Selene - Greek Goddess of the Moon - Degree Project

As I now have my themes and a plan of where to start, I have been researching Selene, the Greek Goddess of the Moon. I plan to have a shoot with my version of Selene, which is based off my research and my own imagination. I will explain my findings here, and how it will be relevant to my imagery.
It is also important to note however, that many records of the gods and goddesses are very different, and so what I have picked out is more than likely contradicted by another record of the time. I have chosen the records that are most popular and widely accepted as the 'true' myth. This is especially true when it comes to imagery. I will mainly be looking at paintings from the 17th - 19th century because I feel that the art periods within these times are still hugely influential and well known. I have chosen to not stick to one period as I personally feel it important to my project to get a good range of imagery as influences in order for me to create cohesive reaction to what I have studied.

Family:

She is the daughter of the titan Hyperion and titaness Theia who were brother and sister
She is the sister of Helios, the sun God
She is the sister of Eos, Goddess of dawn
Hesiod, Theogony 371 ff (trans. Evelyn-White) (Greek epic C8th or C7th B.C.) : "And Theia was subject in love to Hyperion and bare great Helios and clear Selene and Eos who shines upon all that are on earth and upon the deathless Gods who live in the wide heaven." (from https://www.theoi.com/Titan/Selene.html)

Her name likely comes from the Greek word 'Selas' - meaning 'Light'. - I think therefore light needs to play a large part in this shoot. It needs to be ethereal.
She is one of three lunar Goddesses, however she is the only one seen as the embodiment of the moon. The other two are Hecate and Artemis. In Roman Poetry they are seen as working together. - I'm thinking to have a shoot where all three are together, almost like a sisterhood. In my mind they protect the moon together.
Her Roman equivalent is Luna. (Most Greek Goddesses/Gods have a Roman equivalent)
Most known for her affair with Endymion, a mortal who was granted immortality by Zeus. He then fell into an eternal sleep, and there are a few accounts of how:

Zeus granted him eternal sleep after he fell in love with Hera
Selene may have been the one responsible by praying to Zeus to give him eternal youth, and they had 50 daughters.
He asked Zeus for an eternal sleep

Endymion was a handsome Shepherd who was the son of Zeus.
Regardless of how or why he was asleep, all accounts remain that Selene fell in love with him.

The Nemean Lion;

The Nemean Lion was a creature, a monster, that roamed upon the area of Nemea. It was unaffected by Mortal's weapons, for it's skin was impenetrable. The lion, in one account, was said to kidnap women in order to lure warriors into his cave, but as they approached the women turned into lions themselves. Heracles (Greek equivalent to Hercules) was ordered by his cousin King Eurystheus to slay the beast. He at first attempted with a bow and arrow but later realised this was no effective, and so strangled the beast in a corner of his own cave.

The origin of the beast is said to be the child of Selene and Zeus.

" Aelian, On Animals 12. 7 (trans. Scholfield) (Greek natural history C2nd A.D.) :

"They say that the Lion of Nemea fell from the moon (selene). At any rate Epimenides [C6th B.C. poet] also has these words : ‘For I am sprung from fair-tressed Selene the Moon, who in a fearful shudder shook off the savage lion in Nemea, and brought him forth at the bidding of Queen Hera.’" " (https://www.theoi.com/Titan/Selene.html)

Presence and Appearance:

This will be the section that will most likely have the biggest effect on my work. Her presence and appearance indicates how she is portrayed, her aura, her personality and what she looks like - all very important for when I make my own images as I would like them to be as informed as possible in order to capture who she was believed to be accurately.

Homeric Hymn 4 to Hermes 140 ff :
"Selene's soft light shone down."
- Indicates delicacy and elegance
Homeric Hymn 32 to Selene (trans. Evelyn-White) (Greek epic C7th - 4th B.C.) :
"Long-winged Mene [i.e. Selene as goddess of the month]. From her immortal head a radiance is shown from heaven and embraces earth; and great is the beauty that ariseth from her shining light. The air, unlit before, glows with the light of her golden crown, and her rays beam clear, whensoever bright Selene (the Moon) having bathed her lovely body in the waters of Okeanos (Oceanus), and donned her far-gleaming raiment, and yoked her strong-necked, shining team, and drives on her long-maned horses at full speed, at eventime in the mid-month : then her great orbit is full and then her beams shine brightest as she increases. So she is a sure token and a sign to mortal men."
- This has many key points within it. It talks of radiant light, and so of course that must be an essential part within my own imagery. The Hymn also speaks of a golden crown, which I always imagined would be silver due to the colour of the moon.
Another really interesting part of this for me was the description of her bathing in the ocean. I have seen no imagery of this so far, yet when I was imagining the shoot in my mind she is always on the shore, in the sea due to her influence on the tides.
This account also tells of her moon chariot, driven by her horses. I don't think I will use this in my shoot but it could be somewhat incorporated.
Sappho, Fragment 96 :
"Rosy-fingered Selene (the Moon) after sunset, surpasssing all the stars (astra), and her light spreads alike over the salt sea and the flowery fields; the dew is shed in beauty, and roses bloom and tender chervil and flowery melilot."
- This account talks of Selene in yet again a very graceful manner, with an emphasis on the light she bears.
Nonnus, Dionysiaca 48. 320 ff :
"Selene (the Moon) in her heavenly chariot sends forth the flame of her everwakeful fires in a shower of cloudless beams, and rises in full refulgence among the firefed stars, obscuring the whole heavenly host with her countenance."
- Again, speaking on the light she emits. Light will have to be well thought of for my photos.
Because Selene was the Goddess of the moon, she was also Goddess of the Lunar month. Because pregnancies were counted by Lunar months, Selene was automatically associated with childbirth.
Timotheus, Frag 803 (from Plutarch, Table-Talk) (trans. Campbell, Vol. Greek Lyric V) (C5th B.C.) : "Through the blue-black vault of the stars and of Selana (Selene the Moon) who gives swift childbirth."
- Perhaps some aspect of a maternal theme
Nonnus, Dionysiaca 5. 88 ff (trans. Rouse) (Greek epic C5th A.D.) :
"The allwhite stone of Selene [the moonstone], which fades as the horned goddess wanes, and waxes when Mene (the Moon) [Selene] newkindled distils her horn's liquid light and milks out the self-gotten fire of Father Helios (the Sun)."
- Speaks of moonstone as association to Selene. I'd like to use this within my imagery as I feel it represents who she is very well.
Nonnus, Dionysiaca 32. 22 ff :
"She wore also that stone [the moonstone] which draws man to desire, which has the bright name of desire-struck Selene (the Moon)."
Orphic Hymn 9 to Selene (trans. Taylor) (Greek hymns C3rd B.C. to 2nd A.D.) :
"To Selene (Moon), Fumigation from Aromatics. Hear, goddess queen (thea basileia), diffusing silver light, bull-horned, and wandering through the gloom of night. With stars surrounded, and with circuit wide night's torch extending, through the heavens you ride: female and male, with silvery rays you shine, and now full-orbed, now tending to decline. Mother of ages, fruit-producing Mene (Moon), whose amber orb makes night's reflected noon: lover of horses, splendid queen of night, all-seeing power, bedecked with starry light, lover of vigilance, the foe of strife, in peace rejoicing, and a prudent life: fair lamp of night, its ornament and friend, who givest to nature's works their destined end. Queen of the stars, all-wise Goddess, hail! Decked with a graceful robe and amble veil. Come, blessed Goddess, prudent, starry, bright, come, moony-lamp, with chaste and splendid light, shine on these sacred rites with prosperous rays, and pleased accept thy suppliants' mystic praise."
- This Hymn talks of Selene's light as silver which is more as what i'd expect. I think therefore it's fine to use either colour within my imagery. I find interesting that many accounts talk of her as 'horned' yet I've found little imagery showing these. This describes her as elegant and beautiful yet strong and powerful. She is watchful and alert yet wants no conflict. She is peaceful but not timid.
She is also described as having a graceful robe and veil, which can be seen in the imagery below.

Lunar Eclipses:

"Lunar eclipses and the phenomena of the "red moon" were believed to be caused by the evil magics of Thessalian witches, who drew the goddess down from the sky in order to extract her blood. It was customary for villagers to beat cymbals at these times, to negate the witches' power and restore the goddess to the sky." (https://www.theoi.com/Titan/Selene.html)

Imagery:

Selene and Endymion, Nicolas Poussin (c. 1630)

This painting from the Baroque period by Nicolas Poussin shows Endymion awake, kneeling to Selene. Her brother, Helios, is in the sky behind her riding his golden chariot as he brings the sun to the people, as the blue curtains of the night are pulled away. Selene herself is clothed in white robes, with a yellow drape over her. You can see a slither of her silver tiara upon her head, marking her importance. We can also see a dog behind Selene, representing Endymion as a shephard.

What's important about this painting to me and my work is the way that Selene holds herself. She is elegant yet powerful. She has a kind and friendly face and body language, but there is no doubt in her authority.
We see her power not only by the God of love and desire, Eros who is at her shoulders, but the way Endymion acts with her, and the way her clothes acts around her too; They flow elegantly around her legs as if held by a power unknown, rather than laying limp upon her body as they would in real life. This sense of movement along with the deep tones of the surrounding environment is typical of a Baroque era painting. One could attempt to attribute this movement of fabrics to a breeze, however if we compare the way the fabrics in all of the painting act, Selene is given a much more otherworldly and elegant depiction.
Selene is also the only figure given the colour white to wear, bar another God in the distance behind her. White has connotations of purity, light, goodness and even perfection; therefore Selene is the perfection in this image, hence her role as Goddess.
The lighting focuses on Selene herself to highlight her importance once more; this style of lighting within a painting is too typical of the Baroque era, used to direct attention to certain aspects of the crowded scene.

With a size of 122 x 169 cm, if I were to use this image as my inspiration I would like to replicate the size also, but perhaps crop it to the size of Selene herself as I would prefer to only have her in my images.

Diana as Personification of the Night, Anton Raphael Mengs (c. 1765)

It's become clear to me that unlike other religions, Greek mythology is very ambiguous. That is, sometimes Selene is Artemis, yet they're both two different goddesses. They can become interchangeable within stories. Diana, the roman equivalent of Artemis, therefore can also be seen as Selene. Diana is also known as a triple Goddess, taking the names of Diana (Artemis), Luna (Selene) and Hecate (Hekate). " According to historian C.M. Green, "these were neither different goddesses nor an amalgamation of different goddesses. They were Diana...Diana as huntress, Diana as the moon, Diana of the underworld." "

Mengs in this Neoclassical painting has created an image showing the Goddess of the moon as a very strong and confident woman. He's used colours that show an earthiness to them yet show masculine qualities - blues, greens, yellows. The moon sits in the sky behind her, but is places in such a way it almost sits as a halo, showing that the moon is a part of her and that she is of importance.

Her hair is golden, yet is tied up behind her as to not get in her way. It's painted in such a way to show the softness of her hair, but the way she has it up shows her priorities over beauty. Her figure is strong; you can see her muscle, indicating yet again her power. Yet she is also elegant in her movements - her leg position, her fingers and her feet are still very feminine. She represents the ability to be strong and feminine simultaneously.

Diana in this depiction wears flowing clothes, which to me represent freedom and movement through time, which makes sense due to the Goddess's immortality. It also adds a feeling of elegance, which is also strengthened by the way the light hits both Diana and the fabric to highlight the amount of folds within her clothes, and the softness of her skin. I feel it's because of this sense of motion that upon looking at this painting, it feels very freeing to me, like a breath of fresh air.

The light comes from beneath her, which could indicate that the sun - the daytime is also beneath her. It also gives her a greater sense of power, as we as the viewer view her from slightly blow her, accentuated by the the light; she is above us metaphorically and visually.

To me, this is one of the most beautiful images of the Goddess of the Moon. I think the clarity and preciseness of the painting is also partly to blame for this, as to me it feels more immersive and strong, due to the strong lines of contrast and confidence that this gives to the image.

Her gracefulness and her sense of power is something I will need to insert into my own images. I also plan to use flowing clothing inspired by this and other artworks to indicate her immortality and femininity.

Selene and Endymion, Moritz von Schwind (1831)

This painting from the Romanticism era is of Selene looking down at Endymion sleeping. She parts the bushes that keeps them separate is gazes upon her love who clutches his shepherd's hook even while in eternal slumber.
The painting captures the emotion of Selene, an immortal Goddess, returning to a mortal man she loves incredibly so; her face and gestures describe this. In addition to this, the way that Endymion is depicted so beautifully not only correlates to the story of Endymion being a most beautiful human, but also increases the emotion, the sadness of this painting. This is further enhanced by the way the bush keeps the two figures apart, suggesting that they are from two different worlds and they cannot be together in unity. This strong emotional output is seen often within paintings from the Romanticism era.
She wears a pale green dress, indicating a connection with nature, and most prominently she wears a fabric shaped in a circle, much like the outline of a full moon. It, along with her hair, flows naturally around her, an indication of power and ethereal being. It seems to almost be there to protect her from her harsh surroundings, yet her arms break the circle as she takes a look at Endymion. The moon resting upon her forehead is symbol of where her power lies, and a sign of authority like a crown.

Selene and Endymion, Ubaldo Gandolfi (1770)

This painting visually describes Selene gazing lovingly at her love, Endymion. Eros (who's roman equivalent is Cupid) points at the sleeping mortal while in seemingly conversation with the Goddess herself. Eros looks encouraging of her and her actions of love, which indicates that if the God of love, sex and desire is indeed encouraging her desire for him, it must be real love. This gives the image a rather bitter-sweet feeling; for she can never communicate with him or enjoy each other's company - she can only admire his beauty as he continues his ever-lasting slumber.
Endymion yet again possesses a shepherds hook, indicating to the viewer his identity. Selene, as she rests upon the clouds, wears a white cloth draping loosely over her body, revealing her strong figure - an indication of power. She is almost framed by another cloth, this time a deep blue; a colour of royalty and loyalty - yet here it seems to mimic a storm cloud. Blues were popular among artists within the 18th century as there were two new shades of blue discovered for artist's use - Prussian Blue and Bremen Blue. Elsewhere in the image, the colours are dominantly earthy and dusty - again making me think of a stormy night. The use of colour in addition to the way that the crescent moon that lays on Selene's shoulder blades emits a stage-like spotlight makes the painting very dramatic indeed.
I've noticed that in all of these images, Selene has her hair tied back. It's elegantly done, feminine, but it also shows that she is not there just for her ethereal appearance, she possesses duties and responsibilities for her role; the hairstyle is practical.

Selene, Albert Aublet (1880)

The colours in this 1880 painting by Albert Aublet stands out to me upon first glance when viewing this piece of artwork. The soft blues and creams give the image an incredible sense of freshness, freedom and openness, enhanced by the copper tones that acquire the role of a breeze. In comparison to the image above, where the rocks frame the border in order t create a closed scene, this image is only given slight geographical context through the mountains below the Goddess, the rest of the image is open air; we as the viewer are in the air with her.

Selene's soft nude body that forms the crescent of the moon is a direct suggestion that she is the embodiment of the moon; much as what was believed when the Greeks worshipped her. She herself becomes the moon, she is the light that guides people home and the source of the tides. This representation gives Selene an incredible amount of power by showing an audience her carrying out her duties in action, rather than a depiction of her stories.

Unlike the other paintings i've discussed, Selene her is presented to us nude. Personally I see this as a proclamation of the true and raw Selene; as she is performing her duties and is one with the moon we don't need to see her power through the use of clothes or accessories. The nude is, as mentioned before, smooth and shaven. This painting was produced during the Victorian era, and while Aublet was French it's inevitable that fashion and body trends spread to neighbouring countries. The trends I speak of are thin waists, and in 1880 when this image was completed, thinner hips created by long corsets. Being hairless was also important; cleanliness was essential, and was often taught in church that to be closer to God, one must be clean. It was thought that to be clean, one must be hairless or you would be more prone to lice, ticks and fleas. This is not dissimilar to why the Greeks had both men and women completely shaven at the time of belief for these Gods and Goddesses.

If we look at other paintings from mid to late 19th century, we can see that the body type indicated here is very typical of the time.

There's no doubt to me that the curvature of Selene's body in Aublet's painting is not only designed to portray her as the moon, but to show off her bodily features such as her thin waist. The way she is posed highlights that smooth, flowing body shape that was so desired at the time of painting. It also draws attention to her breasts, as her nipple protrudes abruptly from this smooth line of her body.

Aublet could have also painted her inwards towards the moon, face looking at feet. However he mindfully chose to visualise her as opening her body, revealing it in all its glory; there is a large sense of sexuality due to this. The 1800's was the time that comodifying women became popular in Western society and this may be a representation of that. This is also enhanced by the way she is oblivious to the viewer, looking up and away from us as she runs her hands through her hair (also typical of this era's paintings if we look above). This action accentuates the sexual tension between Selene and the viewer once more.

https://www.theoi.com/Titan/Selene.html