Selene, who was about to kiss Endymion, immediately sensed something amiss. The goddess turned and vanished, leaving Endymion's eager calls echoing through the valley.
The next night, Endymion continued to feign sleep, awaiting the arrival of his dream lover. He suppressed the urge to open his eyes and see her face, trembling as he felt her kiss land on his cheek.
From then on, Selene met Endymion every night, even neglecting her duty of guiding souls from Thanatos, the god of death.
The moon's dereliction of duty soon drew the attention of the gods. The busy gods of the underworld suddenly found the number of spirits arriving in Hades decreasing daily. At first, they rejoiced, but soon they discovered Selene's trysts with the human prince Endymion.
At the city's crossroads, Hecate, holding a torch, emerged from the gloom. The cloaked goddess of prayers walked directly to a wooden house and knocked on the door.
Selene emerged from the doorway and stood before Hecate, asking, "Goddess of Prayers, why have you come?"
Hecate's cloak concealed half of her face, and the torch in her hand flickered with a faint green light. "Selene, your actions have become intolerable to the gods! The moon's prolonged absence from the night sky has caused panic among mortals. I care not what clandestine dealings you may have, but I bring a warning from Styx at her request: do not become lost in it like your sister!"
This warning was like a bucket of cold water poured onto Selene's burning heart. The tragedy of Eos and Tithonus was witnessed firsthand by the moon goddess, and the dawn goddess's infatuation seemed as vivid as if it were yesterday. Yet, the thought of leaving Endymion caused her reason to be consumed by the fire of love.
Hecate turned and left after speaking. She truly did not care what Selene was doing, merely running an errand for the goddess Styx.
For thirty days and nights, the moon did not ascend into the sky to perform its divine duty, which the gods on Mount Olympus could no longer tolerate.
To permanently remove the temptation of the moon goddess Selene from the mortal realm, Deianeira proposed, "Taking away Selene's lover will only plunge her into sorrow. We can instead cast the human beloved by the moon goddess into an eternal slumber; thus, Selene can meet her lover in dreams."
Zeus summoned Endymion and presented him with a choice: to return to his origins and be separated from Selene, or to remain forever youthful in an eternal dream.
To remain by his lover's side, Endymion chose the latter. His body was frozen, yet he retained his vitality through the king of gods' blessing. Every night, the moon goddess would visit him in dreams, spending long hours together with her beloved.
Deianeira could do nothing about this; no one could break the curse of the primordial gods, and this outcome was fortunate enough.
There might have been room for intervention in the dawn goddess's tragedy, but Poseidon's meddling left Deianeira with no attention to spare for Eos.
Perhaps due to gaining dominion over earthquakes, Poseidon's arrogance surged unprecedentedly. The daughters of Oceanus were busy seizing vacant territories, and Eurybia, the goddess of sea power, inevitably relaxed her surveillance of Poseidon.
The river god Asopos, brother to the daughters of Oceanus, had nine daughters as beautiful as pearls, the youngest being Aegina, who was the most outstanding. Asopos derived divine glory from his attachment to the earth's rivers, but his power was weak. His beautiful daughters, though inheriting the pure Titan bloodline of Oceanus, could only appear as nymphs as they were unable to obtain divine offices.
As Poseidon stirred up tsunamis and flooded the land, more water sources became springs of power for the sea nymphs. The daughters of the old river god also benefited, gaining their own lakes and becoming regional deities.
Although their weak divine power could not alter the overall situation, they managed to escape the predicament of being at the mercy of others, and the lake goddesses were thus grateful to Poseidon.
When the god of tsunamis passed by the lake where Aegina resided, the innocent goddess emerged from the water and offered Poseidon her sincere gratitude.
However, Poseidon was captivated by the goddess's beauty and violently abducted her. The gods of streams and springs, fearing Poseidon's power, dared not intervene, and only informed Asopos, her brother, of the news.
The enraged old river god, guided by his siblings, pursued Poseidon. He arrived at a city and inquired with its leader if they had seen any sign of the god of tsunamis. The leader of this city was named Sisyphus, and this cunning mortal, in exchange for the river god irrigating his crops, revealed Poseidon's whereabouts. Just as Asopos was about to catch up to Poseidon, the god of tsunamis used his earthquake powers to cut off the river's course, leaving the old river god powerless to watch his daughter being taken.
Athena, who was teaching weaving skills to mortals, heard of Poseidon's atrocity. The goddess of strategy immediately returned to Mount Olympus to seek Deianeira's help. The sea goddesses, upon hearing this news, also rushed to Mount Olympus, requesting the king of gods to retrieve Aegina from Poseidon's grasp.
Hera and Demeter also ceased their protection of their brother, and both goddesses agreed that Poseidon should be punished for this.
The sea gods, having mobilized en masse, soon found the abducted Aegina. The innocent lake goddess, having been deceived by Poseidon's sweet talk, had already forgotten her sorrow at being separated from her father and had fallen in love with the handsome deity. By the time the sea gods found the goddess hidden on a small island, Aegina had already given birth to a son for Poseidon.
The enraged goddesses were disgusted by Poseidon's actions, but Aegina, her reason clouded by sweet words, instead defended Poseidon, which made the situation difficult for the sea goddesses.
Zeus on Mount Olympus also found himself troubled by this. The victim, Aegina, was willing to grieve her loving father to excuse Poseidon, leaving the king of gods with no grounds to punish Poseidon.
The sorrowful Asopos was exhausted. The river god, who doted on his daughter, eventually bowed his head and withdrew his accusation against Poseidon, returning dejectedly to his river. The river god's weariness caused the river to flow less turbulently, and the echoes of the water's current spoke of Asopos's worry for his daughter.
Deianeira said to the stubborn Aegina, "Aegina, who has abandoned her dignity, do you truly believe Poseidon loves you? How can you so readily believe his words?"
"He swore to the goddess Thetis that he fell in love with me at first sight. Lies have no place before the goddess of justice, and this is true love!"
The stubborn Aegina did not accept Deianeira's doubt, firmly believing that Poseidon's act of snatching her from her father's sight was a momentary impulse driven by deep love for her.
"He loves your beauty, a love so frivolous and shallow, for there will always be goddesses more beautiful than you! His sweet words can easily become an excuse to abandon you tomorrow!"