Which element is named after the Greek goddess of the moon?

Selenium is the element named after Selene, the Greek goddess and personification of the Moon.

Swedish chemist Jöns Jacob Berzelius discovered selenium in 1817 while investigating an impurity produced during sulfuric-acid manufacture. He named it selenium after Selene, linking it symbolically with tellurium, whose name comes from Tellus, the Latin Earth goddess. The pairing reflects the traditional contrast between Moon and Earth.

Selene was traditionally described as the daughter of the Titans Hyperion and Theia and the sister of Helios, the personification of the Sun. Although later Greek traditions often associated Artemis with the Moon, Selene was specifically the goddess who represented the Moon itself. That distinction explains why selenium’s name points to Selene rather than Artemis.

Selenium is a nonmetal with important biological roles in tiny amounts, including support for certain antioxidant enzymes. Too little or too much can be harmful, so its nutritional importance depends strongly on dose.