Selene

Selene was the daughter of the Titans Hyperion and Theia, sister of Helios (Sun) and Eos (Dawn). Each night, she drove her silver chariot across the sky, illuminating the darkness with the moon's pale light. She was depicted as a beautiful woman with a luminous crescent on her brow.

Her most famous myth is her love for the mortal shepherd Endymion. So beautiful was the sleeping youth that Selene asked Zeus to grant him eternal sleep so that he would never age or die. Zeus agreed, and Endymion sleeps forever in a cave on Mount Latmus while Selene visits him each night, her moonlight caressing his unchanging face.

In later Greek religion, Selene was gradually merged with Artemis, who took on lunar associations. But in the older myths, they remained distinct: Selene was the moon itself, while Artemis was the goddess of the hunt who happened to carry a bow shaped like a crescent moon.