|
Helius is the Sun.
|
|
The Sun's hard work
|
Helius, whose palace (made by
Hephaestus) stands on
columns of gold and bronze, and has gables of
ivory, is the Sun. That is why it is said that his
eye is everywhere, and that his portion is labour
every day. Over the waves, in a winged and hollow
bed forged of gold by
Hephaestus, Helius is
carried in sleep from the Hesperians' country to
the land of the Ethiopians, where his horses and
chariot stand till Eos
(Dawn) appears, and then Helius mounts his car.
There is no rest for Helius and his horses when
Eos has left the ocean and
climbed the sky. [The names of the horses of Helius
can be found at
BESTIARY].
|
|
Helius and Corinth
|
The Corinthians tell that
Poseidon had a dispute
with Helius about the land about
Corinth, and that
Briareus, one of the
HECATONCHEIRES ,
arbitrated between them, assigning the Isthmus to
Poseidon, and the
height above the city to Helius. They add that
Helius later handed over the Acrocorinthus to
Aphrodite; but the
land of Corinth is also
said to have been given by Helius to
Aeetes before the latter
emigrated, becoming king of Colchis.
|
|
Reveals secrets
|
His eye being everywhere, Helius is said to have
been the one who reported to
Hephaestus about the
love affair between Ares
and Aphrodite. And he
also reported to Demeter
what had happened to her daughter
Persephone when
Hades abducted her.
|
|
His love for a girl causes her death
|
But for having revealed to
Hephaestus her love
for Ares,
Aphrodite made Helius
to fall in love with Leucothoe 2, daughter of
Orchamus, king over the cities of Persia and the
seventh in line from Belus 2.
Assuming the shape of the girl's mother Eurynome
5, Helius came to her home, and after dismissing
the slaves who were in the room, and interrupting
her work with the spindle, he made love to her.
However, Clytia 3, a former love of the god who was
still in love with Helius but was scorned by him,
burning with jealousy and wrath, spread the story
everywhere, and informed King Orchamus about it.
The king then, being ignorant of the nature of
love, let his own daughter be buried alive. Indeed,
using power to spread death was for him a good
thing, but love he considered a shame.
However, Clytia 3 could not get
Helius and she went mad.
For whole days she tasted neither food nos drink
and stood on the same spot on the groud, turning
her face towards the sun. Finally, her face turned
into a flower much like a violet, and herself into
a plant.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Helius interrupts
Leucothoe 2's spinning and seduces
her
|
|
|
Not always mild
|
Gods do not suffer mortals comparing themselves
with them. And Helius, who otherwise is quite mild,
disliked it just as other gods do. So when Arge, a
huntress who was pursuing a stag said that she
would catch it even if it equalled the speed of
Helius, the god, for this boast, turned her into a
doe.
And when Odysseus'
crew slaughtered his cattle in Thrinacia, he
threatened to shine among the dead instead of
shining among the immortals and the living mortals
[full story at
Charybdis].
|
|
|
|
|
|
Clytia 3. Her love was
scorned by the god, and she destroyed his
new mistress
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Parentage
|
Mates
|
Offspring
|
Notes
|
|
|
["a)", "b)", etc. = different versions]
|
|
Nausidame
|
Augeas
|
For Augeas see Heracles
1.
|
|
Aegle 1
|
|
Aegle 1 is daughter of
Atlas and Hesperis, that
is, one of the
HESPERIDES, who
guarded the Golden Apples that
Heracles 1 had to
fetch. Some call her, however, a daughter of
Nyx.
|
|
unknown
|
Aex
|
Aex is one of the nurses of
Zeus, said to have a
beautiful body but a most horrible face
|
|
a) Perseis
|
a) Aeetes
|
Perseis is one of the
OCEANIDS.
|
|
|
Circe was a witch who
lived in the island of uncertain location called
Aeaea. She purified the
ARGONAUTS for the
murder of Apsyrtus, and received
Odysseus and his
comrades. To these comrades she gave a potion, and
when they had drunk it off, she smote them with her
wand, and put them in the sties transformed into
pigs.
|
|
a) Pasiphae
|
Pasiphae was queen of
Crete. She bewitched her
husband Minos 2 so that
whenever he took a lover he made wild beasts attack
her, and so the women perished. Pasiphae is also
known for the wooden cow [see also
Daedalus].
|
|
b) Crete 3
|
b) Pasiphae
|
|
|
c) Asterope 4
|
|
|
|
Clymene 1
|
|
Clymene 1 is one of the
OCEANIDS.
Phaethon 3 asked
for his father's chariot and the right to drive it
for a day, but being an unexperienced driver, he
set the heavens afire. Consequently,
Zeus killed him with a
thunderbolt, and sent him rolling from on high into
the river Eridanus. Some affirm that
Phaethon 3 asked for
permission to drive the chariot, but others say
that he mounted it secretly. It is also told that
he fell into the river Eridanus (according to some
the river Po in Italy) because he had been borne
too high above the earth and he felt fear. Now,
when Zeus struck him,
everything on earth started to burn; and
Zeus, who hoped for a
chance to destroy all mortals, pretending that he
wanted to put out the fire sent the
Flood that killed almost
everyone except Deucalion
1 and his wife. So they tell, and some also add
that when everything burned, the Indians became
black because their blood darkened from the heat.
|
|
HELIADES 1
|
The HELIADES 1 wept so much for their brother
Phaethon 3 that their
tears hardened into amber and they were turned into
poplars. But it is also said that the HELIADES 1
were transformed into poplars for having yoked the
horses without the instructions of their father.
The HELIADES 1 are: Aegle 2, Aetheria, Astris,
Dioxippe 2, Helie, Lampetia, Merope 5, Phaethusa,
and Phoebe 4. Of these Phaethusa was the youngest.
It has been told that Astris married the river god
Hydaspes 1 and had by him a son Deriades, who
became King of India.
|
|
Rhode 2
|
HELIADES 2
|
The HELIADES 2, sons of Helius by Rhode 2,
daughter of Poseidon,
were astrologers, introduced new practices in
seamanship, and divided the day into hours. The
most highly endowed of them was Tenages, who was
slain by his brothers because of their envy of him.
When their treacherous act became known, all who
had had a hand in the murder took to flight and
settled in different places.
The HELIADES 2 are Actis, Auges, Candalus,
Cercaphus 1, Electryone, Macar 1, Ochimus, Tenages,
Thrinax, Triopas 2.
|
HELIADES 2
|
Notes
|
|
Actis
|
Actis Sailed off to Egypt and founded
there the city of Heliopolis
[Dio.5.56.3-5].
|
|
Auges
|
Along with his brothers Auges drove the
TELCHINES out of
Rhodes
[Dio.5.56.3-5; Nonn.14.44].
|
|
Candalus
|
Candalus settled in Cos, one of the
Sporades Islands (now Dodecanese) off the
southwestern coast of Asia Minor
[Dio.5.56.3-5].
|
|
Cercaphus 1
|
Cercaphus 1 succeeded to the throne of
Rhodes after his
brother Ochimus. He married Cyrbia,
daughter of Ochimus, and had sons
(Camirus, Lindus, and Ialysus) who
succeeded him upon his death
[Dio.5.56.3-5, 5.57.7].
|
|
Electryone
|
The only female among the HELIADES 2
[Dio.5.56.3-5]
|
|
Macar 1
|
King of Lesbos, sometimes called son of
Crinacus (son of
Zeus). Macar 1 had
children: Methymna, Mytilene, and
Cydrolaus [DH.1.18.1; Dio.5.56.3-5,
5.81.4-8; Hom.Il.24.544].
|
|
Ochimus
|
The oldest of the HELIADES 2 and their
king. Ochimus married Hegetoria, one of
the NYMPHS, and fathered Cyrbia
[Dio.5.56.3-5, 5.57.7].
|
|
Tenages
|
For being the most gifted of the
HELIADES 2, Tenages caused envy among his
brothers and was killed by them
[Dio.5.56.3-5].
|
|
Thrinax
|
Along with his brothers Thrinax drove
the TELCHINES out of
Rhodes
[Dio.5.56.3-5; Nonn.14.44].
|
|
Triopas 2
|
Because of the murder of his brother
Tenages, Triopas 2, son of Helius, sailed
first from
Rhodes to the
Chersonesus, which lies on the mainland
opposite the island, and later emigrated
to Thessaly where he assisted the sons of
Deucalion 1
to expel the Pelasgians. He then became
king of the Thessalians and in trying to
roof his own house, tore down the temple
of Demeter,
built by the men of old. For this reason
he incurred the hatred of the Thessalians
and fled to Chersonesus and Caria (in
southwestern Asia Minor) where he founded
Triopium in the territory of Cnidus. It is
also said that when hunger was brought on
him for having destroyed the temple of
Demeter, he
could never afterwards be satisfied by any
amount of food. Towards the end of his
life, when a snake was sent to plague him,
he suffered many ills; but when he died,
he was put among the stars by the will of
Demeter [see
also Erysichthon 2].
Some say that Triopas 2 was son of
Poseidon and
Canace; others say that he was son of
Lapithus 1. Triopas 2 had children by
Hiscilla (daughter of Myrmidon): Phorbas
2, Erysichthon 2, and Iphimedia [see also
CONSTELLATIONS].
[Apd.1.7.4; Cal.Dem.65ff., 97;
Dio.5.56.3ff., 5.61.1ff.; Hom.Apo.211;
Hyg.Ast.2.14; Ov.Met.8.738ff.;
Pau.10.11.1].
|
|
|
unknown
|
Aloeus 2
|
Aloeus 2 was king of Asopia
(Sicyon) and father of
Epopeus 1.
|
|
unknown
|
HORAE
|
The HORAE are the
Wardens of the sky and of Olympus. Their task is to
open and close the Gates of Heaven. They were
handmaids of Helius and were given the ordering and
adornment of life. When believed to be daughters of
Helius (there are other versions of their
parentage), they are considered as Seasons rather
than Hours.
|
|
Ceto 3
|
Astris
|
Ceto 3 is a naiad. Astris was mother, by the
river god Hydaspes 1, of the Indian King Deriades,
who was killed by Dionysus
2 and the MAENADS.
|
|
|
CORYBANTES
|
|
|
|
Clytia 3
|
|
---
|
Clytia 3 had been loved by Helius, but when the
god fell in love with Leucothoe 2, he forgot about
her. Clytia 3 took revenge against Leucothoe 2
letting the latter's father Orchamus know about his
daughter's amorous adventures with the god.
Orchamus killed his own daughter, but Clytia 3
could not get the god's love again. Consequently,
she went mad. She tasted neither food nos drink,
and stood on the same spot on the groud, turning
her face towards the sun. Finally, her face turned
into a flower much like a violet, and herself into
a plant
|
|
Leucothoe 2
|
---
|
|
|