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Helios is the young Greek god of the sun, often confused with
Apollo. He is the son of the Titans Hyperion and Theia and the
brother of Eos (Dawn) and Selene (Moon). By the Oceanid Perse, he
became the father of Aeetes, Circe, and Pasiphae. His other two
daughters are Phaethusa ("radiant") and Lampetia ("shining").
At the end of each night his sister, rosy-fingered Eos (Dawn),
rises from her couch in the east and, mounted on a chariot pulled
by the horses Lampus and Phaethon, she rides to Olympus to
announce the approach of her brother, Helios. Once Helios appears
Eos becomes Hemera (Day) and escorts him on his travels across the
sky until, becoming Hespera, she announces their safe arrival on
the western shores of Oceanus.
Roused by the rooster, his sacred animal, he leaves his splendid
palace in the far east and daily travels his four-horse chariot
across the Heavens, until finally he reaches an
equally-magnificent palace in the far west. The palaces were built
by Hephaestus in gratitude for being rescued by Helios when the
Giants overwhelmed him during their attack on Olympus. His chariot
is pulled by four horses - Pyrois, Eos, Aethon and Phlegon - and
often others (see bottom of page).
At the end of the day Helios lets his horses graze and rest in the
Islands of the Blessed. Afterwards he sails home along the great
stream called Oceanus, which flows around the entire world. To get
back to his far east palace, Hephaestus crafted a golden
ferry-boat for the sun god and his chariot and horse team to use,
and Helios sleeps comfortably in his royal cabin on their nightly
voyage on Oceanus.
Helios sees and knows all that happens on earth, and was often
called upon as witness, but is not always very observant - some of
the companions of the Trojan War hero, Odysseus, once had the
nerve to steal some of his sacred cattle, and Helios actually
failed to notice it! Probably because he had several herds of such
cattle, each herd numbering three hundred and fifty head.
Represented as a handsome youth with a halo standing in a chariot,
his usual attributes are the rooster, the whip and the globe. His
island is beautiful Rhodes, where the worshipful natives in his
honor built the Colossus of Rhodes, an awesome statue that
straddled the harbor entrance and under whose legs all ships, even
the tallest, easily passed. It was the sixth of the seven wonders
of the ancient world. Some have said that the Colossus of Rhodes
was dedicated in honor of Apollo, god of light, with whom Helios
was often confused.
In addition to Rhodes, Zeus also added the island of Sicily to the
dominion of Helios. This island was a missile that was tossed in
the battle with the Giants and had formed Sicily upon landing.
PHAETHON & HELIOS
Phaethon was the son of Helios and Clymene
(or some say Rhode), but didn't know the identity of his real
father since his mother now lived with Merops, who was King of
Ethiopia. He did know that he was adopted by the King, and he
badgered his mother until she revealed to him that his father
truly was the sun god. She told Phaethon that he could verify
this if he were to visit his father's nearby palace and pose the
question to him directly.
The youth did just that and once he told Helios who he was, the
sun god stood and lovingly embraced him. Feeling guilty
because he had ignored his young son all those years, he swore
an oath by the sacred river Styx that Phaethon could have
whatever he wanted. Name your gift, son.
Phaethon impulsively replied that what he wanted most was to
drive his father's golden chariot across the sky, much to the
dismay of Helios. He knew that the inexperienced boy wouldn't be
able to control the frisky team and he took his job very
seriously. Not wanting to jeopardize the safety of both the
earth and his son, Helios begged his boy to name another wish.
To no avail. Phaethon wanted to impress his sisters and show
them what a high stature he had attained. He insisted that his
father honor the oath, and since a god cannot break an oath
sworn by Styx without suffering terrible consequences, Helios
reluctantly agreed to his son's request.
Phaethon's sisters helped him yoke
his father's white horses and offered encouraging words to their
beloved brother. But the youth was inexperienced and in his
excitement at this incredible ride soon lost control of the
strong steeds. They sensed that there was a stranger at the
reins and felt free to go wherever they wished, seeing as their
new driver didn't follow the usual path.
Flying too far from the earth, they caused the inhabitants to
freeze and shiver as the sun chariot flew higher and higher, and
all the plants began to shrivel and die. But at once plunging
down and flying too close to the earth, they scorched and burned
the people and landscape, causing terrible grief and hysteria.
Zeus heard the anguished cries of the people and, seeing the
runaway team of horses pulling the sun, with a terrified
Phaethon clinging on for dear life, became very angry. Gaea
(Mother Earth), distressed at the danger her realm was in,
beseeched Zeus to do something to stop it. Knowing that if he
didn't act quickly all life on earth was in serious peril, Zeus
chased after the sun chariot on his eagle and, quickly catching
up to it, hurled one of his fearsome thunderbolts at Phaethon,
striking the foolish young man dead.
The incompetent Phaethon tumbled from the sky into either the
river Po or the river Eridanus, and there the Naiads, who were
Nymphs of the water, carved his epitaph:
"Here lies Phaethon: In Helios' car he
fared
And though he greatly failed, more greatly dared."
(Ovid, Metamorphoses)
Because of this catastrophe it have been
said that one entire day went without the sun, but still light
was not lacking because the world was burning so brightly from
the close fly-by of Phaethon. His mother Clymene wandered the
entire earth looking for his limbs and bones and his best
friend, King Cycnus of Liguria, mourned so much for his dead
friend that he abandoned his kingdom and went weeping along the
river Eridanus until finally he was turned into a swan.
Phaeton's grieving sisters, the Heliades, were changed
into either poplar trees or alder trees and they reside on the
banks of the river, where they endlessly weep amber tears.
SOME SHORT HELIOS STORIES
There was a violent disagreement between
two men named Atreus and Thyestes, with Zeus taking the side of
Atreus over the other man. At stake was the kingdom of Mycenae,
a rich and powerful place. Zeus sent a message to Helios, that
he should reverse his course at the appointed time. He then told
Atreus to make Thyestes swear that he would give up any claims
to the throne if a divine miracle, such as the sun going
backwards, would occur.
Not believing this possible, Thyestes agreed, whereupon Helios
turned his horses around and raced towards the dawn, as
the seven Pleiades, and all the other stars, retraced their
courses in accord with the sun god. That was the first and only
day that the sun set in the east.
When Zeus desired to lay with a mortal woman named Alcmene so
that he could father Heracles (Hercules), he commanded Helios to
take three days off. He wanted to turn one night into three
because he knew the creation of such a great hero as Heracles
could not be rushed. Helios wasn't happy about this but he would
never think to disobey the King of the Olympians, so grudgingly
he unyoked his team after quenching the solar fires and spent
the time in his palace, grumbling about not doing his job
properly. Zeus next had Selene (Moon) go slowly and Hypnos
(Sleep) to make the world so drowsy that nobody noticed this
strange occurrence.
Speaking of Heracles, one day the greatest of Greek heroes was
busy working and the heat of Helios' beams on his body made him
very uncomfortable. Heracles strung his bow and let fly an arrow
at Helios, but immediately realized his mistake and apologized
profusely to the sun god. Equally courteous, Helios then gave
Heracles a golden goblet, shaped like a water-lily, which he
used to sail across the great Oceanus.
One time the sea god Poseidon got into a dispute with Helios
over ownership of Corinth, a rich region of Greece. The argument
was left to Zeus to decide and the King of the Olympians ruled
that Helios could keep the Acropolis of Corinth and Poseidon
would possess the Isthmus of Corinth, which greatly displeased
the god of the sea.
Since Helios sees everything that happens during the daytime he
was the one to inform Hephaestus that his wife Aphrodite was
being unfaithful with Ares. Acting on this information,
Hephaestus fashioned a net so fine it was nearly invisible, but
strong as steel, and captured the two love birds in bed. To
punish Helios for being such a big-mouth, Aphrodite caused him
to fall in love with a mortal beauty named Leucothoe, and his
seduction of her led to her death.
It was Helios the all-seeing to whom Demeter turned for
information when she was seeking her kidnapped daughter,
Persephone. She forced him to admit that indeed it was Hades,
god of the Underworld, who had forcibly taken away Demeter's
daughter, with the tacit approval of his brother Zeus. In anger
she withdrew her services and the earth began to wither and die
while Demeter wandered the earth in search of Persephone.
Another time the Giants attacked Mount Olympus and threatened to
overthrow Zeus. These Giants were long-haired and bearded and
had serpent tails for feet. Sons of Mother Earth (Gaea), the
Giants numbered twenty-four. Told that he had to find a certain
herb of invulnerability before his enemies, Zeus commanded
Helios and his sister Selene, the moon goddess, to stop shining
for a while. Under the cover of darkness, guided only by the
feeble light of the stars, Zeus groped around the earth until he
found the plant and brought it safely to Olympus. Shortly
thereafter the Giants were defeated.
One of the worst things a mortal could do was to compare
themselves to a god, and Helios was no different in resenting
such stupid boasts. Even though he wasn't a mean god, still he
felt he had to punish those who disrespected the Olympian gods.
A huntress named Arge was quite full of herself and in her mind
thought that she was the fastest being alive. One time, while
pursuing a stag, this vain woman claimed that she would catch it
even if it ran as fast as Helios. To punish her for this
thoughtless boast, Helios turned Arge into a doe.
THE HORSES OF HELIOS (AND APOLLO)
Lampos, Actaeon, Chronos, Aethon, Asterope, Bronte, Pyroeis,
Phaeton, Erythreos, and Phlegon are
some of the many winged steeds that are the residents of Helios'
Sun-stables. Pegasus,
when not in attendance with the Muses or bearing Zeus'
thunderbolts in a storm, often resides here as well.
Phaeton was so named in honor of the deceased son of Helios
(Sol) by the same name. Aethion
('fiery red'), Asterope ('starry eyed'), Bronte ('thunder'), and Phlegon
('the burning') most
often drive Helios' chariot, while Lampos
('torch') and Actaeon
('effulgence') are
used by Apollo for his own sun-chariot.
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