Mene (goddess)

The Greek word {{lang|grc|μήνη}} (mēnē) means both the Moon and the lunar month.Athanassakis and Wolkow, pp. [https://books.google.com/books?id=TTo3r8IHy0wC&pg=PA90 90, on lines 1–2], [https://books.google.com/books?id=TTo3r8IHy0wC&pg=PA91 91, on line 5]; Kerényi, [https://archive.org/details/godsofgreeks00kerrich/page/197/mode/2up?view=theater p. 197] It represents the feminine form of the older masculine noun {{lang|grc|μήν}} (mēn), which in turn derives from the oblique stem of the Indo-European word *meh₁nōt ("moon; month").{{sfn|Beekes|2009|page=945}} The name of the Phrygian moon-god Men derives from the same word.Oxford Classical Dictionary, s.v. Selene; Kerényi, [https://archive.org/details/godsofgreeks00kerrich/page/197/mode/2up?view=theater p. 197]. Further cognates include "Moon" and "Máni."

William Smith writes of Mene as "a goddess presiding over the months".Smith, s.v. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0104%3Aalphabetic+letter%3DM%3Aentry+group%3D19%3Aentry%3Dmene-bio-1 "Mene"] Apostolos Athanassakis and Benjamin Wolkow speculate that Selene's name, which is derived from the word {{lang|grc|σέλας}} (selas, "light") and thus means "luminous one", might have originally developed as a euphemism, before becoming the Moon and its goddess's proper name.

== See also ==

• Proto-Indo-European religion
• Proto-Indo-European language
• H₂éwsōs

{{reflist}}

• Athanassakis, Apostolos N., and Benjamin M. Wolkow, The Orphic Hymns, Johns Hopkins University Press, 2013. {{ISBN|978-1-4214-0882-8}}. [https://books.google.com/books?id=TTo3r8IHy0wC Google Books].
• {{cite book | last1 =Beekes | first = R. S. P. | author-link = Robert S. P. Beekes | title = Etymological Dictionary of Greek | location = Leiden | publisher = Brill | date = 2009 | page = 1:945}}
• Hard, Robin, The Routledge Handbook of Greek Mythology: Based on H.J. Rose's "Handbook of Greek Mythology", Psychology Press, 2004, {{ISBN|9780415186360}}. [https://books.google.com/books?id=r1Y3xZWVlnIC Google Books].
• Kerényi, Karl (1951), The Gods of the Greeks, Thames and Hudson, London, 1951. [https://archive.org/details/godsofgreeks00kerrich/page/n3/mode/2up?view=theater Internet Archive].
• Smith, William; Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, London (1873). [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0104%3Aalphabetic+letter%3DM%3Aentry+group%3D19%3Aentry%3Dmene-bio-1 "Mene"]

• [https://www.theoi.com/Titan/Selene.html MENE/SELENE from the Theoi Project]

Category:Selene

Category:Epithets of Greek deities

Category:Feminine names

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