Endymion
- a beautiful youth of Mount Latmos, in Caria, who, on account of his love for Juno, was condemned by Jupiter to perpetual sleep. While in this state Luna fell violently in love with him, Cic. Tusc. 1, 38, 92: Endymionis somnus, i.e. perpetual sleep, id. Fin. 5, 20, 55; Prop. 2, 15, 15 (3, 7, 15 M.); Ov. A. A. 3, 83 al.—
- B Transf., a beautiful, beloved youth in gen., Juv. 10, 318; Ap. Met. 1, 12, 10.—
- II Hence, Endy-mĭōnēus, a, um, adj., of Endymion: sopores, Aus. Idyll. 6, 41.
(Ἐνδυμίων), a youth distinguished for his beauty, and renowned in ancient story by the perpetual sleep in which he spent his life. Some traditions about Endymion refer us to Elis, and others to Caria, and others again are a combination of the two. According to the first set of legends, he was a son of Aethlius and Calyce,or of Zeus and Calyce, and succeeded Aethlius in the kingdom of Elis. (Paus. 5.1.2.) Others again say that he expelled Clymenus from the kingdom of Elis, and introduced into the country Aeolian settlers from Thessaly. (Apollod. 1.7.5, &c. ; Paus. 5.8.1.) Conon (Narrat 14) calls him a son of Zeus and Protogencia, and Hyginus (Hyg. Fab. 271) a son of Aetolus. He is said to have been married to Asterodia, Chromia, Hyperippe, Neis, or Iphianassa; and Aetolus, Paeon, Epeius. Eurydice, and Naxus are called his children. He was, however, especially beloved by Selene, by whom he had fifty daughters. (Paus. 5.1.2.) He caused his sons to engage in the race-course at Olympia, and promised to the victor the succession in his kingdom, and Epeius conquered his brothers, and succeeded Endymion as king of Elis. He was believed to be buried at Olympia, which also contained a statue of his in the treasury of the Metapontians. (Paus. 6.19.8, 20.6.) According to a tradition, believed at Heracleia in Caria, Endymion had come from Elis to mount Latmus in Caria, whence he is called the Latmian (Latmius ; Paus. 5.1.4; Ov. Ars Am. 3.83, Trist. 2.299). He is described by the poets either as a king, a shepherd, or a hunter (Theocrit. 3.49, 20.37 with the Scholiast), and while he was slumbering in a cave of mount Latmus, Selene came down to him, kissed, and lay by his side. (Comp. Apollon. 4.57.) There also he had, in later times, a sanctuary, and his tomb was shewn in a cave of mount Latmus. (Paus. 5.1.4 ; Strab. xiv. p.636.) His eternal sleep on Latmus is assigned to different causes in ancient story. Some said that Zeus had granted him a request, and that Endymion begged for immortality, eternal sleep, and everlasting youth (Apollod. 1.7.5.); others relate that he was received among the gods of Olympus, but as he there fell in love with Hera, Zeus, in his anger, punished him by throwing him into eternal sleep on mount Latmus. (Schol. ad Theocrit. 3.49.) Others, lastly, state that Selene, charmed with his surpassing beauty, sent him to sleep, that she might be able to kiss him without being observed by him. (Cic. Tuscul. 1.38.) The stories of the fair sleeper, Endymion, the darling of Selene, are unquestionably poetical fictions, in which sleep is personified. His name and all his attributes confirm this opinion : Endymion signifies a being that gently comes over one ; he is called a king, because he has power over all living creatures; a shepherd, because he slumbered in the cool caves of mount Latmus, that is, " the mount of oblivion." Nothing can be more beautiful, lastly, than the notion, that he is kissed by the soft rays of the moon. (Comp. Plat. Phaed. p. 72. b; Ov. Am. 1.13. 43.) There is a beautiful statue of a sleeping Endymion in the British Museum. [L.S]
(Ἐνδυμίων). In Greek mythology, the beautiful son of Aëthlius (or, according to another story, of Zeus) and Calycé, daughter of Aeolus, king of Elis, father of Epeus, Aetolus, and Paeon, the first of whom won the government of the country by conquering in a race which his father had set on foot. He was loved by Selené, the moon-goddess, by whom he had fifty daughters. They were supposed to symbolize the fifty lunar months which intervened between the Olympic Games. His grave was at Olympia. Another story made him a shepherd or hunter on Mount Latmos in Caria. Zeus bestowed on him eternal youth and eternal life in the form of unbroken slumber. Selené descended every night from heaven to visit and embrace the beautiful sleeper in his grotto. The usual story, however, makes Selené to have thrown him into a sleep so that she might kiss and caress him without his knowledge. A beautiful statue in the British Museum represents Endymion, and the legend inspired Keats to write one of the most exquisite poems in English literature.
- beloved by the Moon, his eternal sleep: Apollod. 1.7.5, Paus. 5.1.4
- father of Aetolus: Apollod. 1.7.5
- son of Aethlius: Paus. 5.1.3
- dethrones Clymenus: Paus. 5.8.1
- father of Eurycyda: Paus. 5.1.8
- sets his sons to run race at Olympia for kingdom: Paus. 5.1.4, Paus. 5.8.1
- his tomb at Elis: Paus. 5.1.5, Paus. 6.20.9
- figure of E. Paus. 6.19.11