(fab. hist.), a shepherd, son of Athlius and Calyce. It is said that he required of Jupiter to grant to him to be always young, and to sleep as much as he would; whence came the proverb of Endymionis somnum dormire, to express a long sleep. Diana saw him naked as he slept on mount Latmos; and so struck with his beauty, that she came down from heaven every night to enjoy his company. Endymion married Chromia daughter of Itonus; by whom he had three sons Paeon, Epeus, and Aeolus, and a daughter called Euryclea. The fable of Endymion's amours with Diana, or the moon, arose from his knowledge of astronomy; and as he passed the night on some high mountain to observe the heavenly bodies, it came to be reported that he was courted by the moon. Some suppose that there were two of that name; the son of a king of Elia, and the shepherd or astronomer of Caria. The people of Heraclea maintained that Endymion died on mount Latmos, and the Eleans pretended to show his tomb at Olympia in Peloponnesus.