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Helios

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Ancient bust of the sun-god Helios from the 2nd century A.D., displayed in the Ancient Agora Museum in Athens, Greece.

Helios: The Shining Sun God

Helios was the god of the Sun in ancient Greek stories. He is often pictured as a bright, kind man driving a golden chariot pulled by strong horses across the sky. Each morning, Helios would rise from the ocean in the east and travel until he set in the west. At night, he would sail in a golden boat.

Helios was the son of two important people: Hyperion and Theia. He had sisters, too! One was Selene, the goddess of the Moon, and another was Eos, the goddess of the dawn. Together, they helped tell the story of day and night.

People in places like Rhodes loved Helios very much. They built a huge statue called the Colossus of Rhodes to honor him. Helios was thought to bring light, warmth, and life to the world. He was a powerful and important god who watched over everyone.

Helios reminds us of how ancient people thought about the Sun and the sky. His stories helped them understand the world around them. Even today, we see Helios' name in words like heliosphere and in space probes named Helios A and Helios B.

Images

A detailed relief sculpture of Helios, the Greek god of the sun, created by Ludwig Mack in 1830.
A statue called 'The Horses of Helios' in London, showing mythological horses pulled by the sun god.
The Western side of the Parthenon, an ancient Greek temple on the Acropolis of Athens.
Ancient Roman sarcophagus from Verona showing a mythological story with detailed carvings
A classical artwork showing Helios, the sun god, and Selene, the moon goddess, from a historical painting by Hans Rathausky.
Ancient Greek artwork depicting Helios, the sun god, on a terracotta disk from 480 BC, displayed at the Museum of the Ancient Agora in Athens.
A classic 1795 engraving by John Flaxman showing scenes from ancient stories, featuring horses and mythological characters.
Ancient Greek art showing the hero Heracles sailing in the bowl of Helios, the Sun god, from a 5th-century BC pottery piece.
A classical illustration of Helios, the sun god, and Eos, the goddess of dawn, from an old encyclopedia.
An ancient silver coin from Rhodes showing the sun god Helios and a rose, dating back to 205-190 BC.
An old engraving showing a scene from Ovid's Metamorphoses, where Clymene urges Phaeton to find Helios, the sun god.
An elegant 18th-century illustration from Ovid's Metamorphoses, showing a scene from the myth of Phaeton.
A 17th-century painting by Nicolas Poussin showing Helios and Phaeton with Saturn and the Four Seasons, featuring mythological figures in a classical style.

Related articles

Theia
Selene
Eos
Colossus of Rhodes
Heliosphere

This article is a child-friendly adaptation of the Wikipedia article on Helios, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

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