Helios in the ancient sources

Ancient Sources / Figures / Helios

33 passages from 8 ancient authors that tell of Helios, in the original with English translation, author by author in the order the Greeks read them. Helios drove the sun's chariot across the sky each day. See his Titan parents, sisters Selene and Eos, and children of Perse, Clymene, Rhode, and Clytie. For the story in one place, read our article on Helios.

Hesiod (2)

Hesiod, Theogony 370–404Children of Hyperion and Crius; Styx and her sons (370-404)Theia bears Helios, Selene and Eos to Hyperion, and Eos bears the winds and the morning star; Crius and Eurybia's sons include Astraeus, Pallas and Perses. Styx, daughter of Oceanus, bears to Pallas Zelus, Nike, Cratos and Bia, and Zeus honours her as the great oath of the gods because she was first to support him against the Titans. The section ends as Phoebe comes to the embrace of Coeus.
Hesiod, Theogony 930–959Poseidon, Ares, Hermes, Dionysus and Heracles (930-959)Poseidon and Amphitrite have Triton, and Aphrodite bears Panic and Fear to Ares, and Harmonia, whom Cadmus marries. Maia bears Hermes, Semele bears Dionysus and Alcmene bears Heracles, who is finally wed to Hebe and lives among the gods. Hephaestus marries Aglaea, Dionysus marries Ariadne, and Perseis bears Circe and Aeetes to Helios, with Aeetes' daughter Medea at the end.

Homer (8)

Homer, Odyssey 12.329–402The slaughter of the cattle of the SunWhile Odysseus sleeps, Eurylochus persuades the men to kill the best of the cattle of the Sun, and they feast for six days. Lampetia tells Helios, who in anger threatens to shine among the dead, and Zeus promises to wreck their ship. On the seventh day the wind drops, and they put to sea, but the omens, the hides creeping and the meat lowing on the spits, are terrible.
Homer, Odyssey 12.260–328The cattle of the SunHaving escaped the rocks, Charybdis and Scylla, they come to the island of the Sun. From the ship Odysseus hears the cattle and the sheep, and recalls the warnings of Teiresias and Circe, and wants to sail past the island. Eurylochus objects, and the men land and swear not to touch the herds, but a south wind blows for a month, and their stores give out.
Homer, The Homeric Hymns 2.1–86Hymn 2 to Demeter (1): the abduction of PersephonePersephone is gathering flowers in a meadow when the earth opens and Hades seizes her and carries her away in his chariot. Her mother Demeter hears her cry, searches the earth for nine days with torches, and learns the truth from Hecate and from Helios, who tells her that Zeus gave Persephone to Hades.
Homer, The Homeric Hymns 3.300–439Hymn 3 to Apollo (4): the she-dragon and the Cretan shipAt Crisa, under Mount Parnassus, Apollo shoots the monstrous she-dragon that has been a plague to men and flocks, and punishes the spring of Telphusa for deceiving him. He then looks for men to serve his temple, sees a ship of Cretans from Cnossos sailing to Pylos, and leaps aboard in the form of a dolphin to steer it to Crisa.
Homer, The Homeric Hymns 30.1–33.19Hymns 30 to 33: Earth, Helios, Selene and the DioscuriFour hymns to cosmic and heroic figures. Earth, mother of all, feeds every creature and gives or takes away the means of life, and Helios drives his chariot, the son of Hyperion and Euryphaessa. Selene, the Moon, rides with a radiance that fills the sky, and the Dioscuri, Castor and Polydeuces, are saviours of ships in storms.
Homer, Odyssey 8.256–369The song of Ares and AphroditeAlcinous has the lyre fetched, and the young Phaeacians dance while Odysseus watches. Demodocus sings of how Hephaestus caught his wife Aphrodite in bed with Ares, trapping them in a net of fine bronze chains, and called the gods to see. Hermes and Apollo joke about it, and Poseidon persuades Hephaestus to set Ares free, and Ares goes off to Thrace and Aphrodite to Paphos. Odysseus is delighted at the song.
Homer, Odyssey 12.1–141Circe's counselAfter they leave the river of Ocean and return to Aeaea, Odysseus buries Elpenor, and Circe comes to them with food and wine. She tells him in private of the dangers ahead: the Sirens, whom they must pass with their ears stopped with wax, and the wandering rocks. She describes Scylla and Charybdis, and tells him to choose Scylla's side, and to leave the cattle of the Sun untouched.
Homer, Odyssey 19.164–316The stranger's tale of CreteOdysseus says that he comes from Crete, that his name is Aethon and that he is the younger brother of Idomeneus, and that he once entertained Odysseus in Crete when the wind drove him toward Troy. Penelope weeps, and tests him, asking what clothes Odysseus wore, and he describes the purple cloak with the golden brooch and the tunic that shone like the skin of an onion. He then says that Odysseus is alive in Thesprotia and will return, but Penelope does not believe him.

Euripides (1)

Euripides, Medea 627–758Second choral song; Aegeus promises Medea refuge in AthensThe Chorus prays that love may come in moderation and that it may never be exiled from its own country, since no sorrow is worse than the loss of a fatherland. Aegeus, on his way home from the oracle at Delphi where he asked how he might have a child, meets Medea and hears her story. She offers to cure his childlessness, and he swears by Earth and the sun-god Helios to give her refuge and never to give her up to her enemies.

Apollonius Rhodius (5)

Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica 4.552–684Zeus' anger and the voyage to Circe's islandZeus is angry at the murder, and the speaking beam of Argo says that Circe must cleanse them. Argo sails up the Eridanus, where Phaethon fell, and through the Rhodanus, with Hera guiding them, past the Stoechades to the Tyrrhenian coast. They come to Aeaea and see Circe washing her hair.
Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica 4.885–981The Sirens, the Wandering Rocks and ScyllaAt dawn the Argonauts leave Aeaea; Orpheus drowns out the Sirens' song with his lyre, though Butes dives in and is saved by Cypris. The Nereids pass Argo through the Wandering Rocks, with Hera and Hephaestus watching, and the heroes sail on past Thrinacia and the cattle of Helios.
Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica 3.299–438The banquet and Aeetes' demandsAt the banquet Aeetes questions his grandsons, and Argus tells how his ship was wrecked and why the Argonauts have come. Aeetes grows angry and agrees to give up the Fleece only if Jason will yoke the fire-breathing bulls, plough the field of Ares and sow the dragon's teeth, and Jason accepts.
Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica 4.212–349Aeetes' pursuit and the route homeAeetes learns of Medea's flight and sends the Colchian fleet in pursuit, and the Argonauts sacrifice to Hecate on the coast of Paphlagonia. Argus advises a different way home by the river Ister, and a heavenly sign confirms it, but Apsyrtus' fleet takes a shorter way. The Argonauts, meeting them at the Brygean islands, agree that Jason keeps the Fleece and Medea is held in trust until a king decides her fate.
Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica 4.685–782Circe purifies Jason and MedeaAt Aeaea Circe, daughter of Helios, purifies Jason and Medea of the murder. When she learns the whole story she drives them from her house with reproaches. Hera sends Iris to fetch Thetis and to ask Hephaestus and Aeolus to help Argo.

Theocritus (1)

Theocritus, Idylls 25.1–137Idyll 25: Heracles at the farm of AugeasHeracles, in his lion's skin, is answered by an old husbandman of the estate of Augeas, who tells him about the lands and the work there and asks whom he has come to find. Augeas' son Phyleus leads him to the farm, where the dogs, the stalls and the countless herds of cattle and sheep are shown.

Diodorus Siculus (3)

Diodorus Siculus, Library of History, Books 4 to 6 (the Greek myths) 5.55.1–5.59.6Rhodes: the Telchines, the Heliadae and later settlersThe Telchines first lived on Rhodes, followed by the children of Helius and Rhodos, the Heliadae, who are famed for their learning and for their sacrifice without fire. The historian tells of the killing of Tenages and Danaüs's visit to Lindus, and of the later settlers Phorbas, Althaemenes and Tlepolemus.
Diodorus Siculus, Library of History, Books 4 to 6 (the Greek myths) 4.45.1–4.49.8The Argonauts II: Colchis, Medea and the golden fleeceThe historian explains the custom of the Colchi of killing strangers by the story of Aeëtes and his brother Perses, and gives the traditions about Medea and about Phrixus and the ram with the golden fleece. With Medea's help the Argonauts take the fleece; the king of the Colchi falls in the fighting, and the chiefs sail home by way of Byzantium and Troy.
Diodorus Siculus, Library of History, Books 4 to 6 (the Greek myths) 5.19.1–5.23.5The Atlantic island, Britain and the amber islandThe historian describes a large fruitful island out in the ocean west of Libya, found by Phoenician traders and kept in reserve by the Carthaginians. The account then moves to Europe: Britain, its size and its tribes, then its tin, and finally the island Basileia where amber is washed up.

Ovid (1)

Ovid, Metamorphoses 2.1–100The palace of the Sun; Phaethon's requestPhaethon comes to the palace of the Sun, with its columns of gold and its doors of silver, and stands before the god, who sits in splendour surrounded by the Day, the Month, the Year, the Hours and the Seasons. Helios, the Sun ('Phoebus' in More's translation), embraces him as his son and swears by the Styx to grant whatever he asks, and Phaethon asks to drive the chariot for a day. The Sun tries to dissuade him, describing the steep ascent, the beasts of the zodiac and the speed of the sky.

Nonnus of Panopolis (12)

Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 38.103–211Book 38: Hermes' tale: the birth and youth of PhaethonHermes begins the story of Phaethon: Helios marries Clymene, daughter of Oceanos, and their son grows up playing at driving his father's chariot with a toy car. As a youth he begs to drive the chariot of the sun, and Helios warns him that even the gods do not wield one another's powers, citing the fate of Zagreus.
Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 12.0–92Book 12: The Seasons read the tablets of FateThe Seasons reach the house of Helios, and Autumn asks him when the vine will grow. He sends her to the tablets of Harmonia, on which Phanes had written the oracles of the world. She reads the stories of Cronos and the flood, and then of men and women who are to be changed into birds, stones and springs.
Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 38.0–102Book 38: An omen at midday; Idmon and Hermes interpret itThe truce lasts until the seventh year of the war, when a darkness at midday and an eagle carrying a snake that slips into the Hydaspes appear as omens. Idmon, asked by Erechtheus, says they foretell Deriades' drowning in his father's river, and Hermes tells Dionysos that the omen means his own victory, as the sun returns after darkness. Dionysos asks to hear the story of Phaethon.
Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 11.428–521Book 11: Calamos mourns Carpos; the Seasons visit HeliosCalamos calls on the Naiads and, after cutting off a lock of his hair, throws himself into the river. He becomes a reed, and Carpos becomes the fruit of the earth. Eros's words ease Dionysos, while the four Seasons go to the house of Helios.
Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 33.105–194Book 33: Aglaia's message; Eros wounds Morrheus with desireAglaia brings Aphrodite's message, and Eros offers to fight anyone who has wronged his mother. Aphrodite tells him that Ares is helping Deriades and asks him to help Dionysos by making Morrheus fall in love with the Bacchic girl Chalcomede. Eros flies to the Indian host and shoots his arrow into Morrheus.
Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 38.212–317Book 38: Phaethon begs for the chariot; Helios' instructionsMoved by Phaethon's tears, Helios gives way and explains the zodiac, the planets' paths and the route the chariot must follow through the year. He crowns the boy with his rays, and Phaethon sets out in the chariot while Clymene watches.
Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 38.318–434Book 38: Phaethon's drive and fall; the Heliades become treesPhaethon loses control of the horses and drives off the course of the zodiac, throwing the stars and constellations into confusion, while Lucifer warns him in vain. Zeus strikes him with a thunderbolt into the river Eridanos, restores order, and sets him in the sky as the Charioteer, while his sisters the Heliades are changed into trees that shed precious dew.
Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 2.475–630Book 2: Zeus overwhelms Typhon; the mock epitaphZeus and Typhoeus fight on equal terms, with thunder and lightning against the Giant's many hands, and the four winds join in. His heads are scorched and frozen in turn, and his mother Earth begs Helios and the winter winds to ease him. Typhoeus falls, and Zeus mocks him with a speech about the throne he wanted and offers him an empty tomb and an epitaph.
Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 7.255–368Book 7: Zeus woos SemeleZeus, struck by Eros's arrow, goes back to heaven and calls on Helios to hasten the night. He crosses to Thebes in two bounds and comes to Semele in the shapes of a bull, a lion, a panther, a bridegroom and a snake. He tells her that she will bear a son who will make men forget their troubles, and that she will be called immortal.
Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 10.139–217Book 10: Dionysos meets AmpelosDionysos and his Satyrs bathe in the river Pactolos. While hunting he meets the beautiful boy Ampelos and hides his godhead. He asks who the boy's parents are and says he must be the child of a god, perhaps of Selene.
Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 17.192–314Book 17: Orontes' duel with Dionysos and his deathOrontes scatters the Satyrs and Centaurs, killing the Centaur Hylaios with a hurled boulder, until he meets Dionysos face to face. His spear cannot wound the god, but Dionysos splits his breastplate with a cluster of vine. Orontes asks Helios to carry the news to Deriades, falls on his own sword and gives his name to the river; Dionysos taunts the corpse, and the Nymphs bury it and carve an epitaph.
Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 41.0–118Book 41: Beroe, the oldest city, where Aphrodite first landedDionysos plants vines under Lebanon and roofs a grove for Adonis and Aphrodite. The poet invokes the Muses to sing the war of Poseidon and Dionysos over Amymone. He describes Beroe between mountain and sea, the first city of earth-sprung men, older than Zeus, and claims that Aphrodite, newly born from the foam, came ashore there and not at Cyprus.