Sailor Moon
Sailor Moon has many identities, Tsukino Usagi, Princess Serenity, Messiah, and so on. There are many myths that surround this character so I will go over them one by one.

	Myth:	Selene
	Pronounced:	suh-lee'-nee
	Origin:	Greek
	Character:	Princess Serenity

Mythology: Selene was the Greek goddess of the moon. While she had many different lovers, the tale she is most famous and remembered for is her love of the beautiful mortal man, Endymion. Selene is described as a woman with a very white face, wearing robes and carrying a torch. She was also said to wear a half moon on her head. The goddess would ride on a silver chariot drawn by two horses. She is the sister to Helios (the god of the sun) and Eos (goddess of the dawn). After her brother Helios completes his journey across the sky, she begins hers. Before Selene's journey across the night sky she bathes in the sea.

There are many different descriptions of who Endymion actually was (which is discussed below) but none-the-less Selene fell deeply in love with him and seduced him while he lie asleep in a cave. One thing that is mentioned often is that her seduction of the mortal resulted in the birth of fifty daughters, one of which was Naxos. In one version of their tale, because Selene could not bear the thought of Endymion's death she asked Zeus to put his to sleep forever and never grow old. Another version states that she asked Zeus to allow him to decide his own fate and Endymion chose never to grow old and to sleep eternally. However, Endymion's eternal sleep did not prevent him from Selene giving birth to his daughters. Endymion was visited by Selene every night and kissed by her rays of light.

Quote from Encyclopedia Mythica - "Selene is a favorite of many poets, especially love poets. A moonlit night brings the feeling of romance. It is said that Selene's moon rays fall upon sleeping mortals, and her kisses fell upon her love, Endymion."

Connections: Princess Serenity of Pretty Soldier Sailormoon is almost a mirror reflection of her namesake, Selene. Her mother, Queen Serenity, stated that she was a decendent of the moon goddess Selene and so, in turn that makes Princess Serenity a decendent of that bloodline as well. Her name most likely came from the location of Silver Millennium (the Moon Palace) which was Mare Serenitatis, or the Sea of Serenity. The princess was in love with a mortal man of Earth, Endymion.

The name of her reincarnation, Tsukino Usagi, is a pun as it sounds like the Japanese phrase, tsuki no usagi which translates to "rabbit of the moon". It is in reference to a Japanese myth that proclaims there is a rabbit on the moon pounding mochi, or rice cakes. There are a few different Japanese and Chinese stories that refer to a woman or rabbit on/from the moon which explains the reason for the pun.

Submitted by Myrna: "Monday, or its French counterpart Lundi, is obviously named after the Moon Goddess Selene. It's more apparent under its English name but Lune means 'Moon' in French so they both have obvious names."

Tuxedo Mask
Tuxedo Mask has many identities, Chiba Mamoru, Prince Endymion, and so on. There are many myths that surround this character so I will go over them one by one.

	Myth:	Endymion
	Pronounced:	en-dim'-ee-uhn
	Origin:	Greek
	Character:	Prince Endymion

Mythology: The tale of Endymion is a mixed up one. There are many different stories as to who he exactly was. Some say he was a hunter or a shepard of Asia Minor. Other tales tell that he was the king of Elis. Who's Who in Classical Mythology gives a couple versions. One states that he was the son of Aethlius, son of Zeus, and Calyce, daughter of Aeolus. The other said he was the father of three sons, Aetolus, Paeon, and Epeius. He was also the king of Elis and has added Olympia to his domain, having driven out its Cretan king, Clymenus. To decide who would be the sucessor of his throne, he made his sons run a race in which Epeius won.

Aside from the mixed stories of his origin, he is most remembered for his being loved by the moon goddess Selene. This part of the story is another that is jumbled up with many different paths in which all lead to the same ending. Some sources say that when Selene fell in love with him she could not bear the thought of his death and so put him to sleep forever, never growing old. Others say that it was Zeus who put him to sleep at the request of Selene or that Selene asked Zeus to give hima choice and he decided to be put into eternal sleep. No matter the version the end comes to the idea that he was put into eternal sleep to remain youthful and beautiful. Selene then would be able to embrace him forever. Each night Selene would come to him on Mout Latmus, neam Milete, in Asia Minor (the ancient Greeks believed that his grave was situated on this mountain). The sleep did not keep Endymion from bearing Selene fifty daughters.

Connections: Prince Endymion of Pretty Soldier Sailormoon is close to his Greek counterpart. He was a mortal man of Earth who was loved by the moon princess, Serenity, the decendent of the moon goddess Selene. This part might be a lesser point but his reincarnation, Chiba Mamoru, is most heavily influenced while he is alseep (within his dreams) and given that the Endymion of Greek myths is always put to sleep in the end, well, it makes a pretty fair connection.