elene was a name for the
moon, which was also described as Asterodia because she has her
path among the stars, and that Protogenia denoted the first or early
born morning. Now Protogenia was the mother of Endymion, while
Asterodia was his wife; and so far the names were transparent. Had
all the names remained so, no myth, in the strict sense of the word,
could have sprung up; but as it so happened, the meaning of the
name Endymion, as denoting the sun, when he is about to plunge or
dive into the sea, had been forgotten, and thus Endymion became a
beautiful youth with whom the moon fell in love, and whom she
came to look upon as he lay in profound sleep in the cave of
Latmos." [14] To this growth and transformation of myths we may
return after awhile; meanwhile we will follow closely our man in
the moon, who, among the Greeks, was the young Endymion, the
beloved of Diana, who held the shepherd passionately in her
embrace. This fable probably arose from Endymion's love of
astronomy, a predilection common in ancient pastors. He was, no
doubt, an ardent admirer of the moon; and soon it was reported that
Selene courted and caressed him in return. May such chaste
enjoyment be ours also! We may remark, in passing, that classic
tales are pure or impure, very much according to the taste of the
reader. "To the jaundiced all things seem yellow," say the French;
and Paul said, "To the pure all things are pure: but unto them that
are defiled is nothing pure." According to Serapion, as quoted by
Clemens Alexandrinus, the tradition was that the face which appears
in the moon is the soul of a Sibyl. Plutarch, in his treatise, _Of the
Face appearing in the roundle of the Moone_, cites the poet
Agesinax as saying of that orb,

"All roundabout environed
With fire she is illumined:
And in the middes there doth appeere,
Like to some boy, a visage cleere;
Whose eies to us doe seem in view,
Of colour grayish more than blew:
The browes and forehead tender seeme,
The cheeks all reddish one would deeme." [15]

The story of the man in the moon as told in our British nurseries is
supposed to be founded on Biblical fact. But though the Jews have a
Talmudic tradition that Jacob is in the moon, and though they
believe that his face is plainly visible, the Hebrew Scriptures make
no mention of the myth. Yet to our fireside auditors it is related that
a man was found by Moses gathering sticks on the Sabbath,