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In
Greek mythology Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the Ancient Greece, ancient Greeks, and a genre of ancient Greek folklore, today absorbed alongside Roman mythology into the broader designation of classical mythology. These stories conc ...
, Endymion (; , ''gen''.: Ἐνδυμίωνος) was variously a handsome Aeolian
shepherd A shepherd is a person who tends, herds, feeds, or guards flocks of sheep. Shepherding is one of the world's oldest occupations; it exists in many parts of the globe, and it is an important part of Pastoralism, pastoralist animal husbandry. ...
, hunter, or king who was said to rule and live at Olympia in Elis. He was also venerated and said to reside on
Mount Latmus Mount is often used as part of the name of specific mountains, e.g. Mount Everest. Mount or Mounts may also refer to: Places * Mount, Cornwall, a village in Warleggan parish, England * Mount, Perranzabuloe, a hamlet in Perranzabuloe parish, ...
in
Caria Caria (; from Greek language, Greek: Καρία, ''Karia''; ) was a region of western Anatolia extending along the coast from mid-Ionia (Mycale) south to Lycia and east to Phrygia. The Carians were described by Herodotus as being Anatolian main ...
, on the west coast of
Asia Minor Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...
. 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. There is also a later suggestion that he was an astronomer:
Pliny the Elder Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/24 79), known in English as Pliny the Elder ( ), was a Roman Empire, Roman author, Natural history, naturalist, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the Roman emperor, emperor Vesp ...
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. Consequently, Endymion's tomb has been attributed to two different sites. The people of Heracleia claimed that he was laid to rest on Mount Latmus, while the Eleans declared that it was at Olympia. However, the role of lover of
Selene In ancient Greek mythology and Ancient Greek religion, religion, Selene (; , meaning "Moon")''A Greek–English Lexicon's.v. σελήνη is the goddess and personification of the Moon. Also known as Mene (), she is traditionally the daughter ...
, the
Moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It Orbit of the Moon, orbits around Earth at Lunar distance, an average distance of (; about 30 times Earth diameter, Earth's diameter). The Moon rotation, rotates, with a rotation period (lunar ...
goddess, 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.


Mythology

Apollonius of Rhodes Apollonius of Rhodes ( ''Apollṓnios Rhódios''; ; fl. first half of 3rd century BC) was an ancient Greek literature, ancient Greek author, best known for the ''Argonautica'', an epic poem about Jason and the Argonauts and their quest for the Go ...
(3rd century BC) is one of the many poets who tell how
Selene In ancient Greek mythology and Ancient Greek religion, religion, Selene (; , meaning "Moon")''A Greek–English Lexicon's.v. σελήνη is the goddess and personification of the Moon. Also known as Mene (), she is traditionally the daughter ...
, the
Titan Titan most often refers to: * Titan (moon), the largest moon of Saturn * Titans, a race of deities in Greek mythology Titan or Titans may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Fictional entities Fictional locations * Titan in fiction, fictiona ...
goddess of the Moon, loved the mortal Endymion. She found Endymion so beautiful that she asked his cousin,
Zeus Zeus (, ) is the chief deity of the List of Greek deities, Greek pantheon. He is a sky father, sky and thunder god in ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, who rules as king of the gods on Mount Olympus. Zeus is the child ...
, to grant him eternal youth so that he would never leave her. Alternatively, Selene so loved how Endymion looked when he was asleep in the cave on
Mount Latmus Mount is often used as part of the name of specific mountains, e.g. Mount Everest. Mount or Mounts may also refer to: Places * Mount, Cornwall, a village in Warleggan parish, England * Mount, Perranzabuloe, a hamlet in Perranzabuloe parish, ...
, near
Miletus Miletus (Ancient Greek: Μίλητος, Mílētos) was an influential ancient Greek city on the western coast of Anatolia, near the mouth of the Maeander River in present day Turkey. Renowned in antiquity for its wealth, maritime power, and ex ...
in Caria, that she entreated Zeus that he might remain that way. In some versions, Zeus wanted to punish Endymion for daring to show romantic interest in
Hera In ancient Greek religion, Hera (; ; in Ionic Greek, Ionic and Homeric Greek) is the goddess of marriage, women, and family, and the protector of women during childbirth. In Greek mythology, she is queen of the twelve Olympians and Mount Oly ...
(much like
Ixion In Greek mythology, Ixion ( ; ) was king of the Lapiths, the most ancient tribe of Thessaly. Family Ixion was the son of Ares, or Leonteus (mythology), Leonteus, or Antion and Perimele, or the notorious evildoer Phlegyas, whose name connotes " ...
). Whatever the case, Zeus granted Selene's wish and put Endymion into an eternal sleep. 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 Sir James George Frazer (; 1 January 1854 – 7 May 1941) was a Scottish social anthropologist and folkloristJosephson-Storm (2017), Chapter 5. influential in the early stages of the modern studies of mythology and comparative religion. ...
or H. J. Rose) with the fifty months of the
Olympiad An olympiad (, ''Olympiás'') is a period of four years, particularly those associated with the Ancient Olympic Games, ancient and Olympic Games, modern Olympic Games. Although the ancient Olympics were established during Archaic Greece, Greece ...
. According to a passage in the '' Deipnosophistae'', the sophist and
dithyramb The dithyramb (; , ''dithyrambos'') was an ancient Greek hymn sung and danced in honor of Dionysus, the god of wine and fertility; the term was also used as an epithet of the god. Plato, in '' The Laws'', while discussing various kinds of music m ...
ic poet Licymnius of Chios (probably 4th century BCE) told a different tale, in which
Hypnos In Greek mythology, Hypnos (; Ancient Greek: , 'sleep'), also spelled Hypnus, is the personification of sleep. The Roman equivalent is Somnus. His name is the origin of the word hypnosis. Pausanias (geographer), Pausanias wrote that Hypnos was t ...
, 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. The '' Bibliotheke'' claims that:
Calyce and Aethlius had a son Endymion who led Aeolians from
Thessaly Thessaly ( ; ; ancient Aeolic Greek#Thessalian, Thessalian: , ) is a traditional geographic regions of Greece, geographic and modern administrative regions of Greece, administrative region of Greece, comprising most of the ancient Thessaly, a ...
and founded Elis. But some say that he was a son of Zeus. 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. Endymion had by a
Naiad In Greek mythology, the naiads (; ), sometimes also hydriads, are a type of female spirit, or nymph, presiding over fountains, wells, springs, streams, brooks and other bodies of fresh water. They are distinct from river gods, who embodied ...
nymph or, as some say, by Iphianassa, a son Aetolus, who slew Apis, son of Phoroneus, and fled to the Curetian country. There he killed his hosts, Dorus and Laodocus and Polypoetes, the sons of Phthia and
Apollo Apollo is one of the Twelve Olympians, Olympian deities in Ancient Greek religion, ancient Greek and Ancient Roman religion, Roman religion and Greek mythology, Greek and Roman mythology. Apollo has been recognized as a god of archery, mu ...
, and called the country Aetolia after himself.''
In a similar vein, a scholiast on Apollonius Rhodius wrote that, according to
Hesiod Hesiod ( or ; ''Hēsíodos''; ) was an ancient Greece, Greek poet generally thought to have been active between 750 and 650 BC, around the same time as Homer.M. L. West, ''Hesiod: Theogony'', Oxford University Press (1966), p. 40.Jasper Gr ...
, Zeus allowed Endymion to be the keeper of his own death and to decide on his own when he would die. According to Pausanias, Endymion deposed Clymenus, son of Cardys, at Olympia. Describing the "early history" of the Eleans, Pausanias reports that: : The first to rule in this land, they say, was Aethlius, who was the son of Zeus and of
Protogeneia Protogeneia (; Ancient Greek: means "the firstborn"), in Greek mythology, may refer to: *Protogeneia, a Phthian princess as the daughter of King Deucalion of Thessaly and Pyrrha, mythological progenitors of the Hellenes. She was the sister of H ...
, the daughter of
Deucalion In Greek mythology, Deucalion (; ) was the son of Prometheus; ancient sources name his mother as Clymene (mythology), Clymene, Hesione (Oceanid), Hesione, or Pronoia (mythology), Pronoia.A Scholia, scholium to ''Odyssey'' 10.2 (=''Catalogue of W ...
, and the father of Endymion. The Moon, they say, fell in love with this Endymion and bore him fifty daughters. Others with greater probability say that Endymion took a wife Asterodia—others say she was Chromia, the daughter of Itonus, the son of
Amphictyon Amphictyon or Amphiktyon (; ), in Greek mythology, was a king of Thermopylae and later Athens. In one account, he was the ruler of Locris.Pseudo-Scymnus, Pseudo-Scymnos, ''Circuit de la terre'587 ff./ref> Etymology The name of Amphictyon is a ba ...
; others again, Hyperippe, the daughter of Arcas—but all agree that Endymion begat Paeon, Epeius, Aetolus, and also a daughter Eurycyda. Endymion set his sons to run a race at Olympia for the throne; Epeius won, and obtained the kingdom, and his subjects were then named Epeans for the first time. Of his brothers they say that Aetolus remained at home, while Paeon, vexed at his defeat, went into the farthest exile possible, and that the region beyond the river Axius was named after him Paeonia. As to the death of Endymion, the people of Heracleia near Miletus do not agree with the Eleans for while the Eleans show a tomb of Endymion, the folk of Heracleia say that he retired to Mount Latmus and give him honor, there being a shrine of Endymion on Latmus. Pausanias also reports seeing a statue of Endymion in the treasury of Metapontines at Olympia. Propertius (Book 2, el. 15),
Cicero Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, orator, writer and Academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises tha ...
's '' Tusculanae Quaestiones'' (Book 1), and
Theocritus Theocritus (; , ''Theokritos''; ; born 300 BC, died after 260 BC) was a Greek poet from Sicily, Magna Graecia, and the creator of Ancient Greek pastoral poetry. Life Little is known of Theocritus beyond what can be inferred from his writings ...
discuss the Endymion myth at some length, but reiterate the above to varying degrees. The myth surrounding Endymion has been expanded and reworked during the modern period by figures like Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and John Keats (in his 1818 narrative poem '' Endymion''). The satirical author
Lucian Lucian of Samosata (Λουκιανὸς ὁ Σαμοσατεύς, 125 – after 180) was a Hellenized Syrian satirist, rhetorician and pamphleteer who is best known for his characteristic tongue-in-cheek style, with which he frequently ridi ...
of Samosata records an otherwise unattested myth where a fair nymph named Myia becomes Selene's rival for Endymion's affections; the chatty nymph would endlessly talk to him when he slept, waking him up. This annoyed Endymion, and enraged Selene, who transformed the girl into a fly. In memory of Endymion, the fly still grudges all sleepers their rest.


Background

No explicit narrative has survived. In the ''
Argonautica The ''Argonautica'' () is a Greek literature, Greek epic poem written by Apollonius of Rhodes, Apollonius Rhodius in the 3rd century BC. The only entirely surviving Hellenistic civilization, Hellenistic epic (though Aetia (Callimachus), Callim ...
'' (iv.57ff) the "daughter of Titan," the Moon, was witness to
Medea In Greek mythology, Medea (; ; ) is the daughter of Aeëtes, King Aeëtes of Colchis. Medea is known in most stories as a sorceress, an accomplished "wiktionary:φαρμακεία, pharmakeía" (medicinal magic), and is often depicted as a high- ...
's fearful night-time flight to
Jason Jason ( ; ) was an ancient Greek mythological hero and leader of the Argonauts, whose quest for the Golden Fleece is featured in Greek literature. He was the son of Aeson, the rightful king of Iolcos. He was married to the sorceress Med ...
, 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. "But now you yourself it would seem, are a victim of a madness like mine." Lemprière'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'', "to sleep the sleep of Endymion") ensured that scenes of Endymion and Selene were popular subjects for sculpted sarcophagi in
Late Antiquity Late antiquity marks the period that comes after the end of classical antiquity and stretches into the onset of the Early Middle Ages. Late antiquity as a period was popularized by Peter Brown (historian), Peter Brown in 1971, and this periodiza ...
, when after-death existence began to be a heightened concern. The Louvre example, discovered at Saint-Médard-d'Eyrans, France (''illustration above''), 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, if it were Greek rather than Carian can be construed from "to dive in" ἐν) in, and duein ( δύειν) dive">wikt:δύω">δύειν) dive which would imply a representation of that sort. Latin writers explained the name from ''somnum ei inductum'', the "sleep put upon him".) The myth of Endymion was never easily transferred to ever-chaste
Artemis In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, Artemis (; ) is the goddess of the hunting, hunt, the wilderness, wild animals, transitions, nature, vegetation, childbirth, Kourotrophos, care of children, and chastity. In later tim ...
, the Olympian associated with the Moon.Hyginus ('' Fabula'' 271) identifies Endymion as he "whom Luna loved", keeping the necessary moon connection but avoiding Diana. In the Renaissance, the revived moon goddess Diana had the Endymion myth attached to her.


Notes


Citations


References


Ancient

*
Apollonius of Rhodes Apollonius of Rhodes ( ''Apollṓnios Rhódios''; ; fl. first half of 3rd century BC) was an ancient Greek literature, ancient Greek author, best known for the ''Argonautica'', an epic poem about Jason and the Argonauts and their quest for the Go ...
, ''
Argonautica The ''Argonautica'' () is a Greek literature, Greek epic poem written by Apollonius of Rhodes, Apollonius Rhodius in the 3rd century BC. The only entirely surviving Hellenistic civilization, Hellenistic epic (though Aetia (Callimachus), Callim ...
''; with an English translation by R. C. Seaton. William Heinemann, 1912. * Apollodorus. ''Apollodorus, The Library'', with an English Translation by Sir James George Frazer, F.B.A., F.R.S. in 2 Volumes. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann 1921. * Pausanias, ''Description of Greece''. W.H.S. Jones (translator).
Loeb Classical Library The Loeb Classical Library (LCL; named after James Loeb; , ) is a monographic series of books originally published by Heinemann and since 1934 by Harvard University Press. It has bilingual editions of ancient Greek and Latin literature, ...
. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann (1918). Vol. 1. Books I–II: . * Plato. ''Plato in Twelve Volumes'', Vol. 1 translated by Harold North Fowler; introduction by W.R.M. Lamb. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann 1966. *
Lucian Lucian of Samosata (Λουκιανὸς ὁ Σαμοσατεύς, 125 – after 180) was a Hellenized Syrian satirist, rhetorician and pamphleteer who is best known for his characteristic tongue-in-cheek style, with which he frequently ridi ...
, ''Phalaris''. ''Hippias or The Bath''. ''Dionysus''. ''Heracles''. ''Amber or The Swans''. ''The Fly''. ''Nigrinus''. ''Demonax''. ''The Hall''. ''My Native Land''. O''ctogenarians''. ''A True Story''. ''Slander''. ''The Consonants at Law''. ''The Carousal (Symposium) or The Lapiths''. Translated by A. M. Harmon. Loeb Classical Library 14. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1913. * Hyginus. '' Fabulae'', 271.


Modern

* Karl Kerenyi. ''The Gods of the Greeks''. London: Thames & Hudson, 1951 (pp. 196–98). * Robert Graves. ''The Greek Myths'' (1955) 1960, 64 a-c.
Natalia Agapiou. "Endymion at the Crossroads: The Fortune of the Myth of Endymion at the Dawn of the Modern Era", in ''Res Publica Litterarum: Studies in the Classical Tradition'', 27/7 (2004), p. 70-82

Natalia Agapiou. ''Endymion au carrefour. La fortune littéraire et artistique du mythe d'Endymion à l'aube de l'ère moderne'' (Berlin, 2005)
.


External links





* * * , a poem by Letitia Elizabeth Landon, being one of her Subjects for Pictures, 1837.
and Endymion''
painting by Pierre Subleyras (c. 1740)
The Warburg Institute Iconographic Database (images of Endymion)
{{Authority control Kings of Elis Kings in Greek mythology Shepherds Children of Zeus Consorts of Selene Family of Calyce (mythology) Deeds of Zeus Elean mythology Mythological Eleans Sleep in mythology and folklore