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This article is about the character from Greek mythology. For other uses see Endymion

In Greek mythology, Endymion (Ἐνδυμίων) could have been a handsome Aeolian shepherd or hunter, or, even a king who ruled and was said to reside at Olympia in Elis, but he was also said to reside and was venerated on Mount Latmus in Caria, on the west coast of Asia Minor. Greek mythology is the body of stories belonging to the ancient Greeks concerning their gods and Heroes the nature of the world and the origins and significance The Aeolians (Αἰολεῖς were one of the three ancient Greek tribes A shepherd is a person who tends to feeds or guards Sheep, especially in flocks Elis, or Eleia ( Greek, Modern Ήλιδα Ilida, Ancient Ēlis, Doric: Alis, Elean: Walis) is an ancient Latmus ( Ancient Greek Λάτμος, Latmos Turkish Beşparmak Dağı) is a ridge of many spurs running in an east-west direction along the the Municipalities of Caria Cramer's detailed catalog of Carian towns in Classical Greece is based entirely on ancient sources

There is confusion over the number of Endymions, as some sources suppose that one was or was related to the prince of Elis and the other was a shepherd or astronomer from Caria. As such, there have been two attributed cites of Endymion's burial: Heraclean's claimed that Endymion has his tomb upon Mount Latmus, and the Elean's declare that Endymion has his tomb at Olympia. Heraclea, Heracleia or Heraclia may refer to Places Island Heraclea (island was the name of one of the [1]

However, the lover of Selene, the moon, is attributed primarily to an Endymion who was a either a shepherd or an astronomer, which profession provides justification for him to spend time beneath the moon.

Contents

Accounts

Endymion and Selene, by Sebastiano Ricci
Endymion and Selene, by Sebastiano Ricci

Pausanias, in describing the legendary genealogy of ancient hosts of the Olympian Games reports that "Endymion, the son of Aethlius, deposed Clymenus, and set his sons a race in Olympia with the kingdom as the prize" (v. Sebastiano Ricci ( August 1, 1659 - 15 May 1734) was an Italian painter of the late Baroque school of Venice. The Ancient Olympic Games, originally referred to as simply the Olympic Games (Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες Olympiakoi Agones) were a series of Athletic 1. 4); then he adds "As to the death of Endymion, the people of Herakleia near Miletos do not agree with the Eleans; for while the Eleans show a tomb of Endymion, the folk of Herakleia say that he retired to Mount Latmos and give him honour, there being a shrine of Endymion on Latmos. Latmus ( Ancient Greek Λάτμος, Latmos Turkish Beşparmak Dağı) is a ridge of many spurs running in an east-west direction along the the " [2] Endymion was the son, perhaps with Aethlius or with Zeus himself, of the nymph Calyce. Aethlius ( Greek:) was in Greek mythology, the first king of Elis, father of Endymion. Zeus (zjuːs in Greek: nominative: Zeús /zdeús/ genitive: Diós; Modern Greek /'zefs/ in Greek mythology In Greek mythology Kalyke (Καλύκη Calyce or Calycia is the name of at least two characters He was born in Thessaly but led a band of Aeolians and founded Elis. Thessalia redirects here For the Butterfly Genus, see Thessalia (butterfly. [3]

Apollonius of Rhodes [4] is one of the many poets (compare Plato, Phaedo, sect. Biography Early life Birth and family Plato was born in Athens Greece 72c) who tell how Selene, the Titan goddess of the moon,[5] loved the mortal, who was so beautiful that she asked Endymion's father Zeus to grant him eternal youth so he would never leave her. In Greek mythology, Selene (Σελήνη " Moon " English sɛˈliːniː was an archaic Lunar deity and the daughter of the Titans In Greek mythology, the Titans ( Greek: Tītā́n; plural Tītânes) were a race of powerful Deities that ruled during the legendary Zeus (zjuːs in Greek: nominative: Zeús /zdeús/ genitive: Diós; Modern Greek /'zefs/ in Greek mythology Alternatively, Selene loved so much how Endymion looked when he was asleep in the cave on Mount Latmos, near Miletus, in Caria,[6] that she entreated Zeus that he might remain that way. Miletus (mī lē' təs ( Ancient Greek: Μίλητος literally Transliterated Milētos, Latin Miletus) was an Ancient Municipalities of Caria Cramer's detailed catalog of Carian towns in Classical Greece is based entirely on ancient sources Either way, Zeus blessed him by putting him into an eternal sleep. Every night, Selene visited him where he slept. Selene and Endymion had fifty daughters called the Menae. The Menae were the goddesses of the phases of the Moon. They were the daughters of the moon goddess Selene and Endymion.

According to a passage in Deipnosophistae, the sophist and dithyrambic poet Licymnius of Chios[7] tells a different tale, in which Hypnos, the god of sleep, is the one who is in love with the boy's beauty, and grants him open-eyed sleep, the better to enjoy the sight of his face. The Deipnosophistae ( deipnon, "dinner" and sophistai, "professors" original Greek title, Deipnosophistai, English The dithyramb was originally an ancient Greek hymn sung to the god Dionysus. In Greek mythology, Hypnos (Ὕπνος was the personification of sleep the Roman equivalent was known as Somnus. Greek Pederasty, as idealised by the Greeks from archaic times onward was a relationship and bond between an adolescent boy and an adult man outside

The Bibliotheke claims that Calyce and Aethlius had a son Endymion who led Aeolians from Thessaly and founded Elis. The Bibliotheca (in English: Library) in three books provides a grand summary of traditional Greek mythology and heroic Legends But some say that he was a son of Zeus. As he was of surpassing beauty, the Moon fell in love with him, and Zeus allowed him to choose what he would, and he chose to sleep for ever, remaining deathless and ageless. " [8] Endymion also had a son named Aetolus, the King of Elis. Later, he ruled Aetolia, which was named after him. Aetolia is a mountainous region of Greece on the north coast of the Gulf of Corinth forming the eastern part of the modern prefecture of Aetolia-Acarnania Endymion had another son, Epeius, who won his father's kingdom by beating his brothers in a race. There were two characters named Epeius in Greek mythology. One was a Greek soldier during the Trojan War. Endymion had by a Naiad nymph or, as some say, by Iphianassa, a son Aetolus, who slew Apis, son of Phoroneus, and fled to the Curetian country. The Korybantes ( Ancient Greek:) were the crested dancers who worshiped the Phrygian goddess Cybele with drumming and dancing There he killed his hosts, Dorus and Laodocus and Polypoetes, the sons of Phthia and Apollo, and called the country Aetolia after himself. " [9]

Pliny the Elder[10] mentions Endymion as the first human to observe the movements of the moon, which (according to Pliny) accounts for Endymion's love. Gaius or Caius Plinius Secundus, ( AD 23 – August 25, AD 79 better known as Pliny the Elder, was an ancient Author

Propertius (Book 2, el. Sextus Aurelius Propertius was a Latin elegiac poet born around 50-45 BCE in Mevania (although other cities in the region of Umbria claim 25), Cicero's Tusculanae Quaestiones (Book 1), and Theocritus discuss the Endymion myth to some length, but reiterates the above to varying degrees. Marcus Tullius Cicero ( Classical Latin ˈkikeroː usually ˈsɪsərəʊ in English January 3, 106 BC &ndash December 7, 43 BC was a Roman The Tusculanae Quaestiones, also known as the Tusculan Disputations, is a series of books written by Cicero, around 45 BC, attempting to popularise Theocritus ( Greek: Θεόκριτος the creator of Ancient Greek Bucolic Poetry, flourished in the 3rd century BC The myth surrounding Endymion has expanded and reworked since the classical era by those like John Keats and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (February 27 1807 &ndash March 24 1882 was an American educator and Poet whose works include " Paul Revere's Ride "

Background

Gallo-Roman "Endymion" sarcophagus, early 3rd century (Louvre)
Gallo-Roman "Endymion" sarcophagus, early 3rd century (Louvre)

The love of Selene for Endymion was so familiar that the briefest reference would bring it to mind for the Greek listener or reader; no explicit narrative has come down to us, even in a fragment. This article covers the culture of Romanized areas of Gaul. For the political history of the brief "Gallic Empire" of the 3rd century see Gallic Empire The Louvre Museum (Musée du Louvre located in Paris is the world's most visited art museum a historic monument and a national museum of France In Argonautica (iv. The Argonautica ( Greek:) is a Greek Epic poem written by Apollonius Rhodius in the 3rd century BCE. 57ff) the "daughter of Titan", the Moon, was witness to Medea's fearful night-time flight to Jason, and "rejoiced with malicious pleasure as she reflected to herself: 'I'm not the only one then to skulk off to the Latmian cave, nor is it only I that burn with desire for fair Endymion'" she muses. Medea (Μήδεια Mēdeia) in Greek mythology was the daughter of King Aeëtes of Colchis, niece of Circe, granddaughter of Jason ( Greek: Ἰάσων, Etruscan: Easun, Laz: Yason) was a late ancient Greek mythological "But now you yourself it would seem, are a victim of a madness like mine. "[11] Lempriere's Classical Dictionary reinforces Pliny's account of Endymion's attachment to astronomy and cites it as the source of why Endymion was said to have a relationship with the moon as she passed by.

The mytheme of Endymion being not dead but endlessly asleep, which was proverbial (the proverb - Endymionis somnum dormire)[12] ensured that scenes of Endymion and Selene were popular subjects for sculpted sarcophagi in Late Antiquity, when after-death existence began to be a heightened concern. In the study of Mythology, a mytheme is the essential kernel of a myth an irreducible unchanging element similar to a cultural Meme, one that is always found shared A sarcophagus is a Funeral receptacle for a Corpse, most commonly carved or cut from stone Late Antiquity (c 300-600 is a Periodization used by historians to describe the transitional centuries from Classical Antiquity to the Middle Ages, in The Louvre example, found at Saint-Médard d'Eyrans, France, (illustration, left) is one of this class.

Some believe that he was the personification of sleep, or the sunset (most likely the last one as his name means "to dive in" [Greek en in, and duein dive), which would imply a representation of that sort. Latin writers explained the name from somnum ei inductum, the "sleep put upon him. " [13]

The myth of Endymion was never easily transferred to ever-chaste Artemis, the Olympian associated with the Moon. In Greek mythology, Artemis language|Greek] ( Nominative), ( Genitive))] was the daughter of Zeus and Leto, and the twin sister In the Renaissance, the revived moon goddess was Diana, and the Endymion myth was attached to her. In Roman mythology, Diana was the goddess of the hunt, being associated with wild animals and woodland and also of the Moon.

References

  1. ^ John Lemprière's Classical Dictionary
  2. ^ Pausanias (v. John Lemprière (c 1765 Jersey, &ndash February 1, 1824, London) English classical scholar Lexicographer, Theologian 1. 5).
  3. ^ Pausanias. Pausanias ( Greek:) was a Greek traveller and Geographer of the 2nd century CE, who lived in the times of Hadrian, Antoninus 5 Section 8.1-2 Description of Greece. Tufts University: The Perseus Digital LIbrary. Retrieved on 2008-03-16. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Events 597 BC - Babylonians capture Jerusalem, replace Jehoiachin with Zedekiah as king
  4. ^ Argonautica 4. The Argonautica ( Greek:) is a Greek Epic poem written by Apollonius Rhodius in the 3rd century BCE. 57ff
  5. ^ Her Roman equivalent is Luna. In Greek mythology, Selene (Σελήνη " Moon " English sɛˈliːniː was an archaic Lunar deity and the daughter of the Titans
  6. ^ Sappho localises the myth at Mount Latmos. Sappho (ˈsæfoʊ in English Attic Greek el Σαπφώ sapːʰɔː Aeolic Greek el Ψάπφω) was an Ancient Greek lyric
  7. ^ Licymnius is known only through a few quoted lines and second-hand through references (William Smith, ed. Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities 1870)
  8. ^ Bibliotheke 1. The Bibliotheca (in English: Library) in three books provides a grand summary of traditional Greek mythology and heroic Legends 7. 5.
  9. ^ Bibliotheke, 1. 7. 6.
  10. ^ See Pliny's Naturalis Historia Book II. Naturalis Historia ( Latin for "Natural History" is an Encyclopedia written Circa AD 77 by Pliny the Elder. IV. 43.
  11. ^ Richard Hunter, Apollonius of Rhodes: Jason and the Golden Fleece (Oxford University Press) 1993:100.
  12. ^ described in Sir James George Frazer, ed. , Apollodorus, Library and Epitome [1].
  13. ^ Graves, 1960, 64. b. note 2

Sources

External links

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