Hello, Helios!

           SUMMARY: Every day, we see it. Mans greatest treasurer, a great golden orb flying high above our head, providing us with life, with warmth, with sanctity. Of course, this is our very own star, the Sun.
            There have been countless sun gods throughout history. Some are depicted as traveling across the sky in a vessel of some sort, like a boat, chariot, or cup. The sun god of the Greeks and Romans rode in a 4-horse (Pyrios, Aeos, Aethon, and Phlegon) chariot. The Egyptians differentiated among the aspects of the sun, and had several gods associated with it: Khepri for the rising sun, Atum, the setting, and Ra, at noon. The Egyptians places a lot of emphasis on the sun, as they had Ra their "chief" god, much like Zeus, Jupiter, and Odin for other religions.
            The Greeks and Romans also had more than one sun god. One of their sun gods was Helios. Helios was considered a lesser god. Even so, the other deities held him in great esteem. Helios was a handsome god who was responsible for giving daylight to Earth by driving his chariot of fire, pulled by four flaming steeds, across the sky from east to west. Night would fall as Helios crossed the western horizon, and it lasted as long as it took him to return to the East. Later myths claim that Helios made his way back to the East in a huge golden cup that floated along the river Oceanus, which encircled the world. In later mythologies, Helios became the physical sun, or Sol, and Apollo became the god of the sun, responsible for its journey.
            An interesting thing to notice about the sun in mythology is that it almost always has a male connotation, and the moon normally has a female connotation. This could possibly be attributed to the fact that the moon can be viewed as a much more peaceful object than the harsh, fiery sun.
             Even Christian religions have a sun god, in a way. Jesus was referred to as the chief cornerstone - a reference to an Egyptian pyramid. The chief cornerstone of the pyramid is same symbol for Horus, the Egyptian god and savior. Like the Egyptian pharoah, Jesus was called a shepherd who rules the nations with a staff. Horus was a popular Egyptian god who was the son of Osiris and Isis. Osiris and Horus were both solar deities. Osiris was the setting sun, Horus the rising sun. Jesus is the rising Son and the morning star. A very famous image of Jesus shows him with a glowing disk around his head, much like the glowing disk around Ra's head in his depictions.
                       
            ANALYSIS: Sun gods are a predominant feature in almost every culture. From Greek to Christian, the embodiment of the source of life is always there, in the heavens.

            REFLECTION QUESTION: Using prior knowledge, why might the sun be viewed as masculine, and the moon be viewed as feminine?

            CITATION: Gill, N. S. (n.d.). About.com. Retrieved from http://ancienthistory.about.com/od/sungodsgoddesses/a/070809sungods.htm