The American Cyclopædia (1879)/Luna

LUNA, or Selene (Lat. and Gr., the moon), a goddess worshipped by the Greeks and Romans. In Greek mythology she is said to be a daughter of Hyperion and Theia, and sister of Helios (the sun) and Eos (the morning), though some authorities ascribe a different parentage. As the sister of Phœbus she is sometimes called Phœbe. By Endymion she had 50 daughters, and by Zeus she was the mother of Ersa, Nemea, and Pandia. She was described as having long wings and a golden diadem, and being very beautiful. Her statue at Elis had two horns. She rode across the heavens in a chariot drawn by two white horses, cows, or mules. In art she is represented with a long robe, her veil forming an arch over her head, and above that a crescent. Among the Romans her worship is said to have been introduced by T. Tatius, in the time of Romulus. She had a temple on the Aventine hill, built by Servius Tullius, another on the Capitoline, and a third on the Palatine. The last named was lighted up every night, and the goddess was there worshipped under the name of Noctiluca. Because of her greater influence on the Roman method of calculating time, she was held in higher reverence than Sol, the sun.