Chapter IX: Endymion

As long as Zeus was with the gods on Mount Olympus, Hera, the queen of the gods, was his wife, but from time to time he came to live on the earth for a little while, and then he married a noble and beautiful woman who was his wife whilst he remained among men.

Once Zeus married a very beautiful princess whom he loved dearly, and they had a little boy named Endymion. When Endymion had grown up to be a young man, his father told him that he might wish for whatever he liked and he would grant it. Endymion might have chosen to become a mighty king, but he had no desire for anything of the sort. Instead of that, his wish was that he might go to sleep and never wake again, but always have pleasant dreams. And Zeus granted him what he asked. There was a lonely valley which no one ever came near. Soft green grass grew there, and sweet-smelling flowers, and there were shady trees, with birds singing and making their nests among the branches, and a brook flowing through it that chattered pleasantly night and day. Endymion lay down under a tree beside the brook and went to sleep, and he never grew any older, but slept on for ever, dreaming happily, immortal like the gods.

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Now there was a mild, gentle goddess, the goddess of the moon, whose name was Selene. As she passed along the heaven with the little stars by her side, she used to look down upon Endymion lying asleep, and she gazed at the beautiful son of Zeus until she felt a deep love for him spring up in her heart, so that he was continually in her thoughts. She shed her softest and mildest rays upon him, and then Endymion dreamt more happily than ever. It was like no other love, for she could neither speak to him nor caress him, she could only look at him from a distance; but she has always remained true to him, and has never loved another as she loved the sleeping Endymion.

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