Helios

**Helios** (Ancient Greek Ἥλιος, *Hḗlios*, lit. "sun") is the Greek god and personification of the Sun. He is the only son of Hyperion and Theia, brother to the moon goddess Selene and the dawn goddess Eos, father to Circe, Pasiphae, Aeetes and grandfather to Medea, Ariadne and Phaedra.

In myth, Helios drives his sun-chariot everyday, and he is presented as a god who can heal sight (somewhat contradictorily to his solar nature) and witness everything from above. He is often identified with Apollo, like his sister Selene is often identified with Apollo's twin sister Artemis.

His Roman equivalent is the god Sol.

## Miscellaneous Myths

### Heracles

One of Heracles’ labours was to take the red cattle of Geryon who lived across the Libyan desert. The heat was so intense that an exhausted Heracles fired an arrow at Helios, who, rather than getting angry, was impressed with the hero’s courage and happily lent him his sun chariot in order to continue his way.

### Orion

The giant Orion was invited over by King Oenopion of Chios to his palace, but Orion got drunk and attacked the king's daughter Merope. The king answered by blinding Orion; he wandered for sometime until he found Hephaestus, who gave him a servant to guide him around. Eventually Orion travelled east and met Helios. Helios then healed Orion's wounded eyes, restoring his lost eyesight.

### Nerites

In the version where Nerites became the lover of Poseidon, it was Helios (rather than Aphrodite) who, for no reason whatsoever, turned Nerites into a shrimp one day, perhaps out of jealousy.

### Hades and Persephone

When Hades kidnapped Persephone, Helios was the one to witness it. When Demeter and Hecate came to him, he reported everything he saw, informed her that it was Zeus’s idea. To comfort Demeter, he says that Hades wouldn’t be a bad son-in-law, as he is the eldest son of Cronus and the ruler of an entire realm, the Underworld.

### Endymion

Helios appears briefly, as it’s explained how he came to be conflated with Apollo, the way his sister Selene was conflated with Apollo’s sister Artemis. The transition was smoother compared to that of their sisters, since "Apollo's primary defining feature was that he liked music and pretty girls, not exactly the most restrictive characterization", whereas the girls ran into some characterization issues, as Artemis was a sworn virgin, while Selene was not. This is depicted as Apollo happily holding the Sun (with Helios entirely out of the picture) while Artemis and Selene fight over the Moon.

### Aphrodite's Affair

Aphrodite often cheated on her husband Hephaestus with his brother Ares. While the two lovers tried to hide their affair, Helios noticed them from his advantageous position up above, and informed Hephaestus, noting that this was not a surprising behavior for a goddess of sex and love like Aphrodite.

### Medea

Helios doesn’t appear, but it’s mentioned that it was him who gifted the dress and jewelry to his granddaughter Medea that she later gives to Princess Glauce, as well as the golden chariot Medea uses at the end to escape from Jason.

### The Zodiac

While discussing how a lot of Heracles' labours are connected to several constellations, Red says that not all of them have a clear connection. Nevertheless she notes that Geryon (whose cattle Heracles is tasked to steal) lives in Erytheia, the island of the sunset, and Heracles only gets there after Helios lent him his sun chariot; Heracles is carried by the sun to the island where the sun sets, perhaps a remnant of an old myth where a hero follows the path of the sun to their destination.

## Classics Summarized

### The Odyssey

Helios doesn’t appear physically in the video, but Tiresias warns Odysseus not to harm his sacred cows (“no touchy”) or his crewmates would all die and he himself would get home back to Ithaca very late. Once however he and his crew reach Thrinacia (“Also spelled ‘the island of the Sun’”) his crew slaughter and eat his cattle despite his warnings. When they leave, Zeus destroys the ship with a thunderbolt.

## Physical appearance

Helios is a gold-coloured god, wearing a sun crown and a long cloak.

## Appearances

Endymion

Heracles

Nerites

The Five Suns (cameo)

Orion

The Zodiac

Hades and Persephone

Aphrodite's Affair

## Notes

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 This is a misconception however; Helios actually gave Heracles the ***cup*** he uses to travel from west to east each night, not his sun chariot.