Selene
The Titan goddess who drove the silver chariot of the moon across the night sky, daughter of Hyperion and Theia.
The Myth of Selene
Selene was the Titan goddess of the moon, daughter of Hyperion and Theia, sister to Helios and Eos. Each night she drove her silver chariot drawn by two white horses across the sky, her pale light illuminating the world between sunset and dawn. Her greatest myth is her love for the mortal shepherd Endymion. Selene saw him sleeping on Mount Latmus and fell so deeply in love that she asked Zeus to grant him eternal sleep so he would never age or die. Zeus complied, and Endymion sleeps forever in a cave on Latmus while Selene visits him nightly — a poetic explanation for why the moon seems to pause over certain mountains. She bore Endymion fifty daughters, sometimes identified with the fifty months of the Olympiad. Selene was gradually merged with Artemis and Hecate in later Greek religion, becoming one face of the triple-goddess of the moon.
Fun Fact
The element selenium was named after Selene because it was found alongside tellurium, which is named after the Earth.
Words We Inherited
English words and phrases that trace back to this myth. See our full guide to English words from Greek mythology.
Explore Further
Selene
⚡ godTitaness of the moon
Selene was the Titaness who drove the silver chariot of the moon across the night sky — she loved the mortal Endymion and visited him each night as he slept eternally.
Selene
⚡ godTitaness of the moon
The Titaness who personified the moon, driving her silver chariot across the night sky. She fell in love with the mortal Endymion and visited him nightly as he slept.
Luna
⚡ godMoon, night, cycles
Roman goddess of the moon, equivalent to the Greek Selene
Rhea
🏔 titanTitaness of fertility, motherhood, the mountain wilds
Mother of the Olympian gods and wife of Kronos. Rhea saved the infant Zeus from being devoured by his father, enabling the rise of the Olympians.
Goddess of the Moon
💭 conceptMoon, night sky, lunar cycles
Selene drives her silver chariot across the night sky, illuminating the world with reflected light.
Dione
🏔 titanTitaness and mother of Aphrodite
An ancient Titaness worshipped at Dodona as the consort of Zeus and, in Homer's tradition, the mother of Aphrodite.
Clymene
🏔 titanFame, Renown
An Oceanid-Titaness best known as the mother of Prometheus, Atlas, and the other sons of Iapetus who shaped humanity's early story.
Helios
🏔 titanThe all-seeing Titan of the sun
The Titan who drove the sun chariot across the sky each day and saw everything that happened on earth below.
Phoebe
🏔 titanTitaness of bright intellect and prophecy
Phoebe was the Titaness of radiant intellect and prophetic wisdom — the original holder of the Delphic oracle before her grandson Apollo.
Eos
🏔 titanTitan goddess of the dawn
The rosy-fingered goddess of dawn who opened the gates of heaven each morning for her brother Helios's chariot.
Theia
🏔 titanTitaness of sight and shining
Theia was the Titaness of sight and shining light — mother of the Sun, Moon, and Dawn.
Eurynome
🏔 titanPre-Olympian queen of the cosmos
In the Pelasgian creation myth, Eurynome ruled the universe with Ophion before the rise of the Titans.