Helios

Helios (Ἥλιος in Ancient Greek) was formerly the Titan of the sun, before he faded due to the laziness of the Romans after which his duty of driving the sun chariot was passed on to Apollo. The death of his demigod son Phaëton was a major factor in this, as he loved him very much. Helios was the son of Hyperion and Theia, brother of Selene, the moon and Eos, the dawn.

History
The best known story involving Helios is that of his son Phaëton (Φαέθων in Ancient Greek), who begged his father to let him drive the sun chariot. Helios agreed, albeit reluctantly and granted the wish of his son who soon after lost control over the immortal horses and set the earth aflame, scorching the African plains to desert. Zeus, appalled by the destruction that was caused blasted the youth out of the chariot with one of his lightningbolts. Phaethons flaming body was hurled from the sky and right into the river Eridanos. His sisters gathered on the banks of the river, mourning over their brother's demise and transformed into amber-teared poplar trees. After his death the boy was either placed among the stars as the constellation Auriga (the charioteer) or became the god of the wandering star (the planet Jupiter or Saturn).

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.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 to punish them.

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. 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. 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."

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.

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. 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. 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.

Powers
Like his father Hyperion he could move at the speed of light. He could bend light to his will be it as offensive golden blasts or a translucent protective barriers as well as control fire and heat. Helios could turn himself and others invisible with being Titan of sight as well as blind someone or restore sight. The Titan of the sun was considered nearly omniscient as he saw and heard everything (e.g. Persephone being kidnapped and Aphrodite's adultry), most likely he could forsee the future as well. Helios was considered an impecable archer and may have had dominion over oaths.

Consorts and Children

 * By the Oceanid Perse, Helios became the father of Aegea, Aeëtes, Circe, and Pasiphaë and Perses.


 * By the Oceanid Clymene he became the father of the Heliades, Astris and Phaethon.


 * By the nymph Neaera he became the father of Phaethusa ("radiant") and Lampetia ("shining").


 * By his sister Selene he became the father of the 4 Horae (seasons) and the 12 Horae (hours).


 * By Aigle he may have been the father of the Graces.


 * By Rhode his wife and daughter of Poseidon he became the father of the Heliadae and Electryone.


 * By the Oceanid Ocyrrhoe he became the father of Phasis.


 * By Leucothoe he became the father of Thersanon.


 * By Nausidame he became the father of Augeas, one of the Argonauts.


 * By undetermined mothers he was the father of Aegiale, Aithon, Aix, Aloeus, Camirus and Mausolus.

Appearance
Although he has faded and never made any appearance in the the series, Helios was imagined as a handsome youth crowned with the shining aureole of the sun, most of the time seen on his chariot.

Trivia

 * The Colossus of Rhodes was one of the ancient seven wonders of the world and a representation of the Titan of the sun, built between 292 and 280 BC it stood 107 ft tall making it one of the tallest statues of the ancient world.
 * The centre of Helios' worship was on the isle Rhodes.
 * Helios was married to Rhode, nymph of Rhodes and daughter of Poseidon.
 * Helium is a chemical element that can be found in the sun, therefore it was named after the Greek word for sun, which is Helios.
 * The early Christian Church eagerly promoted Jesus-Helios-Sol sun symbolism to appease the Roman emperor Constantine who was the high priest of Sol Invictus all through his reign. The sun symbolism continues to the present day on robes, banners, icons, behind the cross in a ray of light, flames coming from the heart of Jesus, etc. Priests even bow and kiss a monstrance which is a gold statue of the sun on a pedestal during processions.