SELENE
Real Name:
Selene
Occupation:
Goddess of stars and night
Legal Status:
Citizen of Olympus
Identity: The general populace of Earth is unaware of Selene's existence except as a mythological character.
Other Aliases:
Luna (Roman Name), Losna (Etruscan name)
Place of Birth:
Marital Status: Married
Known Relatives:
Hyperion (father),
Theia (mother), Helios
(brother), Aurora,
(sister), Circe,
(niece), Zeus,
Hades, Poseidon,
Demeter, Hera,
Hestia, (cousins), Hercules, Apollo,
Ares, Hephaestus,
Hermes, Dionysus
(nephews), Aphrodite, Artemis,
Athena, Persephone,
Discord, Helen, Hebe,
Eileithyia (nieces), Endymion (husband),
Group Affiliations: The Gods of Olympus
Base of Operations:
First Appearance: (name only) Captain Marvel Adventures #18, (unidentified) Thor Annual 1, (actual) Who's Who in the DC Universe III #4
History: Selene is the daughter of Hyperion and Theia, members of a extra-dimensional race of beings called the Titans, who were worshipped as gods by the Ancient Greeks. Zeus had overthrown the Titans for control of Olympus and several of the Titans were exiled to Tartarus, the most dismal region of the underworld called Hades. Some of the Titans had sided with Zeus in the war with Olympus, such as Helios, the sun-god, who had supported Zeus in conquering Olympus and was one of the few to retain his power. Selene and her sister Aurora became attendants to Artemis, goddess of the hunt, Apollo's sister.
On Earth, Selene fell in love with Endymion, an Aetolian prince, and guided his destiny to become king of Elis. In promising him anything he wanted, Selene gave him the ability to sleep forever without aging. She concealed him in this state in a cave on Mount Latmus near Heracleia, a city in Caria named for Hercules.
Sometime in the Tenth Century BC, after the Olympian Gods
stopped seeking active worshippers, Selene was contacted by the mortal wizard
Shazam to contribute energies to a spell to establish a future hero to defend
mortal man from problems he foresaw. Shazam had contacted many of the Olympians
to donate energies for a male champion, but seeing the need for a possible
female champion, he created a back-up spell using energies from Selene, her
sister, Aurora, and a few other Olympian goddesses to serve his purpose. In the
Twentieth Century, Mary Batson would call upon this spell created by Shazam to
transform her into Mary Marvel, ally to Captain Marvel.
In later years, Selene was one of the goddesses chosen by Hera to protect the
mortals chosen to become the Young Gods. She was also present on Olympus when
the Asgardian god Thor came to Zeus for the life energies to restore the
Asgardian gods to life after their ordeal with the Celestials. Selene was among
the Olympians sent into the Land of Shades when Typhon, longtime enemy of the
Olympian Gods, escaped Tartarus and extinguished the Promethean Flame on
Olympus. Selene was restored to life after Hercules defeated Typhon. Since then,
she has lived through the sorceress Circe's attempted destruction of the
Olympian Gods and an attack by the Dark Gods, eternal enemies of the Asgardian
gods.
Height: 5'4"
Weight: 324 lbs.
Eyes: Brown
Hair: Black
Strength Level: Selene possesses superhuman strength enabling her to lift
(press) 25 tons under optimal conditions.
Known Superhuman Powers: Selene possesses the conventional physical attributes
of the Olympian gods. Like all Olympians, she is immortal: she has not aged since
reaching adulthood and cannot die by any conventional means. She is immune to all
Earthly diseases and is resistant to conventional injury. If she were somehow
wounded, her godly life force would enable her to recover with superhuman speed. It
would take an injury of such magnitude that it dispersed a major portion of her
bodily molecules to cause her a physical death. Even then, it might be possible for
a god of significant power, such as Zeus, Poseidon and Apollo or for a number of
Olympian gods of equal power working together to revive her. Selene also possesses
superhuman strength and her Olympian metabolism provides her with far greater than
human endurance in all physical activities. (Olympian flesh and bone is about three
times as dense as similar human tissue, contributing to the Olympians' superhuman
strength and weight.)
Selene has limited powers to tap into and manipulate magic. She can fly through the air, travel between dimensions, change her form and that of other people and objects and cast spells to cause probable but not impossible events to occur. She also contributes part of the mystical spell upon the costumed heroine, Mary Marvel, endowing her with the youth and vitality of an Olympian goddess.
Pets: Selene was given the Nemean Lion as a pet by Hera,
Queen of Olympus. It was slain by Hercules during the first of his Twelve
Labors.
Comments: Aurora has yet to be seen in the Marvel Universe; she has only
been active behind the scenes of DC Comics.
Clarifications: Selene is not to be
confused with:
Last updated: 05/07/06