Our arrival in Greece coincided with the biggest and brightest full moon of the year. I envisioned getting shot of a fat moon resting on the ocean, perhaps even with a sailboat’s silhouette piercing the white globe. Unfortunately, by the time we noticed the moon it was well into the night sky. It had also cheated us by making its appearance above the mountains, not the ocean where we were expectantly waiting. Here is our shot of the ‘supermoon’ over Vouliagmeni, Greece. It wasn’t the size that struck us as much as the brightness, even before the sun had finally set.
One of my goals in Greece is to learn enough about Greek mythology to tell the kids bedtime stories. Today seemed like an apt occasion to study Selene, the Greek moon goddess.
I’m till in the early learning process, but here are two things I learned quickly. The first is that Greek mythology reads like a soap opera. The only thing more complicated may be Hindu mythology, where the gods make the most of reincarnation and appear in many forms and lives. My second learning is that the Greek gods were a highly incestuous bunch. I’ll be leaving this part out of the bedtime stories.
Selene was the Titan goddess of the moon. The Titans, considered the elder gods, ruled the earth before being overthrown by the Olympians. Selene came from quite a bloodline. Her father, Hyperion, was god of light and her mother, Gaea, was goddess of sight. Selene was well coordinated with her siblings – Helios, the the god of the sun, and Eos, the goddess of dawn.
This video was taken this evening from our terrace as we enjoy Helios bringing down the sun to make way for his sister. It comes with running commentary from Ava and Kayan.
