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.

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).

For Augeas see Heracles 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.

Aex is one of the nurses of Zeus, said to have a beautiful body but a most horrible face

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.

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).

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.

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.

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.

Aloeus ₂ was king of Asopia (Sicyon) and father of Epopeus ₁.

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 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.

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

Names in this chart

Acalle, Aeetes, Aegipan ₁, Aex, Agrius ₄, Aloeus ₂, Amphidamas ₅, Androgeus, Anteias, Apsyrtus, Ardeias, Ariadne, Astris, Athena, Augeas, Catreus, Ceto ₃, Chalciope ₂, CHARITES, Cheirobie, Circe, Clymene ₁, CORYBANTES, Deriades, Deucalion ₂, Eos, Epopeus ₁, Eurynome ₅, Faunus ₁, Gaia, Glaucus ₄, HELIADES ₁, HELIADES ₂, Helius, HORAE, Hyperion ₁, Latinus ₁, Leucothoe ₂, Marathon, Medea, Minotaur, Nausidame, Nyx, Oenope, Orchamus, Pan, Pasiphae, Perseis, Phaedra, Phaethon ₃, Poseidon, Protonoe, Rhode ₂, Romanus, Romus, Selene, Telegonus ₃, Thia, Titan, Uranus, Xenodice ₁.