaptations of Greek mythology, she is nonetheless present in pop culture as the personification of the moon. But on nights the moon could not be seen, there was a very good reason for her absence. In her Full Moon state, she is Panselene or . The crescent moon, full moon, and dark moon corresponded to the three states of being embodied by the Fates. Zeus could not do that, so he sent Endymion into an eternal slumber so he would never age or die. She also had a statue, alongside Helios, in the public marketplace of Elis. The pair could also have been the parents of the beautiful and vain Narcissus, for whom the Narcissus flower is named, according to Nonnus, the Greek epic poet of the Roman era. I have been in love with all things related to Mythology. In another story she was loved by Pan. [87], 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. Her father was the Titan god of heavenly light, while her mother represented the blue color of the sky. Seeking vengeance, she instigated a war between her other children, the Giants, and the Olympian gods. There were some witches who people thought could make the moon or the sun disappear from the sky at a specified time, although it is more likely that such people, if they did exist, simply had the ability to predict when an eclipse was going to happen. The personification of the Sun, he was portrayed as driving a four-horse chariot across the sky on a daily basis. She was the Greek goddess of the Moon and her sisters were the Eos and Helios. Although Zeus had taken many mortal lovers, the goddess of the moon had been abandoning her duties and could cause chaos if she continued. After all, mythology is storytelling at its finest. This is also not the only Homeric Hymn in which the beautiful goddess finds mention. [58] In some later accounts the chariot was drawn by oxen or bulls. The counterpart to her brother, she traveled by night. [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. However, her greatest love was a lowly mortal named Endymion. Even if he were sleeping, he would not be parted from the goddess he loved by death. [90], 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. Apollonius of Rhodes, Argonautica 4.54ff; Pausanias, Description of Greece 5.1.4; Apollodorus, Library 1.7.5; cf. [134], Selene was sometimes associated with childbirth, for it was believed that during the full moon women had the easiest labours; this helped in her identification with the goddess Artemis,[138] as well as other goddesses connected to women's labours. The ancient Greeks saw her as the actual representation of the moon. Mitchell, Lucy M., "Sculptures of the Great Pergamon Altar" in The Century Magazine, 1883. Selene. Mythopedia, December 07, 2022. https://mythopedia.com/topics/selene. "From the panteon of the gods to the Pantheon of Rome" in, This page was last edited on 1 March 2023, at 02:32. Together, they fittingly created three sources of celestial illumination. Her name was spelt differently in the different dialects of the Greeks but the meaning was the same. [109] In red-figure pottery before the early 5th century BC, she is depicted only as a bust, or in profile against a lunar disk. She was also well known for her many affairs with men and her love that possibly . "[42], According to the Homeric Hymn to Selene, the goddess bore Zeus a daughter, Pandia ("All-brightness"),[43] "exceeding lovely amongst the deathless gods". The first depictions of Selenes moon chariot goes back to the early 5th century BCE. He may have been a pioneer in the field of astronomy and some sources even claimed he was a mortal son of Zeus. Selene and Endymion relief, Alessandro and Lancellotto Pusterla's gravestone, 16th century. the crescent moon, full moon, and dark moon, as delinted by the divisions of the calendar month).[154]. Every evening, Selene ushered in nightfall and then drove her chariot through the night before giving way to dawn. See esp. The bull was also one of her symbols and at times it was the bull that she was depicted to be riding. 80; Acusilaus, FHG 1 frag. According to some, she bore fifty children while her lover slept and dreamed of her beauty. ", Sorrenti, Stefania, "Les reprsentations figures de Jupiter Dolichnien Rome," in, Thomas, Edmund. [146], Her and her brother's worship is also attested in Gytheum, a town in Laconia near Sparta, via an inscription (C.I.G. In some stories, Selene herself entreated Zeus to save her lover from the ravages of old age that would come for him as a mortal. Selene, daughter of the Titans Hyperion and Theia, was the personification of the moon. [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. Mythopedia. My work has also been published on Buzzfeed and most recently in Time magazine. Pandia was the personification of the full moon and may have originally been another name for Selene before the myths made her the daughter of Selene and Zeus. The idea that Selene would also give easy labours to women paved way for identification with Hera and the Roman Juno and Lucina, three other childbirth goddesses; Plutarch calls Selene "Hera in material form. Selene detail from a sarcophagus, imperial period. The History of Guns, Greek Mythology: Stories, Characters, Gods, and Culture, Aztec Mythology: Important Stories and Characters, Greek Gods and Goddesses: Family Tree and Fun Facts, Roman Gods and Goddesses: The Names and Stories of 29 Ancient Roman Gods, Descriptions of Selene, Goddess of the Moon, Greek Myths featuring the Moon Goddess Selene, iPhone History: A Timeline of Every Model in Order, US History Timeline: The Dates of Americas Journey, Ancient Civilizations Timeline: 16 Oldest Known Cultures From Around The World, Why Are Hot Dogs Called Hot Dogs? A third version of the story had Endymion himself choose an ageless sleep as opposed to living a mortal life. "[80], Lucian also records an otherwise unattested myth where a pretty young girl called 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. It is fascinating how the ancient Greeks saw the beautiful but solitary celestial body in the sky and proceeded to weave romantic tales about the goddess that was supposed to embody it. [114] From Pausanias, we learn that Selene and Helios also framed the birth of Aphrodite on the base of the Statue of Zeus at Olympia. As time progressed, they merged into one identity. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Thou wouldst say far off that this was milk indeed, which is a well-spring of white water: if thou draw a little nigher, lo, the stream is fringed as though with ice, for white stone rims it round. [103], In Lucian's Icaromenippus, 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 brother. Homeric Hymn 32.313, trans. Accessed on 27 Feb. 2023. "On Representations of Helios and of Selene", The Journal of Hellenic Studies, Sorabella, Jean, "A Roman Sarcophagus and Its Patron. Some even said that the Nemean Lion, as the offspring of Selene, had originally fallen from the moon.[30].