Editing Helios (section)

=== Oxen of the Sun ===
{{main article|Cattle of Helios}}

[[File:Budapest Széchenyi-Bad Eingangshalle Kuppel 4.JPG|thumb|right|upright=1.5|Helios and chariot depicted on the dome of the entrance hall of the [[Széchenyi Bath]], [[Budapest]]]]

Helios is said to have kept his sheep and cattle on his sacred island of [[Thrinacia]], or in some cases Erytheia.<ref>''[[Homeric Hymn]] 3 to Apollo'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0138%3Ahymn%3D3%3Acard%3D397 410–414]</ref> Each flock numbers fifty beasts, totaling 350 cows and 350 sheep—the number of days of the year in the early Ancient Greek calendar; the seven herds correspond to the [[week]], containing seven days.<ref>Chris Rorres, ''Archimedes' count of Homer's Cattle of the Sun'', 2008, Drexel University, [https://www.researchgate.net/publication/312116822_Archimedes'_count_of_homer's_cattle_of_the_sun chapter 3]</ref> The cows did not breed or die.<ref>[[Homer]], ''[[Odyssey]]'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0136%3Abook%3D12%3Acard%3D111 12.127–135]</ref> In the ''Homeric Hymn 4 to Hermes'', after Hermes has been brought before Zeus by an angry Apollo for stealing Apollo's sacred cows, the young god excuses himself for his actions and says to his father that "I reverence Helios greatly and the other gods".<ref>''[[Homeric Hymn]] 4 to Hermes'' [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text.jsp?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0138%3Ahymn%3D4%3Acard%3D344 383]</ref><ref>Kimberley Christine Patton, ''Religion of the Gods: Ritual, Paradox, and Reflexivity'' p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=QwgTDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA333 393]</ref>

[[Augeas]], who in some versions is his son, safe-keeps a herd of twelve bulls sacred to the god.<ref>[[Theocritus]], ''Idylls'' 28 Heracles the Lion-Slayer [https://allpoetry.com/Idyll-XXV.--Heracles-the-Lion-Slayer 28.129-130]</ref> Moreover, it was said that Augeas' enormous herd of cattle was a gift to him by his father.<ref>[[Theocritus]], ''Idylls'' 28 Heracles the Lion-Slayer [https://allpoetry.com/Idyll-XXV.--Heracles-the-Lion-Slayer 28.118–121]</ref>

[[Apollonia (Illyria)|Apollonia]] in [[Illyria]] was another place where he kept a flock of his sheep; a man named [[Evenius|Peithenius]] had been put in charge of them, but the sheep were devoured by wolves. The other Apolloniates, thinking he had been neglectful, gouged out Peithenius' eyes. Angered over the man's treatment, Helios made the earth grow barren and ceased to bear fruit; the earth grew fruitful again only after the Apolloniates had propitiated Peithenius by craft, and by two suburbs and a house he picked out, pleasing the god.<ref>[[Conon (mythographer)|Conon]], ''Narrations'' [https://www.tertullian.org/fathers/photius_copyright/photius_05bibliotheca.htm 40].</ref> This story is also attested by Greek historian [[Herodotus]], who calls the man Evenius.<ref name=":hh993">[[Herodotus]], ''[[Histories (Herodotus)|Histories]]'' [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text.jsp?doc=Hdt.+9.93&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0126 9.93] [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text.jsp?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0126%3Abook%3D9%3Achapter%3D94 –94]</ref>{{sfn|Ustinova|2009|page = [https://books.google.com/books?id=gUsiqGlSzegC&pg=PA170 170]}}

==== Odyssey ====
[[File:Pellegrino Tibaldi 001.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|left|''The companions of Odysseus rob the cattle of Helios'', fresco by Palazzo Poggi, 1556.]]

During Odysseus' journey to get back home, he arrives at the island of Circe, who warns him not to touch Helios' sacred cows once he reaches Thrinacia, or the god would keep them from returning home. Though Odysseus warns his men, when supplies run short they kill and eat some of the cattle. The guardians of the island, Helios' daughters Phaethusa and Lampetia, tell their father about this. Helios then appeals to Zeus telling him to dispose of Odysseus' men, rejecting the crewmen's compensation of a new temple in Ithaca.<ref>Loney, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=6Y6ADwAAQBAJ&pg=PA92 92]</ref> Zeus destroys the ship with his lightning bolt, killing all the men except for Odysseus.<ref>[[Homer]], ''[[Odyssey]]'' [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text.jsp?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0218%3Abook%3D12%3Acard%3D8 12.352–388]</ref>