Selene

**Selene** was the Titaness of the Moon, Radiance, Insanity, Illusion, and Night. She was the daughter of Hyperion and Theia, she was also the older twin sister of the sun Titan Helios, and the older sister of Eos, Goddess of Dawn. During the First Titan War, Selene, her siblings, and her mother, refused to fight alongside her father and the other Titans against the gods and were able to avoid being thrown into Tartarus. Selene was also known to be part of the Triple Moon Goddesses along with her counterparts Artemis and Hecate who were all considered different aspects of one another. Not too long after her brother Helios, Selene faded due to lack of worship. Her Roman counterpart was **Luna**.

## History:

### Early Life:

Selene was born to the Titans Hyperion and Theia and was the older twin sister of Helios, the two were also known to have a younger sister whom was named Eos. As a baby, she and her brother were said to be nursed by their aunt Tethys which is stated by the Latin poet Claudian in which he said that: "in her infancy, when her horns had not yet grown, Selene, along with her brother Helios, was nursed by her aunt, the water goddess Tethys". During her time as the Titaness of the Moon, Selene drove her silver moon chariot across the sky at night, while her twin brother, Helios, drove his sun chariot during the day. When she was young, Selene had become close friends with the goddess of night Nyx who looked upon her as a daughter. The two were said to bring night upon Earth together and bonded over their domains.

### Titanomachy:

During the Titanomachy, Selene, her mother, and her two siblings, remained neutral and did not fight with Hyperion or the other Titans against the gods. For this reason, she, along with few of her family members, were the only ones who weren't banished to Tartarus. It was said that both the Sun and the Moon were once connected to one another, inseperable even, and because of this, they strengthened one another to the point that the two were once too powerful to be together that even Zeus feared them. Paranoid with the thought that Selene and Helios might overthrow him and unleash the wrath of the other Titans of whom he had imprisoned, he seperated the twins creating the four seasons, along with night and day, only ever allowing them see one another when they had met with their sister Dawn.

### Affair with Zeus:

For many years, Selene remained in the skies after the Titanomachy, watching as Zeus pursued the Titanesses into having affairs with him, which resulted in many having children, though Selene was able to resist the lovesick gods by remaining in the sky, cloaked by her friend night who kept her safe from the pursuits of the gods. Although one day, Selene grew tired the sky, and so came down to Olympus in form of a woman before the Olympian Council, exposing her beauty to the eyes of Zeus and his sons: Ares, Apollo, Dionysus, Hermes, and Hephaestus who all wished to court her. Selene was indeed looking for companionship, but after hearing the news of how Zeus had swallowed his first wife, Selene's cousin Metis, the goddess refused to become his wife. Though, Selene's refusal to marry Zeus didn't help the situation as this still left, Ares, Apollo, Dionysus, and Hermes, who were still next in line to try and win the goddesses' favor. Selene had a brief affair with him which resulted in the birth of their first daughter: Pandia, who, like her mother, was said to have been "exceedingly lovely amongst the deathless gods". Shortly after her birth, Selene had another child with Zeus whom they had named Ersa, otherwise known as Herse. In some myths, they say that the nymph Nemea was their third child, many claims showing that she had taken care of her brother the Nemean Lion, who was the only son Selene had bore with Zeus.

### Giantomachy:

Gaea, 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 the Gigantomachy. When Gaea 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. When Zeus had gotten word of his grandmother's plan, the King of the Gods ordered Selene as well as her siblings Helios (Sun) and Eos (Dawn) not to shine, and harvested all of that plant for himself. During the war, when the storm giant Typhon rose to destroy Olympus and the gods, Selene rode her moon chariot into battle against the storm giant, but her attempts were ultimately unsuccessful. In fact, the Greeks believed the scars and craters seen on the moon to this day were her leftover wounds in her battle against Typhon.

### The death of Ampelus:

Ampelus was a very beautiful satyr youth, loved by 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

### Tale of Endymion:

*"The radiant goddess of the darksome sky burned with love and, forsaking the night, gave her gleaming chariot to her brother to guide in fashion other then his own. He learned to drive the team of night and to wheel in narrower circuit, while the axle groaned beneath the car's heavier weight; nor did the nights keep their accustomed length, and with belated dawning came day."*

## Information:

**Name:** Selene

**Alias (s):**

* Titaness of the Moon
* Titaness of the Night
* Titaness of Radiance
* Titaness of Insanity
* Titaness of Illusion
* Titaness of Love
* Titaness of Time
* Titaness of Months and Childbirth
* Personification of the Moon
* Daughter of Hyperion
* Daughter of Theia
* The Eye of Night
* Twin Sister of Helios
* Elder Sister of Eos
* Lover of Zeus
* Lover of Endymion
* "Rich-Tressed"

**Status:** Faded

**Race:**

* Titaness
* Goddess

**Gender:** Female

**Hair Color:** White

**Eye Color:** Silver

**Affliction:**

* Titans
* Olympians
* Nyx

**Residence (s):**

* Olympus
* Palace of the Moon
* Mansion of Night
* Chaos

**Family:**

* Chaos (paternal and maternal great-grandparent)
* Ouranos (paternal and maternal grandfather)
* Gaea (paternal and maternal grandmother)
* Hyperion (father)
* Theia (mother)
* Nyx (adoptive mother)
* Endymion (husband) †
* Zeus (former lover)
* Ares (former fiance)
* Apollo (lover)
* Pandia (daughter)
* Ersa (daughter)
* Nemea (daughter)
* Regulus (son)
* The Menae (daughters)
* Epeius (step-son) †
* Aetolus (step-son) †
* Eurycyda (step-daughter) †
* Paeon (step-son) †
* Eurypyle (step-daughter) †
* Narcissus (son) †
* Eiar (daughter)
* Theros (daughter)
* Pthinoporon (daughter)
* Kheimon (daughter)
* Naxos (son)
* Immaradus (son) †
* Phorbas (son) †
* Musaeus (son) †
* Cyrex (son) †
* Thea (daughter) †
* Selene Cabin Members (children) †
* Helios (twin brother) †
* Eos (sister)