Lunar deities
Every civilisation has given the Moon a face, a name and a story. In Greece she was Selene in her silver chariot, then Artemis and three-faced Hecate; in Rome Luna and Diana, mistress of the grove of Nemi. In Egypt the Moon was Thoth, the scribe who measures time, and Khonsu, the traveller of the night; in Mesopotamia Nanna, the god of Ur who begot the Sun. This section gathers the main lunar deities and figures of the ancient and traditional world, from the India of Chandra to the China of Chang'e, from the Japan of Tsukuyomi to the North of Máni, from the Mexico of Coyolxauhqui to the Andes of Mama Quilla, and on to the Polynesian Hina. Each article starts from the sources, texts and monuments, carefully distinguishes myth from historical fact and points out the interpretations still debated by scholars. A surprising picture emerges: peoples very far apart looked at the same heavenly body and read in it, each in their own way, time, faithfulness, death and rebirth.
Selene, the Greek goddess who drives the chariot of the Moon
Who Selene was: Hesiod's genealogy, the Homeric Hymn, her chariot and horses, her images on the Parthenon and Pergamon Altar, and Thessalian beliefs.
02 · 3 min readSelene and Endymion: the myth of eternal sleep on Mount Latmus
The myth of Endymion, beloved of the Moon: the versions from Elis and Caria, the ancient sources, Roman sarcophagi and the theme's later life up to Girodet.
03 · 3 min readMene and Men: the ancient name of the Moon and the lunar god of Anatolia
Mene, the Greek poetic name of the Moon tied to the measuring of months, and Men, the moon god of Phrygia and Pisidia with a crescent at his shoulders.
04 · 3 min readArtemis, the huntress who became mistress of the Moon
How Artemis, sister of Apollo and mistress of animals, gained lunar features: Delos, Ephesus, the Mounichia festival and the hymn of Callimachus.
05 · 3 min readDiana of Nemi: the sacred grove, the priest-king and the mirror of the Moon
The sanctuary of Diana Nemorensis near Aricia, the rex Nemorensis, the torches of the Ides of August and the temple on the Aventine in ancient Rome.
06 · 3 min readLuna, the Roman goddess: the Aventine temple and the Palatine Noctiluca
The goddess Luna in Roman religion: her Sabine origins according to Varro, the Aventine temple, Luna Noctiluca, the biga and the name of Monday.
07 · 3 min readTriple Hecate: goddess of crossroads, torches and the new Moon
Hecate from Hesiod's Theogony to the Hymn to Demeter, the new-moon suppers at crossroads, Alcamenes' triple statues and the sanctuary of Lagina in Caria.
08 · 3 min readIsis, Queen of Heaven: the Moon in the Egypt of the Greeks and in Apuleius
How Isis became a lunar goddess in the Greco-Roman world: Diodorus, Plutarch's treatise on Isis and Osiris, and her appearance in Apuleius' Metamorphoses.
09 · 3 min readThoth, the ibis god of the Moon, writing and the reckoning of time
Thoth, the ibis-headed Egyptian moon god: Hermopolis, his role in the judgement of the dead, Plutarch's myth of the five added days and Hermes Trismegistus.
10 · 3 min readKhonsu, the night traveller: the moon god of Thebes and Karnak
Khonsu, son of Amun and Mut in the Theban triad: his name, the iconography of the youth with the crescent, the Karnak temple and the Bentresh stela legend.
11 · 3 min readSin and Nanna, the Moon god of Mesopotamia from Ur to Harran
Nanna-Sin, moon god of the Sumerians and Babylonians: the ziggurat of Ur, the priestess Enheduanna, the journey to Nippur and Nabonidus' devotion at Harran.
12 · 3 min readChandra and Soma: the Moon in India, from the Vedas to the Puranas
Chandra and Soma in Hindu tradition: the Vedic drink, the twenty-seven lunar wives, Daksha's curse, the crescent of Shiva and the Lunar Dynasty.
13 · 3 min readChang'e, the Chinese Moon goddess: elixir, jade rabbit and festival
The myth of Chang'e and the archer Yi in Chinese sources, the elixir of the Queen Mother of the West, the jade rabbit and the Mid-Autumn Festival.
14 · 3 min readTsukuyomi, the Japanese kami of the Moon in the Kojiki and Nihon Shoki
Tsukuyomi in Japanese mythology: his birth from the eye of Izanagi, the realm of night, the break with Amaterasu and the lunar shrines of Ise.
15 · 3 min readMáni, the Moon of Norse mythology pursued by the wolf Hati
Máni and Sól in Snorri's Edda: the children of Mundilfari, the children Hjúki and Bil, the wolf Hati, the end at Ragnarök and the Germanic name of Monday.
16 · 3 min readCoyolxauhqui, the dismembered goddess of the Templo Mayor and Coatepec
Coyolxauhqui in Aztec religion: the Coatepec myth in the Florentine Codex, the great stone found in Mexico City in 1978 and the debate over her lunar role.
17 · 3 min readTecciztecatl and Metztli: the Aztec myth of the Moon and the rabbit
How the Moon was born according to the Aztecs: the sacrifice of Nanahuatzin and Tecciztecatl at Teotihuacan, the rabbit on its face and the name Metztli.
18 · 3 min readIxchel and the Maya Moon goddess: Cozumel, the codices, a debated identity
Ixchel in colonial sources and Maya codices: the Cozumel shrine, protection of childbirth, the young goddess with the rabbit and the scholarly debate.
19 · 3 min readMama Quilla, the Inca Mother Moon and the silver room of the Coricancha
Mama Quilla, wife of Inti in Inca religion: the silver hall of the Coricancha described by Garcilaso, eclipses, the queens and the Coya Raymi festival.
20 · 3 min readHina, the woman in the Moon: Polynesian myths from Hawaii to Aotearoa
Hina and the lunar figures of Polynesia: the woman beating tapa in the Moon, Hina-i-ka-malama in Hawaii, the moon tree of Tahiti and the Maori myth of Rona.