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EntityQ1235172· pop 34· linked from 319 articles

Roman goddess of the Moon

Key facts

Planet
Moon
Symbol
Chariot, crescent moon
Day
Monday ( dies Lunae )
Temples
Aventine Hill , Palatine Hill
Siblings
Sol , Aurora
Greek
Selene

via Wikipedia infobox

~6 min read

Encyclopedic overview

In ancient Roman religion and mythology, Luna (Latin: Lūna [ˈluːna]) is the divine embodiment of the Moon. She is often presented as the female complement of the Sun, Sol, conceived of as a god. Luna is also sometimes represented as an aspect of the Roman triple goddess (diva triformis), along with Diana and either Proserpina or Hecate. Luna is not always a distinct goddess, but sometimes rather an epithet that specializes a goddess, since both Diana and Juno are identified as moon goddesses.

In Roman art, Luna attributes are the crescent moon plus the two-yoke chariot (biga). In the Carmen Saeculare, performed in 17 BC, Horace invokes her as the "two-horned queen of the stars" (siderum regina bicornis), bidding her to listen to the girls singing as Apollo listens to the boys.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Luna” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.