In Greek mythology the sun was personified as Helios (pronounced /ˈhiliˌɑs/) (Greek: Ἥλιος, Latinized as Helius). Greek mythology is the body of stories belonging to the ancient Greeks concerning their gods and Heroes the nature of the world and the origins and significance The ancient Greeks proposed many different ideas about primordial deities in their mythology, which would later be largely adapted by the The Twelve Olympians, also known as the Dodekatheon ( Greek: Δωδεκάθεον The ancient Greeks had a large number of sea deities. The philosopher Plato once remarked that the Greek people were like frogs sitting around a pond -- their Chthonic (from Greek χθόνιος khthonios "of the earth" from khthōn "earth" pertaining to the Earth; earthy subterranean In Greek mythology, the Muses ( Ancient Greek, hai moũsai: perhaps from the Proto-Indo-European root * men- "think" are Asclepius (pronounced /æsˈkliːpiːəs/, Greek, transliterated Asklēpiós; Latin Aesculapius) is the god of Medicine In Greek mythology, the Titans ( Greek: Tītā́n; plural Tītânes) were a race of powerful Deities that ruled during the legendary Ocean (Ὠκεανός was believed to be the world-ocean in Classical antiquity, which the ancient Romans and Greeks considered to be In Classical Greek mythology, Tethys (Greek Τηθύς) daughter of Uranus and Gaia ( Hesiod, Theogony lines Hyperion (Greek) is a Titan, the son of Gaia (Earth and Uranus (Sky Helios Hyperion, 'Sun High-one' In Greek mythology, Theia, goddess or divine, (sometimes written Thea or Thia) also called Euryphaessa, wide-shining In Greek mythology, Coeus ( Ancient Greek:, Koios) was one of the Titans, the giant sons and daughters of Uranus (Heaven and In Greek mythology "golden-wreathed" Phoebe (Ancient Greek Φοίβη, Phoibe pronounced /'fiː Cronus or Kronos, ( Ancient Greek Κρόνος Krónos) was the leader and the youngest of the first generation of Titans, divine descendants Rhea ( ancient Greek) was the Titaness daughter of Uranus, the sky and Gaia, the earth in classical Greek mythology Mnemosyne (Greek, nɪˈmɒzɪni or /nɪˈmɒsəni/ (sometimes confused with Mneme or compared with Memoria For other uses see Themis (disambiguation. In Greek mythology, Hesiod mentions Themis (Θέμις among the six sons and six daughters of Gaia In Greek mythology, Crius ( Kreios (Κρεῖος the "Ram" was one of the Titans in the list given in Hesiod 's Theogony In Greek mythology, Iapetus, also Iapetos or Japetus (Ἰαπετός was a Titan, the son of Uranus and Gaia, and father For other uses of the name Eos see Eos (disambiguation. For the Slavic goddesses called the Auroras see The Zorya. In Greek mythology, Selene (Σελήνη " Moon " English sɛˈliːniː was an archaic Lunar deity and the daughter of the Titans Lētṓ ( Greek:, Λ&alphaτώ, Lato in Dorian Greek etymology and meaning disputed in Greek mythology, is a daughter of In Greek mythology, Asteria was a name attributed to five individuals Amazon Asteria was the sixth Amazon killed by Heracles when In Greek mythology, Atlas (Eng /'æt ləs/ Gk Ἄτλας was the primordial Titan who supported the heavens In Greek mythology, Prometheus (Προμηθεύς "forethought" is a Titan known for his wily intelligence who stole Fire from Zeus In Greek mythology, Epimetheus ( Greek) ("hindsight" literally "hind-thought" but in the manner of a fool looking behind while running In Greek mythology, Menoetius (Greek Menoitios) referred to several different people Greek mythology is the body of stories belonging to the ancient Greeks concerning their gods and Heroes the nature of the world and the origins and significance The Sun (Sol is the Star at the center of the Solar System. Greek (el ελληνική γλώσσα or simply el ελληνικά — "Hellenic" is an Indo-European language, spoken today by 15-22 million people mainly Latin ( lingua Latīna, laˈtiːna is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Homer often calls him simply Titan or Hyperion, while Hesiod (Theogony 371) and the Homeric Hymn separate him as a son of the Titans Hyperion and Theia (Hesiod) or Euryphaessa (Homeric Hymn) and brother of the goddesses Selene, the moon, and Eos, the dawn. Homer ( Ancient Greek:, Homēros) is a legendary ancient Greek epic Poet, traditionally said to be the author of the epic poems the In Greek mythology, the Titans ( Greek: Tītā́n; plural Tītânes) were a race of powerful Deities that ruled during the legendary Hyperion (Greek) is a Titan, the son of Gaia (Earth and Uranus (Sky Helios Hyperion, 'Sun High-one' Hesiod ( Greek: Hesiodos) was an early Greek Poet and Rhapsode, who presumably lived around 700 BCE Theogony ( Greek: Θεογονία theogonia = the birth of God(s is a Poem by Hesiod describing the origins and genealogies The thirty-three anonymous Homeric Hymns celebrating individual gods are a collection of ancient Greek Hymns "Homeric" in the sense that they employ the Hyperion (Greek) is a Titan, the son of Gaia (Earth and Uranus (Sky Helios Hyperion, 'Sun High-one' In Greek mythology, Theia, goddess or divine, (sometimes written Thea or Thia) also called Euryphaessa, wide-shining In Greek mythology, Theia, goddess or divine, (sometimes written Thea or Thia) also called Euryphaessa, wide-shining In Greek mythology, Selene (Σελήνη " Moon " English sɛˈliːniː was an archaic Lunar deity and the daughter of the Titans For other uses of the name Eos see Eos (disambiguation. For the Slavic goddesses called the Auroras see The Zorya. The names of these three were also the common Greek words for sun, moon and dawn.

Helios was imagined as a handsome god crowned with the shining aureole of the sun, who drove the chariot of the sun across the sky each day to earth-circling Oceanus and through the world-ocean returned to the East at night. A halo (ἅλως also known as a nimbus, Aureole, glory, or gloriole) is a ring of light that surrounds a person in art "Sun god" redirects here For the Ramsey Lewis album see Sun Goddess (album. Ocean (Ὠκεανός was believed to be the world-ocean in Classical antiquity, which the ancient Romans and Greeks considered to be Homer described Helios's chariot as drawn by solar bulls (Iliad xvi. Appearances of the Bull (also known as Taurus) in Mythology and worship are widespread in the ancient world The Iliad ( Greek: Ἰλιάς (Ancient Ιλιάδα (Modern is together with the Odyssey, one of two ancient 779); later Pindar described it as drawn by "fire-darting steeds" (Olympian Ode 7. Pindar (ˈpɪndɚ (or Pindarus, Greek:) (probably born 522 BC in Cynoscephalae a village in Boeotia; died 443 BC in Argos) was an Ancient 71). Still later, the horses were given fiery names: Pyrios, Aeos, Aethon, and Phlegon.

As time passed, Helios was increasingly identified with the god of light, Apollo. The equivalent of Helios in Roman mythology was Sol, specifically Sol Invictus. Roman mythology, or more appropriately Latin mythology, refers to the mythological beliefs of the Italic people inhabiting the region of Latium and its Sol Invictus ("Unconquered Sun" or more fully Deus Sol Invictus ("Unconquered Sun God" was the late Roman state Sun god.

Greek mythology

The best known story involving Helios is that of his son Phaëton, who attempted to drive his father's chariot but lost control and set the earth on fire. In Greek mythology, Phaëton or Phaethon (ˈfeɪətn or /ˈfeɪəθən/ (Φαέθων "shining" was the son of Helios ( Phoebus

Helios was sometimes referred to with the epithet Helios Panoptes ("the all-seeing"). In the story told in the hall of Alcinous in the Odyssey (viii. Alcinous or Alkínoös ( Gr) was in Greek mythology a son of Nausithous, or of Phaeax (son of Poseidon and The Odyssey ( Greek: Ὀδύσσεια or Odússeia) is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. 300ff), Aphrodite, the consort of Hephaestus secretly beds Ares, but all-seeing Helios spies on them and tells Hephaestus, who ensnares the two lovers in nets invisibly fine, to punish them. Hephaestus (hɨˈfiːstəs or /hɨˈfɛstəs/ Greek Hēphaistos) was a Greek god whose Roman equivalent was Vulcan. In Greek mythology, Ares ( Ancient Greek:, Μodern Greek Άρης) is the son of Zeus and Hera.

In the Odyssey, Odysseus and his surviving crew land on Thrinacia, an island sacred to the sun god, whom Circe names Hyperion rather than Helios. grc-Latn Odysseus or la Ulysses ( Greek grc-Latn Odysseus; Latin: la Ulixes or more commonly Ulysses) oʊˈdɪsiəs For Trinakria as an alternate name for modern Sicily and for its triskeles symbol also known as the island of the sun see Thrinakria. In Greek mythology, Circe ( sərsē; Greek Κίρκη Kírkē, falcon is a Queen Goddess (or sometimes a Nymph There, the sacred red cattle of the sun were kept:

“

You will now come to the Thrinacian island, and here you will see many herds of cattle and flocks of sheep belonging to the sun-god. There will be seven herds of cattle and seven flocks of sheep, with fifty heads in each flock. They do not breed, nor do they become fewer in number, and they are tended by the goddesses Phaethusa and Lampetia, who are children of the sun-god Hyperion by Neaera. This article is about the Greek Goddess for the bird genus see Large-billed Tern. In Greek mythology, Lampetia (Λαμπετίη or Λαμπετία ( English translation: "shining" was the daughter of Helios and Neaera Their mother when she had borne them and had done suckling them sent them to the Thrinacian island, which was a long way off, to live there and look after their father's flocks and herds. ^[1]”

Though Odysseus warns his men not to, they impiously kill and eat some of the cattle of the Sun. The guardians of the island, Helios' daughters, tell their father, and Helios appeals to Zeus, who destroys the ship and kills all the men except for Odysseus. Zeus (zjuːs in Greek: nominative: Zeús /zdeús/ genitive: Diós; Modern Greek /'zefs/ in Greek mythology

In one Greek vase painting, Helios appears riding across the sea in the cup of the Delphic tripod which appears to be a solar reference. Athenaeus in Deipnosophistae relates that, at the hour of sunset, Helios climbed into a great golden cup in which he passes from the Hesperides in the farthest west to the land of the Ethiops, with whom he passes the dark hours. Athenaeus ( Ancient Greek - Athếnaios Naukratios Latin Athenaeus Naucratita of Naucratis in Egypt Greek rhetorician and grammarian flourished The Deipnosophistae ( deipnon, "dinner" and sophistai, "professors" original Greek title, Deipnosophistai, English In Greek mythology, the Hesperides ( Greek:) are Nymphs who tend a blissful garden in a far western corner of the world located near the Atlas mountains While Heracles traveled to Erytheia to retrieve the cattle of Geryon, he crossed the Libyan desert and was so frustrated at the heat that he shot an arrow at Helios, the sun. In Greek mythology, Heracles or Herakles ("glory of Hera " or In Greek mythology, the Hesperides ( Greek:) are Nymphs who tend a blissful garden in a far western corner of the world located near the Atlas mountains In Greek mythology, Geryon ( Geryones, Geyron) son of Chrysaor and Callirrhoe and grandson of Medusa was a fearsome Libya ( ليبيا ar-Latn Lībiyā; Libyan vernacular: Lībya; Amazigh:) officially the Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Helios begged him to stop and Heracles demanded the golden cup which Helios used to sail across the sea every night, from the west to the east. Heracles used this golden cup to reach Erytheia. ^[2]

Solar Apollo with the radiant halo of Helios in a Roman floor mosaic, El Djem, Tunisia, late 2nd century

By the Oceanid Perse, Helios became the father of Aeëtes, Circe, and Pasiphaë. A halo (ἅλως also known as a nimbus, Aureole, glory, or gloriole) is a ring of light that surrounds a person in art El Djem (Latin Thysdrus) is a town in Mahdia Governorate, Tunisia, population 18302 (2004 census In Greek mythology, Aeëtes ( Greek: Αἰήτης was a son of the king-god Helios and the Nymph Perseis (a daughter of Oceanus In Greek mythology, Circe ( sərsē; Greek Κίρκη Kírkē, falcon is a Queen Goddess (or sometimes a Nymph In Greek mythology, Pasiphaë (English pəˈsɪfeɪiː Greek: Πασιφάη Pasipháē "wide-shining" was the daughter of Helios His other children are Phaethusa ("radiant"), Lampetia ("shining").

Helios and Apollo

Helios is sometimes identified with Apollo; "Different names may refer to the same being," Walter Burkert observes, "or else they may be consciously equated, as in the case of Apollo and Helios. "^[3]

In Homer, Apollo is clearly identified as a different god, a plague-dealer with a silver (not golden) bow and no solar features. Homer ( Ancient Greek:, Homēros) is a legendary ancient Greek epic Poet, traditionally said to be the author of the epic poems the

The earliest certain reference to Apollo identified with Helios appears in the surviving fragments of Euripides' play Phaethon in a speech near the end (fr 781 N²), Clymene, Phaethon's mother, laments that Helios has destroyed her child, that Helios whom men rightly call Apollo (the name Apollo is here understood to mean Apollon "Destroyer"). Euripides ( Ancient Greek:) (ca 480 BC–406 BC was the last of the three great tragedians of classical Athens (the other two being Aeschylus

By Hellenistic times Apollo had become closely connected with the sun in cult. This article focuses on the cultural aspects of the Hellenistic age for the historical aspects see Hellenistic period. This article discusses cult in the original and typically ancient sense of "religious practice" (cultus His epithet Phoebus "shining", drawn from Helios, was later also applied by Latin poets to the sun-god Sol. Phoebus (pronounced /ˈfiːbəs/ or /ˈfibəs/ is the Latin form of Greek Phoibos (Φοῖβος "Shining-one" a byname used in classical Latin ( lingua Latīna, laˈtiːna is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome.

Coin of Roman Emperor Constantine I depicting Sol Invictus/Apollo with the legend SOLI INVICTO COMITI, c. Flavius Valerius Aurelius Constantinus (27 February ca. 272 &ndash 22 May 337 commonly known as Constantine I, Constantine the Great, or Saint Constantine Sol Invictus ("Unconquered Sun" or more fully Deus Sol Invictus ("Unconquered Sun God" was the late Roman state Sun god. 315.

The identification became a commonplace in philosophic texts and appears in the writing of Parmenides, Empedocles, Plutarch and Crates of Thebes among others, as well as appearing in some Orphic texts. Parmenides of Elea ( Greek:, early 5th century BC was an Ancient Greek Philosopher born in Elea, a Greek city on the southern coast of Empedocles ( Greek:, ca 490–430 BC was a Greek Pre-Socratic Philosopher and a citizen of Agrigentum, a Greek colony in Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus ( Greek: Μέστριος Πλούταρχος c Crates (Κράτης of Thebes, was a Cynic philosopher who flourished c Pseudo-Eratosthenes writes about Orpheus in Catasterismi, section 24:

"But having gone down into Hades because of his wife and seeing what sort of things were there, he did not continue to worship Dionysus, because of whom he was famous, but he thought Helios to be the greatest of the gods, Helios whom he also addressed as Apollo. Catasterismi ( Greek Καταστερισμοί, "placings Orpheus ( Greek: Ὀρφεύς ˈɔrfiəs ( OHR-fee-uhs) or /ˈɔrfjuːs/ ( OHR'-fews) in English is a figure from Greek mythology born in Catasterismi ( Greek Καταστερισμοί, "placings Hades (from Greek, Hadēs, originally, Haidēs or, Aidēs, probably from Indo-European *n̥-wid- 'unseen' refers both to the ancient In Classical mythology, Dionysus or Dionysos (in Greek, Διόνυσος or Διώνυσος; associated with Roman Rousing himself each night toward dawn and climbing the mountain called Pangaion, he would await the sun's rising, so that he might see it first. Therefore Dionysus, being angry with him, sent the Bassarides, as Aeschylus the tragedian says; they tore him apart and scattered the limbs. Aeschylus (ˈɛskɨləs or /ˈiːskɨləs/ Greek: Ασχύλος, Aischylos, 525 BC/524 BC 456 BC/455 BC was an ancient Greek Playwright "

Dionysus and Asclepius are sometimes also identified with this Apollo Helios. Asclepius (pronounced /æsˈkliːpiːəs/, Greek, transliterated Asklēpiós; Latin Aesculapius) is the god of Medicine

Classical Latin poets also used Phoebus as a byname for the sun-god, whence come common references in later European poetry to Phoebus and his car ("chariot") as a metaphor for the sun. But in particular instances in myth, Apollo and Helios are distinct. The sun-god, the son of Hyperion, with his sun chariot, though often called Phoebus ("shining") is not called Apollo except in purposeful non-traditional identifications. Phoebus (pronounced /ˈfiːbəs/ or /ˈfibəs/ is the Latin form of Greek Phoibos (Φοῖβος "Shining-one" a byname used in classical Roman poets often referred to the sun god as Titan.

Despite these identifications, Apollo was never actually described by the Greek poets driving the chariot of the sun, although it was common practice among Latin poets.

Cult of Helios

L. R. Farnell assumed "that sun-worship had once been prevalent and powerful among the people of the pre-Hellenic culture, but that very few of the communities of the later historic period retained it as a potent factor of the state religion. The name Pelasgians (from Ancient Greek grc Πελασγοί Pelasgoí, singular Πελασγός Pelasgós) was used by some ancient Greek "^[4] Our largely Attic literary sources tend to give us an unavoidable Athenian bias when we look at ancient Greek religion, and "no Athenian could be expected to worship Helios or Selene," J. Burnet observes, "but he might think them to be gods, since Helios was the great god of Rhodes and Selene was worshiped at Elis and elsewhere. "^[5] James A. Notopoulos considers Burnet's an artificial distinction: "To believe in the existence of the gods involves acknowledgment through worship, as Laws 87 D, E shows" (note, p. The Laws is Plato 's last and longest Dialogue. The question asked at the beginning is not "What is law?" as one would expect- that is the question 264). ^[6] Aristophanes' Peace (406-13) contrasts the worship of Helios and Selene with that of the more essentially Greek Twelve Olympians, as the representative gods of the Achaemenid Persians; all the evidence shows that Helios and Selene were minor gods to the Greeks. Aristophanes (Ἀριστοφάνης ˌærɪˈstɒfəniːz in English ca The Twelve Olympians, also known as the Dodekatheon ( Greek: Δωδεκάθεον The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenid Persian Empire ( haχɒmaneʃijɒn (558–330 BC was the first of the Persian Empires to rule over significant portions of ^[7]

"The island of Rhodes is almost the only place where Helios enjoys an important cult", Burkert asserts (p 174), instancing a spectacular rite in which a quadriga, a chariot drawn by four horses, is driven over a precipice into the sea, with its overtones of the plight of Phaethon noted. Rhodes (Ρόδος Ródos, ˈɾo̞ðo̞s Rodi ردوس Rodos; Ladino: Rodi or Rodes) is a Greek island This article discusses cult in the original and typically ancient sense of "religious practice" (cultus SpecialContributions/ --> A quadriga ( Latin quadri-, four and jungere, to yoke is a car There annual gymnastic tournaments were held in his honor. The Colossus of Rhodes was dedicated to him. Helios also had a significant cult on the acropolis of Corinth on the Greek mainland. Acrocorinth (Ακροκόρινθος the Acropolis of Ancient Corinth, is a monolithic rock overseeing the ancient city of Corinth Greece.

The tension between the mainstream traditional religious veneration of Helios, which had become enriched with ethical values and poetical symbolism in Pindar, Aeschylus and Sophocles,^[8] and the Ionian proto-scientific examination of Helios the Sun, a phenomenon of the study Greeks termed meteora, clashed in the trial of Anaxagoras^[9] ca 450 BCE, a forerunner of the culturally traumatic trial of Socrates for irreligion, in 399. Pindar (ˈpɪndɚ (or Pindarus, Greek:) (probably born 522 BC in Cynoscephalae a village in Boeotia; died 443 BC in Argos) was an Ancient Aeschylus (ˈɛskɨləs or /ˈiːskɨləs/ Greek: Ασχύλος, Aischylos, 525 BC/524 BC 456 BC/455 BC was an ancient Greek Playwright Sophocles (ˈsɒfəkliːz Ancient Greek, sopʰoklɛ̂ːs circa Anaxagoras ( Greek: Ἀναξαγόρας c 500 BC &ndash 428 BC was a Pre-Socratic Greek philosopher famous for introducing the Cosmological The trial of Socrates refers to the Trial and the subsequent execution of the Athenian Philosopher Socrates in 399 BC.

In Plato's Republic (516B), Helios, the Sun, is the symbolic offspring of the idea of the Good. Biography Early life Birth and family Plato was born in Athens Greece The Republic ( Greek: / Politeía, meaning "political system" Latin: Res Publica, meaning "public business" or

Helios Megistos

In Late Antiquity a cult of Helios Megistos ("Great Helios") drew to the image of Helios a number of syncretic elements, which have been analysed in detail by Wilhelm Fauth by means of a series of late Greek texts, namely: ^[10] an Orphic Hymn to Helios; the so-called Mithras Liturgy, where Helios rules the elements; spells and incantations invoking Helios among the Greek Magical Papyri; a Hymn to Helios by Proclus; Julian's Oration to Helios, the last stand of official paganism; and an episode in Nonnus' Dionysiaca. Late Antiquity (c 300-600 is a Periodization used by historians to describe the transitional centuries from Classical Antiquity to the Middle Ages, in Syncretism consists of the attempt to reconcile disparate or contradictory beliefs often while melding practices of various schools of thought Orphism (more rarely Orphicism) is the name given to a set of religious beliefs and practices in the ancient Greek and Thracian world associated with literature The Mithraic Mysteries or Mysteries of Mithras (also Mithraism) was a Roman mystery religion which became popular among the military in the late The Greek Magical Papyri (papyri is plural of Papyrus) (commonly abbreviated to PGM from the Latin title Papyri Graecae Magicae) is a collective term for a collection Proclus Lycaeus ( February 8, c 411 &ndash April 17, 485) called "The Successor" or "Diadochos" ( Greek Próklos Flavius Claudius Julianus, known also as Julian or Julian the Apostate (331 or 332 to 26 June 363) was Roman Emperor (Caesar Theophanes Nonnus was a Byzantine physician For the saint of this name see Saint Nonnus. Theophanes Nonnus was a Byzantine physician For the saint of this name see Saint Nonnus.

Consorts/Children

Epithets

• Terpsimbrotos

See also

• Sun worship
• Sun chariot

Notes

References

• Walter Burkert, 1982. Walter Burkert (born Neuendettelsau, Bavaria, February 2, 1931) a scholar of Greek mythology and cult, is an emeritus Greek Religion.
• Konrad Schauenburg, 1955. Helios: Archäologisch-mythologische Studien über den antiken (Mann)
• Karl Kerenyi. One of the founders of modern studies in Greek mythology, Károly (Carl Karl Kerényi ( January 19, 1897 &ndash April 14 1973 Apollo: The Wind, the Spirit, and the God: Four Studies
• Karl Kerenyi, 1951. The Gods of the Greeks, "The Sun, the Moon and their Family" pp 190-94 et passim.

External links

• Theoi Project, Helios references to the god in classical literature and art
• Greek Mythology Link, Helius summary of Helius myths
• Helios in the Sepphoris Synagogue Mosaic