Selene - Lovers and Children

Lovers and Children

Her great love was Endymion, a shepherd/prince or the king of Elis depending on which version you read. One day while pulling the moon across the sky, she spotted Endymion and fell in love. She either asked Zeus to grant him immortality or according to some versions did so herself. She put him into eternal sleep so he may never grow old or die and together they had fifty daughters (and according to some also a son, Narcissus). The daughters ruled over each month that separates the Olympic games, since they happen every fifty months.

To Zeus she bore three daughters. Pandeia the goddess of brightness who was associated with the sun or sometimes with the full moon. Ersa, goddess of the dew and the nymph/goddess Nemeia. Furthermore the Nemean lion was said to be fathered by Zeus as well.

She also had an encounter with the great nature god Pan, who deceived her by wrapping himself in sheepskin and offered her a ride on his back. While they were airborne, he attacked her.

With her brother Helios she was said to be the mother of the four Horae, goddesses of the seasons.

Lastly, Selene was said to have had one mortal child, a son named Mousaios who was a poet.