Helios’s Family Tree

About Helios →

Family

• Hyperion(parent),Theia(parent),Eos(sibling),Selene(sibling)— Marriage

  Hyperion and Theia, Titans of heavenly light, were parents of Helios the sun, Selene the moon, and Eos the dawn.

• Perse(spouse),Aeetes(child),Circe(child),Pasiphae(child)— Consort

  Helios and the Oceanid Perse bore Circe, Aeetes, and Pasiphae — a lineage renowned for sorcery. All three children inherited formidable powers of pharmakeia.

• Clymene(spouse),Heliades(child),Phaethon(child)— Consort

  Phaethon and the Heliades were children of Helios and the Oceanid Clymene. After Phaethon's fatal ride of the sun chariot, his sisters the Heliades wept so long that the gods transformed them into poplar trees.

Has aspect

• Apollo

  By the Hellenistic period, Apollo increasingly absorbed Helios's solar attributes, with Helios gradually becoming an aspect of Apollo's identity rather than a distinct deity.

Enemy of

• Aphrodite

  Aphrodite cursed Helios's bloodline in vengeance for revealing her affair with Ares. This curse was said to cause the unnatural passions afflicting his descendants Pasiphae and Medea.

Equivalent to

• Sol(Roman),Usil(Etruscan)

  Usil, Helios, and Sol are the Etruscan, Greek, and Roman sun gods — Usil rises crowned with rays on Etruscan mirrors, and his position on the Piacenza Liver aligns with the celestial placement of the sun in all three traditions.

• Ra(Egyptian)

  Ra and Helios were actively syncretized under the Ptolemies, worshipped as a single solar deity in temple cults that merged the Egyptian and Greek traditions of the sun's daily voyage across the sky.

Associated with

• Jason,Medea

  Medea's grandfather Helios sent his dragon-drawn chariot to rescue her from Corinth after she killed Glauce, Creon, and her own sons. She escaped beyond Jason's reach, protected by her divine ancestry.

• Phaethon,River Styx

  Helios swore by the River Styx to grant his son Phaethon any wish. Bound by the unbreakable oath, he could not refuse when Phaethon demanded to drive the sun chariot, leading to the boy's death.

• Circe

  Circe warned Odysseus not to let his men harm the sacred cattle of Helios on Thrinacia. Her father's herds were the one danger she could not protect Odysseus from.

• Demeter

  Helios, who sees all from his chariot, revealed to the grieving Demeter that Zeus had given Persephone to Hades. He was the only god willing to tell her the truth.

• Hades

  When Hades abducted Persephone, Helios witnessed it from his chariot. He later confirmed to Hecate and Demeter that Zeus had sanctioned the abduction.

• Hephaestus

  Helios, who sees all from his chariot, revealed Aphrodite and Ares's secret affair to Hephaestus, prompting the smith god to forge the golden net that trapped the lovers.

• Odysseus

  Odysseus's crew slaughtered the sacred cattle of Helios on Thrinacia despite warnings. Helios demanded Zeus punish them, and Zeus destroyed their ship with a thunderbolt, killing all but Odysseus.

• Orion

  The rays of Helios restored Orion's sight after the blinded hunter traveled east to where the sun rises, guided by a servant from Hephaestus's forge on Lemnos.

• Zeus

  Helios threatened Zeus that he would descend to shine among the dead unless Odysseus's crew was punished for slaughtering his sacred cattle. Zeus complied by destroying their ship.