The Moon and the Prince
A Legend of Greacia
Far, far back in time, when the great Heroes still lived as mortals, the white skinned sister of Helios the Sun circled the world as she does now, only then she wept in loneliness, for it passed that though Selene the Moon was fair and bright she was also distant and cold for her warmth could not reach to the world, and though she was much admired it was her distance and her coldness that ensured she remained unloved however desperately she sought otherwise.
Nightly she circled in her chariot, holding her pale torch high, and nightly she failed to find love, until Hekate, Lady of Power and Magic, she who had pitied Demeter and helped her search for Persephone, now saw Selene and pitied her too, and she sought to bring a remedy. She searched long and wide until she came upon a Prince who was as punishment for a foolhardy action set to guard sheep by his father. He was all things that a Prince should be: handsome, noble, intelligent, and Hekate liked him for herself, but looking up as she approached the Prince she again saw Selene, lonely and weeping and circling, and was reminded of her care and concern and approached in the guise of a crone, lest the young man find her beautiful. The Prince, not recognising the Ancestor, showed concern for an old woman travelling alone, and by night, and bade Hekate sit with him until he could escort her on her journey. He shared with her the food that he for the night, and talked with her, and though friendly, he was respectful. Touched by his kindness, but knowing full well that he would not be able to escort her to her home, Hekate put him into a sleep and hurried to the heavens to point him out to Selene just as the sun rose. Touched by the story of his good heart and by his handsome face, Selene looked for him the next night, and finding him no longer guarding sheep but asleep in his own bed, she reached down and touched him with cool moonlight, and Endymion, the Prince, smiled in his sleep as he dreamed of the lovely woman that held him in her arms.
Night after night, Selene spoke to him in his dreams, and each night in his dreams, Endymion and Selene knew love, and because she was an Ancestress, these dreams real, and Selene was the mother by him of many daughters, each one personifying one of the lunar months of the Olympiad, and night after night they knew great joy.
But soon Selene began to despair, for though she loved Endymion more than anything, she was immortal and he was not, and she could not abide the thought that he might age and die, and neither could she abide the thought that she would one day look her last on his face, for she could not touch the dead with her light. On her knees before the Lord of the Olympians she wept and begged Zeus to make her lover immortal. Zeus was moved and wanted to make the Moon happy, but he had long ago sworn to never make man immortal. He was for a while sorely troubled by the conflict between his desire and his oath, but then he smiled and raised Selene to her feet and bid her be happy, for he would give her Endymion to be with her forever, with one condition. Selene, overjoyed, swore to obey the will of Zeus, for it was not difficult bid to continue as she always had as he bid her. He made it so Endymion would not age so long as he slept and then he caused the Prince to fall sleep forever. So close is sleep to death that Hypnos, who is Sleep, is the twin brother of Thanatos who is Death, and Endymion goes on, neither dead nor alive; not immortal, but eternally young, sleeping and smiling, for in his sleep he dreams of the beautiful, pale woman who holds him in her arms and gives him her love.
All Works are © Original Author
(OC Author - Gillian Smart, after the Greek Myth)