Luna (goddess)

Luna
Luna
Goddess of the Moon
	Luna (AD 150–200,; Musée d'Art et d'Histoire de Genève)
Planet	Moon
Symbol	Chariot, crescent moon
Day	Monday (dies Lunae)
Temples	Aventine Hill, Palatine Hill
Personal information
Siblings	Sol, Aurora
Equivalents
Greek equivalent	Selene
Indo-European equivalent	Meh₁not

In Sabine and ancient Roman religion and myth, Luna is the divine embodiment of the Moon (Latin Lūna [ˈɫ̪uːnä]). She is often presented as the female complement of the Sun, Sol, conceived of as a god. Luna is also sometimes represented as an aspect of the Roman triple goddess (diva triformis), along with Diana and either Proserpina or Hecate. Luna is not always a distinct goddess, but sometimes rather an epithet that specializes a goddess, since both Diana and Juno are identified as moon goddesses.^[2]

In Roman art, Luna attributes are the crescent moon plus the two-yoke chariot (biga). In the Carmen Saeculare, performed in 17 BC, Horace invokes her as the "two-horned queen of the stars" (siderum regina bicornis), bidding her to listen to the girls singing as Apollo listens to the boys.^[3]

Varro categorized Luna and Sol among the visible gods, as distinguished from invisible gods such as Neptune, and deified mortals such as Hercules.^[4] She was one of the deities Macrobius proposed as the secret tutelary of Rome.^[5] In Imperial cult, Sol and Luna can represent the extent of Roman rule over the world, with the aim of guaranteeing peace.^[6]

Luna's Greek counterpart was Selene. In Roman art and literature, myths of Selene are adapted under the name of Luna. The myth of Endymion, for instance, was a popular subject for Roman wall painting.^[7]

^ Evans, James (1998). The History and Practice of Ancient Astronomy. Oxford University Press. pp. 296–7. ISBN 978-0-19-509539-5. Retrieved 4 February 2008.
^ C.M.C. Green, Roman Religion and the Cult of Diana at Aricia (Cambridge University Press, 2007), p. 73.
^ Horace, Carmen Saeculare, lines 33–36.
^ Varro, frg. 23 (Cardauns) = Tertullian, Ad nationes 2.2.14–2-; Attilio Mastrocinque, "Creating One's Own Religion: Intellectual Choices," in A Companion to Roman Religion, p. 383.
^ Jörg Rüpke, Religion of the Romans, p. 133.
^ William Van Andringa, "Religion and the Integration of Cities in the Empire in the Second Century AD: The Creation of a Common Religious Language," in A Companion to Roman Religion (Blackwell, 2007), p. 94.
^ Annemarie Kaufmann-Heinimann, "Religion in the House", in A Companion to Roman Religion, p. 188.

[1] Evans, James (1998). The History and Practice of Ancient Astronomy. Oxford University Press. pp. 296–7. ISBN 978-0-19-509539-5. Retrieved 4 February 2008.

[2] C.M.C. Green, Roman Religion and the Cult of Diana at Aricia (Cambridge University Press, 2007), p. 73.

[3] Horace, Carmen Saeculare, lines 33–36.

[4] Varro, frg. 23 (Cardauns) = Tertullian, Ad nationes 2.2.14–2-; Attilio Mastrocinque, "Creating One's Own Religion: Intellectual Choices," in A Companion to Roman Religion, p. 383.

[5] Jörg Rüpke, Religion of the Romans, p. 133.

[6] William Van Andringa, "Religion and the Integration of Cities in the Empire in the Second Century AD: The Creation of a Common Religious Language," in A Companion to Roman Religion (Blackwell, 2007), p. 94.

[7] Annemarie Kaufmann-Heinimann, "Religion in the House", in A Companion to Roman Religion, p. 188.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

Luna
Goddess of the Moon
Luna (AD 150–200, Musée d'Art et d'Histoire de Genève)
Planet	Moon^[1]
Symbol	Chariot, crescent moon
Day	Monday (dies Lunae)
Temples	Aventine Hill, Palatine Hill
Personal information
Siblings	Sol, Aurora
Equivalents
Greek equivalent	Selene
Indo-European equivalent	Meh₁not