LUNA
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Faces of the Goddess
Luna was a Roman moon goddess (the word lunar comes from the feminine Latin, Luna). Her Greek equivalent was Selene. She was also known as Mene, and she preceded the Olympic Pantheon of Gods. A number of other goddesses have also been associated with the moon, however, it is Luna/Selene who was most often represented by the old Greek poets as the moon incarnate.
As with most figures in mythology, Luna/Selene’s genealogy is complex and conflicting. In most Greco-Roman versions, Luna/Selene was the daughter of the Titans Hyperion and Thea, the sister of Eos (goddess of the dawn), and the sister of Helios/Sol (the sun god). In other versions, she is the daughter of Hyperion by Euryphaessa or of Pallas, or of Zeus and Latona. And in other versions, Helios is not her brother but her father. She is also sometimes depicted as Phoebe, the sister of Phoebus, god of the sun.
Luna/Selene fell in love with a mortal prince in Asia Minor, Endymion, whom Zeus granted eternal youth and immortality and placed in a state of eternal slumber in a cave near the peak of Lydian Mount Latmos. There Luna/Selene descended to consort with him in the night and conceived fifty daughters, one being the Greek island of Naxos.
By Zeus, she became the mother of Pandeia (All Gifts), Ersa (The Morning Dew), and the Menai (The Months). Some say she was the mother of the four Horai (The Seasons) by her brother and sun god, Helios. Her only mortal child was the poet Mousaios.
Luna/Selene is often depicted as a woman either riding side saddle on a horse or in a chariot drawn by a pair of winged steeds, and was thus also a patroness of charioteers. Her lunar sphere or crescent was represented as either a crown set upon her head or as the fold of a raised, shimmering cloak. Sometimes she was said to drive a team of oxen and her lunar crescent was likened to the horns of a bull.
The cult of Selene was widespread in Peloponese, Greece. The Spartans would always make sure to embark on military campaigns only during favorable lunar phases.
In Rome, there was a temple dedicated to Luna on the Aventine. It was built in the sixth century BC, but was destroyed in the Great Fire of Rome in the year 64 C.E. during Nero's reign. There was also a temple dedicated to Luna Noctiluca ("Luna that shines by night") on the Palatine Hill, where there were festivals in honor of her during the months of March and August.
In the Olympic pantheon, Luna/Selene was identified with Diana/Artemis, and the worship of the two became amalgamated. Many believe the versions that have her as the daughter of Zeus are a result of the mythology surrounding Selene being merged with that of Artemis, who was indeed, in Greek mythology, the daughter of Zeus.
