The love story between Selene and Endymion is very famous in Greek mythology. Endymion was a beautiful young man admired by the moon goddess Selene, who was bestowed with eternal youth by the gods, but at the cost of eternal sleep in the cave of Mount Latmus in Caria. The mythology of the region of Erea (an ancient Greek region roughly equivalent to present-day Ilia) states that Selene gave birth to 50 daughters to Endymion, which is a reflection of the ancient Greek calendar that there were 50 weeks in a year.

There are many sayings about the identity of Endymion in Greek mythology. He was the king of Elis, who led the Ionians from Trache to Elis and established a nation there. He married a fairy and gave birth to three sons and one daughter.

According to the pseudo Apollodorus (Book of Documents), Endymion was the son of Calyce and Aethlius, the king of Elis, and also the son of Zeus, the king of the gods. According to historical records, Endymion is believed to be a shepherd from Caria.

Endymion was a graceful young shepherd who herded sheep on Mount Latmus in Asia Minor. He lives in a quiet and beautiful valley, living a carefree life. Sometimes, when the sheep graze freely on the lush grass around them, they sleep soundly on the grass, completely unaffected by worldly sadness and worry.

On a bright moon night, as Selene was driving his carriage across the sky, he accidentally saw a beautiful young man sleeping in the quiet valley below. Her heart rippled with admiration for him. She glided down from the moon carriage and hastily and affectionately stole a kiss on his face. Even when the sleeping Endymion opened his eyes and saw the fairy, he was a bit captivated. But everything in front of him quickly disappeared, so that he mistook it for a dream.

Every night, Selene floats down from the air and steals kisses the sleeping shepherd. However, the goddess's occasional dereliction of duty caught the attention of the main god Zeus. The fathers of the gods and humans have decided to forever eliminate the temptation of the goddess in the world. He summoned Endymion to his side to make a choice: any form of death; Or in eternal dreams, youth is eternal. The shepherd chose the latter.

(Another saying is that the moon god requested Zeus to let Endymion rest forever and maintain his youth.) He rested forever on Mount Latmos. Every night, the Moon Goddess visits him with a sad heart and kisses him. Pliny the Elder believed that Endymion was the first person to observe the trajectory of the moon, and used this theory to explain the nightly meetings between Endymion and the Moon Goddess.