![]() 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. ![]() As he was of unsurpassed 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. ![]() Ĭalyce and Aethlius had a son Endymion who led Aeolians from Thessaly and founded Elis. Īccording to a passage in the Deipnosophistae, the sophist and dithyrambic poet Licymnius of Chios (probably 4th century BCE) told a different tale, in which Hypnos, the god of sleep, loves Endymion and does not close the eyes of his beloved even while he is asleep, but lulls him to rest with eyes wide open so that he may without interruption enjoy the pleasure of gazing at them. Rose) with the fifty months of the Olympiad. Every night, Selene visited him where he slept, and by him had fifty daughters who are equated by some scholars (such as James George Frazer or H. Whatever the case, Zeus granted Selene's wish and put Endymion into an eternal sleep. In some versions, Zeus wanted to punish Endymion for daring to show romantic interest in Hera (much like Ixion). Alternatively, Selene so loved how Endymion looked when he was asleep in the cave on Mount Latmus, near Miletus in Caria, that she entreated Zeus that he might remain that way. She found Endymion so beautiful that she asked his father, Zeus, to grant him eternal youth so that he would never leave her. Mythology Selene and Endymion, by Sebastiano Ricci (1713), Chiswick House, England.Īpollonius of Rhodes (3rd century BC) is one of the many poets who tell how Selene, the Titan goddess of the Moon, loved the mortal Endymion. However, the role of lover of Selene, the Moon, is attributed primarily to the Endymion who was either a shepherd or an astronomer, as either profession provides justification for the time he spent gazing at the Moon. Endymion as hunter (with a dog), sitting on rocks in a landscape, holding two spears, looking at Selene who descends to him. The people of Heracleia claimed that he was laid to rest on Mount Latmus, while the Eleans declared that it was at Olympia. Consequently, Endymion's tomb has been attributed to two different sites. There is also a later suggestion that he was an astronomer: Pliny the Elder mentions Endymion as the first human to observe the movements of the moon, which (according to Pliny) accounts for Endymion's infatuation with its tutelary goddess. There is confusion over Endymion's identity, as some sources suppose that he was, or was related to, the prince of Elis, and others suggest he was a shepherd from Caria. He was also venerated and said to reside on Mount Latmus in Caria, on the west coast of Asia Minor. In Greek mythology, Endymion ( / ɛ n ˈ d ɪ m i ə n/ Ancient Greek: Ἐνδυμίων, gen.: Ἐνδυμίωνος) was variously a handsome Aeolian shepherd, hunter, or king who was said to rule and live at Olympia in Elis. Narcissus, Aetolus, Eurypyle, Eurycyda, Paeon, Epeius, fifty daughters with Selene Iphianassa or Asterodia or Chromia or Hyperippe The Sleep of Endymion by Anne-Louis Girodet (1791), Musée du Louvre, Paris.
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