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109-467: Augeas's lineage varies in the sources: he was said to be either the son of Helios either by Nausidame or Iphiboe , or of Eleios , or of Poseidon , or of Phorbas and Hyrmine . In the latter account, Augeas was probably the brother of Actor , Tiphys and Diogeneia . His children were Epicaste , Phyleus , Agamede , Agasthenes , and Eurytus . The fifth Labour of Heracles ( Hercules in Latin )

218-442: 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. In Lucian's Icaromenippus  [ fi ] , Selene complains to the titular Menippus of all the outrageous claims philosophers are making about her, such as wondering why she

327-597: A scholium on Euripides 's play The Phoenician Women which adds Zeus as the father. Furthermore, in Virgil 's Aeneid , when Nisus calls upon Selene/the Moon, he addresses her as "daughter of Latona." According to the Homeric Hymn to Selene , the goddess bore Zeus a daughter, Pandia ("All-brightness"), "exceeding lovely amongst the deathless gods". The 7th century BC Greek poet Alcman makes Ersa ("Dew")

436-486: A chariot across the heavens. There are no mentions of Selene's chariot in either Homer or Hesiod , 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

545-422: A fragment from a poem, possibly written by Pamprepius , she is called κυανῶπις ( kyanṓpis , "dark-eyed"). Mesomedes of Crete calls her γλαυκὰ ( glaukà , "silvery grey"). 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

654-529: A god driving his chariot from east to west each day, rising from the Oceanus River and setting in the west under the earth. It is unclear as to whether this journey means that he travels through Tartarus . Athenaeus in his Deipnosophistae relates that, at the hour of sunset, Helios climbs into a great cup of solid gold in which he passes from the Hesperides in the farthest west to the land of

763-515: 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. 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

872-466: A golden boat. In them evident is the Indo-European grouping of a sun god and his sister, as well as an association with horses. Helen of Troy's name is thought to share the same etymology as Helios, and she may express an early alternate personification of the sun among Hellenic peoples. Helen might have originally been considered to be a daughter of the Sun, as she hatched from an egg and

981-517: A great number of details that vary by version, including the identity of Phaethon's mother, the location the story takes place, the role Phaethon's sisters the Heliades play, the motivation behind Phaethon's decision to ask his father for such thing, and even the exact relation between god and mortal. Traditionally, Phaethon was Helios' son by the Oceanid nymph Clymene , or alternatively Rhode or

1090-444: A mountain, Mt. Lilaeon. 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. In antiquity, artistic representations of Selene/Luna included sculptural reliefs, vase paintings, coins, and gems. In red-figure pottery before

1199-451: 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). While the sun chariot has four horses, Selene's usually has two, described as "snow-white" by Ovid . In some later accounts the chariot was drawn by oxen or bulls. Though the moon chariot is often described as being silver, for Pindar it

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1308-490: A role in Proto-Indo-European poetry. The imagery surrounding a chariot-driving solar deity is likely Indo-European in origin. Greek solar imagery begins with the gods Helios and Eos, who are brother and sister, and who become in the day-and-night-cycle the day ( hemera ) and the evening ( hespera ), as Eos accompanies Helios in his journey across the skies. At night, he pastures his steeds and travels east in

1417-426: A sign to mortal men. ... Hail, white-armed goddess, bright Selene, mild, bright-tressed queen! Two other sources also mention her hair. The Homeric Hymn to Helios uses the same epithet εὐπλόκαμος ("bright-tressed"), used in the above Hymn to Selene (elsewhere translated as "rich-", "lovely-", or "well-tressed"), while Epimenides uses the epithet ἠυκόμοιο ("lovely-haired"). In late accounts, Selene (like

1526-422: A single day. Helios does his best to dissuade him, arguing that sons are not necessarily fit to step into their fathers' shoes. But under pressure of Phaethon and Clymene's begging both, he eventually gives in. As per all other versions of the myth, Phaethon's ride is catastrophic and ends in his death. Hyginus wrote that Phaethon secretly mounted his father's car without said father's knowledge and leave, but with

1635-425: A throne of bright emeralds . In ancient artefacts (such as coins, vases, or reliefs) he is presented as a beautiful, full-faced youth with wavy hair, wearing a crown adorned with the sun's rays. Helios is said to drive a golden chariot drawn by four horses: Pyrois ("The Fiery One", not to be confused with Pyroeis , one of the five naked-eye planets known to ancient Greek and Roman astronomers ), Aeos ("He of

1744-490: A thunderbolt, killing everyone, except for Odysseus himself, the only one who had not harmed the cattle, and was allowed to live. Due to his position as the sun, he was believed to be an all-seeing witness, and thus was often invoked in oaths. He also played a significant part in ancient magic and spells. In art he is usually depicted as a beardless youth in a chiton holding a whip and driving his quadriga , accompanied by various other celestial gods such as Selene , Eos , or

1853-470: Is as the daughter of Hyperion and Theia , and sister of Helios and Eos . She was, however, the subject of one of the thirty-three Homeric Hymns , which gives the following description: And next, sweet voiced Muses, daughters of Zeus, well-skilled in song, tell of the long-winged Moon. From her immortal head a radiance is shown from heaven and embraces earth; and great is the beauty that ariseth from her shining light. The air, unlit before, glows with

1962-436: Is called Phoebus ("bright"), Selene, from her identification with Artemis, is also called Phoebe (feminine form). Also from Artemis, Selene was sometimes called "Cynthia", meaning "she of Mount Cynthus " (the birthplace of Artemis). 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

2071-462: 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 . 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. Zeus agrees, urged by Selene's complaints and having long intended to deal with

2180-494: Is likely Indo-European in origin and is common to both early Greek and Near Eastern religions. Helios is seen as both a personification of the Sun and the fundamental creative power behind it, and as a result is often worshiped as a god of life and creation. His literal "light" is often assorted with a metaphorical vitality, and other ancient texts give him the epithet "gracious" ( ἱλαρός ). The comic playwright Aristophanes describes Helios as "the horse-guider, who fills

2289-643: 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 , while her only mention in Hesiod 's Theogony

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2398-601: 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 ( Ancient Greek : Ϝελένα , romanized :  Weléna ), ruling out any possible connection between them. 'Helen'

2507-413: Is said to have seen and stood witness to everything that happened where his light shone. When Hades abducts Persephone , Helios is the only one to witness it. In Ovid's Fasti , Demeter asks the stars first about Persephone's whereabouts, and it is Helice who advises her to go ask Helios. Demeter is not slow to approach him, and Helios then tells her not to waste time, and seek out for "the queen of

2616-591: Is the god who personifies the Sun . His name is also Latinized as Helius , and he is often given the epithets Hyperion ("the one above") and Phaethon ("the shining"). Helios is often depicted in art with a radiant crown and driving a horse-drawn chariot through the sky. He was a guardian of oaths and also the god of sight. Though Helios was a relatively minor deity in Classical Greece, his worship grew more prominent in late antiquity thanks to his identification with several major solar divinities of

2725-513: 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

2834-474: Is the inherited word for the Sun from Proto-Indo-European * seh₂u-el which is cognate with Latin sol , Sanskrit surya , Old English swegl , Old Norse sól , Welsh haul , Avestan hvar , etc. The Doric and Aeolic form of the name is Ἅλιος , Hálios . In Homeric Greek his name is spelled Ἠέλιος , Ēélios , with the Doric spelling of that being Ἀέλιος , Aélios . In Cretan it

2943-462: Is the story of his mortal son Phaethon . In the Homeric epics , his most notable role is the one he plays in the Odyssey , where Odysseus ' men despite his warnings impiously kill and eat Helios's sacred cattle that the god kept at Thrinacia , his sacred island. Once informed of their misdeed, Helios in wrath asks Zeus to punish those who wronged him, and Zeus agreeing strikes their ship with

3052-412: Is three; Eirene ("peace"), Eunomia ("order"), and Dike ("justice"), and their parents are Zeus and Themis instead. Lastly, Selene was said to be the mother of the legendary Greek poet Musaeus , with, according to Philochorus , the father being the legendary seer Eumolpus . Like her brother Helios, the Sun god, who drives his sun chariot across the sky each day, Selene is also said to drive

3161-416: Is unclear, but it has been suggested she is saved by some deus ex machina . A number of deities have been proposed for the identity of this possible deus ex machina, with Helios among them. In Ovid's account, Zeus' son Epaphus mocks Phaethon's claim that he is the son of the sun god; his mother Clymene tells Phaethon to go to Helios himself, to ask for confirmation of his paternity. Helios promises him on

3270-562: Is usually depicted as a handsome young man crowned with the shining aureole of the Sun, which traditionally had twelve rays, symbolising the twelve months of the year. Beyond his Homeric Hymn, not many texts describe his physical appearance; Euripides describes him as χρυσωπός (khrysо̄pós) meaning "golden-eyed/faced" or "beaming like gold", Mesomedes of Crete writes that he has golden hair, and Apollonius Rhodius that he has light-emitting, golden eyes. According to Augustan poet Ovid , he dressed in tyrian purple robes and sat on

3379-540: The Doric and Aeolic dialects, her name was also spelled Σελάνα ( Selána ) and Σελάννα ( Selánna ) respectively. Selene was also called Mene . The Greek word mene , meant the moon, and the lunar month. The masculine form of mene ( men ) was also the name of the Phrygian moon-god Men . Mene and Men both derive from Proto-Hellenic *méns ("month"), itself from Proto-Indo-European *mḗh₁n̥s (meaning moon,

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3488-543: 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. Selene's participation in the battle is evidenced by her inclusion in the Gigantomachy frieze of

3597-513: The Pergamon Altar , fighting against Giants next to her siblings Helios and Eos and her mother Theia in the southern frieze. Selene gallops sidesaddle in advance, and wears a woolen undergarment and a mantle. 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. According to

3706-424: The Dawn"), Aethon ("Blazing"), and Phlegon ("Burning"). In a Mithraic invocation, Helios's appearance is given as thus: A god is then summoned. He is described as "a youth, fair to behold, with fiery hair, clothed in a white tunic and a scarlet cloak and wearing a fiery crown." He is named as "Helios, lord of heaven and earth, god of gods." As mentioned above, the imagery surrounding a chariot-driving solar deity

3815-588: The Ethiops, with whom he passes the dark hours. According to Athenaeus, Mimnermus said that in the night Helios travels eastwards with the use of a bed (also created by Hephaestus) in which he sleeps, rather than a cup, as attested in the Titanomachy in the 8th century BCE. Aeschylus describes the sunset as such: "There [is] the sacred wave, and the coralled bed of the Erythræan Sea , and [there]

3924-428: The Greek populace. 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 ( 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

4033-585: 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." The eternally sleeping Endymion

4142-596: The Lion of Nemea fell from the moon", and quotes Epimenides as saying: 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. Anaxagoras also reports that the Nemean lion was said to have fallen from the moon. Pseudo-Plutarch 's On Rivers has Hera collaborating with Selene, "employing magical incantations" to create

4251-536: The Moon came to be associated with physical growth, menstruation and sickness, the latter particularly in the context of demonic possession or even epilepsy. Owing to her role as the moon goddess, she was sometimes called Nyctimedusa ( Ancient Greek : Νυκτιμέδουσα , romanized :  Nuktimédousa ), meaning "queen of the night". Selene is best known for her affair with the beautiful mortal Endymion . The late 7th-century – early 6th-century BC poet Sappho apparently mentioned Selene and Endymion. However,

4360-405: 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". Theocritus portrays Endymion's sleep as enviable because (presumably) of Selene's love for him. Cicero seems to make Selene responsible for Endymion's sleep, so that "she might kiss him while sleeping". The Roman playwright Seneca , has Selene abandoned

4469-401: The Moon would occur. Those who brought down the Moon were thought to bring ill fortune upon themselves, as evidenced by the proverb 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. In popular and common belief, Selene as

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4578-479: The Nemean Lion from a chest filled with foam. Hyginus says that Selene had "nourished" the lion in a "two-mouthed cave". According to Virgil , Selene also had a tryst with the god Pan , who seduced her with a "snowy bribe of wool". Scholia on Virgil add the story, ascribed to Nicander , that as part of the seduction, Pan wrapped himself in a sheepskin. Diodorus Siculus recorded an unorthodox version of

4687-646: The Roman period, particularly Apollo and Sol . The Roman Emperor Julian made Helios the central divinity of his short-lived revival of traditional Roman religious practices in the 4th century AD. Helios figures prominently in several works of Greek mythology, poetry, and literature, in which he is often described as the son of the Titans Hyperion and Theia and brother of the goddesses Selene (the Moon) and Eos (the Dawn). Helios' most notable role in Greek mythology

4796-473: The Sun abandoning humanity. According to a fragment of Archilochus , it is Zeus who blocks Helios and makes him disappear from the sky. In one of his paeans , the lyric poet Pindar describes a solar eclipse as the Sun's light being hidden from the world, a bad omen of destruction and doom: Beam of the sun! What have you contrived, observant one, mother of eyes, highest star, in concealing yourself in broad daylight? Why have you made helpless men's strength and

4905-552: The aid of his sisters the Heliades who yoked the horses. In all retellings, Helios recovers the reins in time, thus saving the earth. Another consistent detail across versions are that Phaethon's sisters the Heliades mourn him by the Eridanus and are turned into black poplar trees, who shed tears of amber . According to Quintus Smyrnaeus , it was Helios who turned them into trees, for their honour to Phaethon. In one version of

5014-539: The appeal of the other gods, as well as Zeus' threats. He then takes his anger out on his four horses, whipping them in fury for causing his son's death. Nonnus of Panopolis presented a slightly different version of the myth, narrated by Hermes; according to him, Helios met and fell in love with Clymene, the daughter of the Ocean , and the two soon got married with her father's blessing. When he grows up, fascinated with his father's job, he asks him to drive his chariot for

5123-492: The birth of Aphrodite on the base of the Statue of Zeus at Olympia . There are indications of a similar framing by Selene and Helios of the birth of Pandora on the base of the Athena Parthenos . Pausanias also reports seeing stone images of Helios, and Selene, in the market-place at Elea , with rays projecting from the head of Helios, and horns from the head of Selene. Selene also appears on horseback as part of

5232-551: The cities Ialysos , Camiros and Lindos on the island, named after themselves; thus Rhodes came to belong to him and his line, with the autochthonous peoples of Rhodes claiming descend from the Heliadae. The most well known story about Helios is the one involving his son Phaethon , who asked him to drive his chariot for a single day. Although all versions agree that Phaethon convinced Helios to give him his chariot, and that he failed in his task with disastrous results, there are

5341-594: The daughter of Selene and Zeus. 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. 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 . Nonnus has Selene and Endymion as

5450-404: The deathless Gods who live in the wide heaven". The Homeric Hymn to Helios follows this tradition: "Hyperion wedded glorious Euryphaëssa, his own sister, who bare him lovely children, rosy-armed Eos and rich-tressed Selene and tireless Helios", with Euryphaëssa ("widely shining") probably being an epithet of Theia. However, the Homeric Hymn to Hermes has Selene as the daughter of Pallas,

5559-406: The division of portions again, but Helios refused the offer, for he had seen a new land emerging from the deep of the sea; a rich, productive land for humans and good for cattle too. Helios asked for this island to be given to him, and Zeus agreed to it, with Lachesis (one of the three Fates ) raising her hands to confirm the oath. Alternatively in another tradition, it was Helios himself who made

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5668-440: The early 5th century BC, she is depicted only as a bust, or in profile against a lunar disk. In later art, like other celestial divinities such as Helios, Eos, and Nyx (Night), Selene rides across the heavens. She is usually portrayed either driving a chariot (see above) or riding sideways on horseback (sometimes riding an ox, a mule or a ram). Selene was often paired with her brother Helios. Selene (probably) and Helios adorned

5777-626: The east pediment of the Parthenon , where the two, each driving a four-horsed chariot, framed a scene depicting the birth of Athena , with Helios and his chariot rising from the ocean on the left, and Selene and her chariot descending into the sea on the right. Selene and Helios also appear on the North Metopes of the Parthenon, with Selene this time entering the sea on horseback. From Pausanias, we learn that Selene and Helios also framed

5886-466: 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 : 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

5995-403: The girl into a fly ( Ancient Greek : μυῖα , romanized :  muía ). In memory of the beautiful Endymion, the fly still grudges all sleepers their rest and annoys them. 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,"

6104-459: The god Dionysus . 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. When Zeus desired to sleep with the mortal queen Alcmene and sire Heracles, he made

6213-469: The golden cup which he used to sail across the sea every night, from the west to the east because he found Heracles' actions immensely bold. In the versions delivered by Apollodorus and Pherecydes, Heracles was only about to shoot Helios, but according to Panyassis , he did shoot and wounded the god. Solar eclipses were phaenomena of fear as well as wonder in Ancient Greece, and were seen as

6322-533: The island rise from the sea when he caused the water which had overflowed it to disappear. He named it Rhodes, after his lover Rhode (the daughter of Poseidon and Aphrodite or Amphitrite ), and it became the god's sacred island, where he was honoured above all other gods. With Rhode Helios sired seven sons, known as the Heliadae ("sons of the Sun"), who became the first rulers of the island, as well as one daughter, Electryone . Three of their grandsons founded

6431-576: The land and create a new race of men from the beginning? Some lists, cited by Hyginus, of the names of horses that pulled Helios' chariot, are as follows. Scholarship acknowledges that, despite differences between the lists, the names of the horses always seem to refer to fire, flame, light and other luminous qualities. Hyginus writes that according to Homer, the horses' names are Abraxas and Therbeeo; but Homer makes no mention of horses or chariot. Alexander of Aetolia , cited in Athenaeus, related that

6540-419: 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. Ampelus was a very beautiful satyr youth, loved by

6649-400: 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

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6758-758: The light of the Sun, by ordering Helios not to rise for those three days. Satirical author Lucian of Samosata dramatized this myth in one of his Dialogues of the Gods . While Heracles was travelling to Erytheia to retrieve the cattle of Geryon for his tenth labour, he crossed the Libyan desert and was so frustrated at the heat that he shot an arrow at Helios, the Sun. Almost immediately, Heracles realized his mistake and apologized profusely ( Pherecydes wrote that Heracles stretched his arrow at him menacingly, but Helios ordered him to stop, and Heracles in fear desisted ); In turn and equally courteous, Helios granted Heracles

6867-740: The lunar month), which probably comes from the root *meh₁- ("to measure"), and is cognate with the English words "Moon" and "month". The Greek Stoic philosopher Chrysippus interpreted Selene and Men as, respectively, the female and male aspects of the same god. 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 𐀕𐀜 (me-no, from genitive form μηνός , mēnós ). Just as Helios, from his identification with Apollo,

6976-493: The luxuriant marsh of the Ethiopians, situated near the ocean, glitters like polished brass; where daily in the soft and tepid stream, the all-seeing Sun bathes his undying self, and refreshes his weary steeds." Athenaeus adds that "Helios gained a portion of toil for all his days", as there is no rest for either him or his horses. Although the chariot is usually said to be the work of Hephaestus , Hyginus states that it

7085-426: The magical herb grew on the island Thrinacia , which was sacred to Helios, and served as a remedy against fatigue for the sun god's horses. Aeschrion of Samos informed that it was known as the "dog's-tooth" and was believed to have been sown by Cronus. According to Pindar, when the gods divided the earth among them, Helios was absent, and thus he got no lot of land. He complained to Zeus about it, who offered to do

7194-449: The male Heliadae . The author of the Suda lexicon tried to etymologically connect ἥλιος to the word ἀολλίζεσθαι , aollízesthai , "coming together" during the daytime, or perhaps from ἀλεαίνειν , aleaínein , "warming". Plato in his dialogue Cratylus suggested several etymologies for the word, proposing among others a connection, via the Doric form of the word halios , to

7303-585: 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. 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). The geographer Pausanias , reports seeing

7412-482: The modern English prefix helio- , meaning "pertaining to the Sun", used in compounds word such as heliocentrism , aphelion , heliotropium , heliophobia (fear of the sun) and heliolatry ("sun-worship"). Helios most likely is Proto-Indo-European in origin. Walter Burkert wrote that "... Helios, the sun god, and Eos - Aurora , the goddess of the dawn , are of impeccable Indo-European lineage both in etymology and in their status as gods" and might have played

7521-408: The moon itself) is often described as having horns. The Orphic Hymn to Selene addresses her as "O bull-horned Moon", and further describes her as "torch-bearing, ... feminine and masculine, ... lover of horses," and grantor of "fulfillment and favor". Empedocles , Euripides and Nonnus all describe her as γλαυκῶπις ( glaukṓpis , "bright-eyed", a common epithet of the goddess Athena ) while in

7630-494: The myth, Helios conveyed his dead son to the stars, as a constellation (the Auriga ). But, Goddess, give up for good your great lamentation. You must not nurse in vain insatiable anger. Among the gods Aidoneus is not an unsuitable bridegroom, Commander-of-Many and Zeus's own brother of the same stock. As for honor, he got his third at the world's first division and dwells with those whose rule has fallen to his lot. Helios

7739-428: 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

7848-513: 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. Gaia , angered about her children the Titans being thrown into Tartarus following their defeat, brought forth the Giants , to attack the gods, in a war that was called

7957-534: The newborn goddess' sight. In the Iliad Hera who supports the Greeks, makes him set earlier than usual against his will during battle, and later still during the same war, after his sister Eos's son Memnon was killed, she made him downcast, causing his light to fade, so she could be able to freely steal her son's body undetected by the armies, as he consoled his sister in her grief over Memnon's death. It

8066-460: The night last three days, and ordered Selene via Hermes to dawdle in the sky during that time. Selene also played a small role in the first of Heracles' twelve labours ; whereas for Hesiod, the Nemean Lion was born to Orthrus and the Chimera (or perhaps Echidna ) and raised by Hera , other accounts have Selene involved in some way in its birth or rearing. Aelian states: "They say that

8175-505: The night sky for Endymion's sake having entrusted her "shining" moon chariot to her brother Helios to drive. The Greek satirist Lucian 's dialogue between Selene and the 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. In his dialogue between Aphrodite and Eros, Lucian also has Aphrodite admonish her son Eros for bringing Selene "down from

8284-474: The otherwise unknown Prote. In one version of the story, Phaethon is Helios' grandson, rather than son, through the boy's father Clymenus . In this version, Phaethon's mother is an Oceanid nymph named Merope. In Euripides' lost play Phaethon , surviving only in twelve fragments, Phaethon is the product of an illicit liaison between his mother Clymene (who is now married to Merops , the king of Aethiopia ) and Helios, though she claimed that her lawful husband

8393-487: 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. The ancient Greek language had three grammatical genders (masculine, feminine and neuter), so when

8502-484: The parents of the beautiful Narcissus , although in other accounts, including Ovid 's Metamorphoses , Narcissus was the son of Cephissus and Liriope . Quintus Smyrnaeus makes Selene, by her brother Helios , the mother of the Horae , goddesses and personifications of the four seasons; Winter, Spring, Summer, and Autumn. Quintus describes them as the four handmaidens of Hera, but in most other accounts their number

8611-446: The path of wisdom, by rushing down a dark highway? Do you drive a stranger course than before? In the name of Zeus, swift driver of horses, I beg you, turn the universal omen, lady, into some painless prosperity for Thebes ... Do you bring a sign of some war or wasting of crops or a mass of snow beyond telling or ruinous strife or emptying of the sea on land or frost on the earth or a rainy summer flowing with raging water, or will you flood

8720-482: The philosophers himself. 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 . According to pseudo-Plutarch , 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

8829-472: The plain of the earth with exceeding bright beams, a mighty deity among gods and mortals." One passage recorded in the Greek Magical Papyri says of Helios, "the earth flourished when you shone forth and made the plants fruitful when you laughed and brought to life the living creatures when you permitted." He is said to have helped create animals out of primeval mud. Helios was envisioned as

8938-464: The poet Pindar , Heracles then founded the Olympic Games : the games which by the ancient tomb of Pelops the mighty Heracles founded, after that he slew Kleatos, Poseidon's godly son, and slew also Eurytos, that he might wrest from tyrannous Augeas against his will reward for service done. Eurystheus discounted the success of this labour because the rushing waters had done the work of cleaning

9047-538: The river Styx any gift that he might ask as a proof of paternity; Phaethon asks for the privilege to drive Helios' chariot for a single day. Although Helios warns his son of how dangerous and disastrous this would be, he is nevertheless unable to change Phaethon's mind or revoke his promise. Phaethon takes the reins, and the earth burns when he travels too low, and freezes when he takes the chariot too high. Zeus strikes Phaethon with lightning, killing him. Helios refuses to resume his job, but he returns to his task and duty at

9156-439: 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: 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"). Plutarch recorded

9265-406: The rivers Alpheus and Peneus to wash out the filth. Augeas reacted angrily because he had promised Heracles one tenth of his cattle if the job was finished in one day. He refused to honour the agreement, and Heracles killed him after completing the tasks. Heracles gave his kingdom to Phyleus , Augeas' son, who had been exiled for supporting Heracles against his father. According to the odes of

9374-415: The seven Pleiades keep thy steadfast way." And then— "This said, his son undaunted snatched the reins, Then smote the winged coursers' sides: they bound Forth on the void and cavernous vault of air. His father mounts another steed, and rides With warning voice guiding his son. 'Drive there! Turn, turn thy car this way." If this messenger did witness the flight himself, it is possible there

9483-428: The skies, trying to give him instructions on how to drive the chariot while he rides on a spare horse named Sirius, as someone, perhaps a paedagogus informs Clymene of Phaethon's fate, who is probably accompanied by slave women: Take, for instance, that passage in which Helios, in handing the reins to his son, says— "Drive on, but shun the burning Libyan tract; The hot dry air will let thine axle down: Toward

9592-537: The sky". While Quintus Smyrnaeus wrote that, while Endymion slept in his cave beside his cattle: Divine Selene watched him from on high, and slid from heaven to earth; for passionate love drew down the immortal stainless Queen of Night." 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. This irritated Endymion, and enraged Selene, who transforms

9701-519: The son of an otherwise unknown Megamedes. 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. Other accounts give still other parents for Selene: Euripides has Selene as the daughter of Helios (rather than sister), while an Aeschylus fragment possibly has Selene as the daughter of Leto , as does

9810-472: The stables and because Heracles was paid. Stating that Heracles still had seven labours to do, Eurystheus then sent Heracles to defeat the Stymphalian Birds . Helios In ancient Greek religion and mythology , Helios ( / ˈ h iː l i ə s , - ɒ s / ; Ancient Greek : Ἥλιος pronounced [hɛ̌ːlios] , lit.   'Sun'; Homeric Greek : Ἠέλιος )

9919-509: The stars. In ancient times he was worshipped in several places of ancient Greece, though his major cult centers were the island of Rhodes , of which he was patron god, Corinth and the greater Corinthia region. The Colossus of Rhodes , a gigantic statue of the god, adorned the port of Rhodes until it was destroyed in an earthquake, thereupon it was not built again. The Greek noun ἥλιος ( GEN ἡλίου , DAT ἡλίῳ , ACC ἥλιον , VOC ἥλιε ) (from earlier ἁϝέλιος /hāwelios/)

10028-402: The sun, were seen as the "Eye of Heaven". Helios is the son of Hyperion and Theia , or Euryphaessa, or Basileia, and the only brother of the goddesses Eos and Selene. If the order of mention of the three siblings is meant to be taken as their birth order, then out of the four authors that give him and his sisters a birth order, two make him the oldest child, one the middle, and the other

10137-533: The third world". In another myth, Aphrodite was married to Hephaestus, but she cheated on him with his brother Ares , god of war. In Book Eight of the Odyssey , the blind singer Demodocus describes how the illicit lovers committed adultery, until one day Helios caught them in the act, and immediately informed Aphrodite's husband Hephaestus. Upon learning that, Hephaestus forged a net so thin it could hardly be seen, in order to ensnare them. He then announced that he

10246-641: The two lovers and inform Hephaestus. For this, Aphrodite hated Helios and his race for all time. In some versions, she cursed his daughter Pasiphaë to fall in love with the Cretan Bull as revenge against him. Pasiphaë's daughter Phaedra 's passion for her step-son Hippolytus was also said to have been inflicted on her by Aphrodite for this same reason. Selene In ancient Greek mythology and religion , Selene ( / s ɪ ˈ l iː n iː / ; ‹See Tfd› Greek : Σελήνη pronounced [selɛ̌ːnɛː] seh- LEH -neh , meaning "Moon")

10355-413: The words ἁλίζειν , halízein , meaning collecting men when he rises, or from the phrase ἀεὶ εἱλεῖν , aeí heileín , "ever turning" because he always turns the earth in his course. Doric Greek retained Proto-Greek long *ā as α , while Attic changed it in most cases, including in this word, to η . Cratylus and the etymologies Plato gives are contradicted by modern scholarship. From helios comes

10464-498: The youngest. Helios was not among the regular and more prominent deities, rather he was a more shadowy member of the Olympian circle, despite the fact that he was among the most ancient. From his lineage, Helios might be described as a second generation Titan. He is associated with harmony and order, both literally in the sense of the movement of celestial bodies and metaphorically in the sense of bringing order to society. Helios

10573-428: Was Ἀβέλιος ( Abélios ) or Ἀϝέλιος ( Awélios ). The Greek view of gender was also present in their language. Ancient Greek had three genders (masculine, feminine and neuter), so when an object or a concept was personified as a deity, it inherited the gender of the relevant noun; helios is a masculine noun, so the god embodying it is also by necessity male. The female offspring of Helios were called Heliades ,

10682-432: Was Helios himself who built it. His chariot is described as golden, or occasionally "rosy", and pulled by four white horses. The Horae , goddesses of the seasons, are part of his retinue and help him yoke his chariot. His sister Eos is said to have not only opened the gates for Helios, but would often accompany him as well. In the extreme east and west were said to be people who tended to his horses, for whom summer

10791-516: Was also a passage where he described Helios taking control over the bolting horses in the same manner as Lucretius described. Phaethon inevitably dies; a fragment near the end of the play has Clymene order the slave girls hide Phaethon's still-smouldering body from Merops, and laments Helios' role in her son's death, saying he destroyed him and her both. Near the end of the play it seems that Merops, having found out about Clymene's affair and Phaethon's true parentage, tries to kill her; her eventual fate

10900-592: Was given tree worship, features associated with the Proto-Indo-European Sun Maiden; in surviving Greek tradition however Helen is never said to be Helios' daughter, instead being the daughter of Zeus . It has been suggested that the Phoenicians brought over the cult of their patron god Baal among others (such as Astarte ) to Corinth , who was then continued to be worshipped under the native name/god Helios, similarly to how Astarte

11009-494: Was golden. 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. References to this magical trick, variously referred to as καθαιρεῖν ( kathaireĩn ), are scattered throughout ancient literature, whereas eclipses of both the Sun and the Moon were called kathaireseis ("casting-downs") by

11118-495: Was leaving for Lemnos . Upon hearing that, Ares went to Aphrodite and the two lovers coupled. Once again Helios informed Hephaestus, who came into the room and trapped them in the net. He then called the other gods to witness the humiliating sight. Much later versions add a young man to the story, a warrior named Alectryon , tasked by Ares to stand guard should anyone approach. But Alectryon fell asleep, allowing Helios to discover

11227-468: Was often identified with Artemis , much as her brother, Helios, was identified with Apollo . 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 . The name "Selene" is derived from the Greek noun selas ( σέλας ), meaning "light, brightness, gleam". In

11336-408: Was perpetual and fruitful. On several instances in mythology the normal solar schedule is disrupted; he was ordered not to rise for three days during the conception of Heracles , and made the winter days longer in order to look upon Leucothoe . Athena 's birth was a sight so impressive that Helios halted his steeds and stayed still in the sky for a long while, as heaven and earth both trembling at

11445-548: Was proverbial, 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. A scholiast on Apollonius says that, according to Epimenides , Endymion fell in love with Hera, and Zeus punished him with eternal sleep. However, Apollodorus says that because of Endymion's "surpassing beauty,

11554-400: Was said that summer days are longer due to Helios often stopping his chariot mid-air to watch from above nymphs dancing during the summer, and sometimes he is late to rise because he lingers with his consort. If the other gods wish so, Helios can be hastened on his daily course when they wish it to be night. When Zeus desired to sleep with Alcmene , he made one night last threefold, hiding

11663-425: Was the father of her all her children. Clymene reveals the truth to her son, and urges him to travel east to get confirmation from his father after she informs him that Helios promised to grant their child any wish when he slept with her. Although reluctant at first, Phaethon is convinced and sets on to find his birth father. In a surviving fragment from the play, Helios accompanies his son in his ill-fated journey in

11772-497: Was to clean the Augean ( / ɔː ˈ dʒ iː ə n / ) stables. Eurystheus intended this assignment both as humiliating (rather than impressive, like the previous labours) and as impossible, since the livestock were divinely healthy ( immortal ) and therefore produced an enormous quantity of dung ( ἡ ὄνθος ). Those stables had not been cleaned in over thirty years, and 3,000 cattle lived there. However, Heracles succeeded by rerouting

11881-562: Was worshipped as Aphrodite , and the Phoenician Melqart was adopted as the sea-god Melicertes / Palaemon , who also had a significant cult in the isthmus of Corinth . Helios' journey on a chariot during the day and travel with a boat in the ocean at night possibly reflects the Egyptian sun god Ra sailing across the skies in a barque to be reborn at dawn each morning anew; additionally, both gods, being associated with

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