![]() ![]() Helios was sometimes called Helios Hyperion, and both Homer and the poet Hesiod call him Hyperion’s son. Phaethon means “Shining One” as you might expect of the sun’s child, and he has not only the sun as a father, but the Titan Hyperion (High One) as his grandfather. This ability of his could be inconvenient he spotted Aphrodite’s affair with Ares, and he was able to tell Demeter that Hades had kidnapped her daughter. ![]() Like most sun-deities, he was all-seeing, so that oaths were sworn to Zeus, the Earth and Helios. Zeus had to intervene, and killed him with a lightning bolt. Unfortunately, Phaethon was unable to control the sun’s horses, and his driving became so erratic he was in danger of burning up the earth. Helios, against his better judgement, agreed. The boy wanted to prove that his father was indeed the sun, and asked to drive the sun’s chariot so that all could see who his father was. The god turned her into a doe.Īpart from the cattle, the best-known story about Helios is the tale of Phaethon, his son. Helios took more direct action against the huntress Arge, who boasted she would catch a stag even if had the speed of Helios. Zeus comes through for the sun, sending a lightning bolt down and killing all but Odysseus. ![]() Helios’s response is interesting like Demeter, he attacks indirectly, telling Zeus he will go shine in the underworld unless something is done. In the Odyssey, when his cattle are stolen Helios has to convince Zeus to raise a storm to punish the thieves. Unlike Apollo, he is too predictable to need buying-off. The problem that Helios faces is that he is the sun his name means “sun” and his role in Greek myth is to rise, shine and set every day. (I was a bit disappointed in Alex Trebeck.) I remember once watching Jeopardy with friends and being unable to convince anyone that Helios was the sun-god, not Apollo. Compared to the oracle-god and plague-sender Apollo, he gets hardly any. Helios, the Greek sun-god, doesn’t get much press. ![]()
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