Monday, 30 March 2020

HELIOS AND SELENE ~ THE GREEK SUN GOD AND MOON GODDESS

In Greek Religion, Selene ( Ancient Greek: Σελήνη, "Moon") is the Goddess of the moon. She is the daughter of the Titans Hyperion and Theia, and sister of the Sun-God Helios, and Eos, Goddess of the dawn.She drives Her moon chariot across the heavens.

In classical times, Selene 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 lunar Goddesses, but only Selene was regarded as the personification of the Moon itself.
Selene's most well-known relationship was with a mortal named Endymion, to whom Zeus had granted the choice of when he would die; Endymion chose to fall into an eternal sleep, in order to remain ageless and deathless, even though he would never truly enjoy his immortality. Nevertheless, Selene visited Endymion each night in his place of rest near Mount Latmos.





Helios, ( Ancient and Modern Greek: Ήλιος )Selene's brother, 
 is the Source of one of the most fundamental powers of creation- sunlight. As a result, He is often worshiped as a God of life and creation. Homer describes Helios as a God "who gives joy to mortals".
Helios is married to the Oceanid Perse and their children are Aeëtes, Circe, Perses and Pasiphaë.


He appears as a benevolent God in many important stories of the Greek Religion. As a God who sees everything in His daily travel through the skies, He witnesses Persephone's abduction by Hades and He informs Her distraught mother, Demeter, about what had happened.He also gives Orion his eyesight back. Helios helps Heracles by lending Him His golden bowl, so that the hero could cross the river of Oceanus and take the cattle of Geryon. `During the Gigantomachy, Helios fought bravely along with the other Gods against the Titans.

Helios is usually depicted as a handsome young man crowned with a shining aureole .The image of Helios driving his “golden-yoked” four-horse chariot – sometimes in the company of His sisters – is one of the most recognizable images in all of Greek art. His route brings Helios across the skies each day from the east (Ethiopia) to the west (Hesperides); while at night He does the return journey in leisurely fashion lounging in a golden cup. The God was famously the subject of the Colossus of Rhodes, the giant bronze statue considered one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

Sources : Wikipedia, Greek Gods and Goddesses 

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