Editing Helios (section)

== In post-classical art ==
=== In painting ===
[[File:Le_chateau_de_versailles_le_jardin_35.JPG|thumb|left|upright=1.35|Apollo fountain in the [[Palace of Versailles]], [[France]].]]

Helios/Sol had little independent identity and presence during the [[Renaissance]], where the main solar gods were Apollo, [[Bacchus]] and [[Hercules]].<ref name=":bull">Bull, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=aOGwFFb3PIcC&pg=PT330 330]</ref><ref>Bull, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=aOGwFFb3PIcC&pg=PT352 352]</ref> In post-antiquity art, Apollo assimilates features and attributes of both classical Apollo and Helios, so that Apollo, along with his own iconography, is many times depicted as driving the four-horse chariot, representing both of them.<ref name=":imp23">Impelluso, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=9eFjTRNwrwQC&pg=PA23 23]</ref> In medieval tradition, each of the four horses had its own distinctive colour; in the Renaissance, however, all four are shown as white.<ref name=":imp23"/><ref>Hall, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=oR-yDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA66 66]</ref> In [[Versailles]], a gilded statue depicts Apollo as the god of the sun, driving his quadriga as he sinks in the ocean;<ref>Cosgrove, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=drW-Q7_RxcIC&pg=PA168 168]</ref> Apollo in this regard represents the king of [[France]], ''le roi-soleil'', "the Sun King".<ref name=":hall">Hall, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=oR-yDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA27 27]</ref>

[[File:Diego Velázquez 013.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|right|''[[Apollo in the Forge of Vulcan]]'', by [[Diego de Velázquez]], oil on canvas.]]

[[File:Guido Reni - L'Aurora di Guido Reni nelle arti decorative.jpg|thumb|left|350px|''Aurora'', by Guido Reni, 1613–14, ceiling fresco ([[Casino dell'Aurora]], [[Rome]]).]]

Additionally to the chariot, Apollo is often drawn with a solar halo around his head and depicted in scenes of Helios' mythology.<ref>Impelluso, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=9eFjTRNwrwQC&pg=PA24 24]</ref><ref name=":hall"/> Accordingly, in depictions of Phaethon meeting his father and asking him the privilege of driving the sun chariot, artists gave to Phaethon's father the appearance and attributes of Apollo.<ref>Hall, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=oR-yDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA252 252]</ref><ref>Seydle, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=_h82AgAAQBAJ&pg=PA33 33]</ref>

=== In literature ===
[[File:Greek postage stamp, 1947, unification of Dodecanese with Greece.jpg|thumb|left|210px|Helios in one of the many stamps issued in 1947–53, celebrating the unification of the [[Dodecanese]] with [[Greece]]]]

A love affair between the Sun god and the [[Nereid]] Amphitrite is introduced by French playwright Monléon's ''L'Amphytrite'' (1630); in the denouement, the Sun, scorned by the nymph, sets the land and sea ablaze, before the king of gods [[Jupiter (mythology)|Jupiter]] intervenes and restores peace.<ref name=":powell"/>

In Jean-Gilbert Durval's ''Le Travaux d'Ulysse'' (1631), after his men dine on the sacred sheep, the Sun appears in 'a chariot of light', accompanied by Jupiter; like in the myth, Jupiter kills Odysseus' crewmen with his lightning bolts when they put to sea again.<ref name=":powell">Powell, pp [https://books.google.com/books?id=cm4NKuoIaBkC&pg=PA236 236–237]</ref>

[[File:Odysseus' men eat the sacred oxen of the sun as his daughter informs him engraving.jpg|thumb|upright=1.25|Odysseus' men eat the oxen, as a woman informs Helios, mounted on his chariot, engraving by [[Theodoor van Thulden]], 1632–1633, [[Rijksmuseum]], [[Netherlands]].]]

French composer [[Jean-Baptiste Lully]] wrote in 1683 a ''[[tragédie en musique]]'' inspired by Ovid's handling of the tale of Helios' son, ''[[Phaëton (Lully)|Phaëton]]'', in which Phaëton obtains from his father the sun chariot in order to prove his divine origins to his rival [[Epaphus]], but loses control and is instead struck and killed by Jupiter.<ref>[[Jean-Baptiste Lully]], ''[https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k1521111c/f1.image Phaëton]''</ref> The luxury of the Sun and his palace was no doubt meant to connect to the Sun King, [[Louis XIV]], who used the sun for his emblem.<ref>Miller and Newlands, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=7fijBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA377 377]</ref> This Apollo-Sun was frequently used to represent Louis XIV's reign, such as in [[Pierre Corneille]]'s ''[[Andromède (Corneille)|Andromède]]'' (1650).<ref>Powell, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=cm4NKuoIaBkC&pg=PA266 266]</ref>

[[Gerhart Hauptmann]]'s ''Helios und Phaethon'' omits entirely the cosmic disaster Phaethon caused in order to focus on the relationship between the divine father and his mortal son, as Phaethon tries to convince his father he is well-suited for his five steeds, while Helios tries to dissuade his ambitious child, but eventually consents and gives him his reins and steeds to drive for a single day.<ref>''[https://books.google.com/books?id=8IRJEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT59 Helios und Phaethon]''.</ref>

In [[James Joyce]]'s book ''[[Ulysses (novel)|Ulysses]]'', episode 14 is titled ''Oxen of the Sun'', after the story of Odysseus' men and the cattle of Helios in book twelve of the ''Odyssey''.<ref>[https://www.ulyssesguide.com/14-oxen-of-the-sun Ulysses Guide: 14. Oxen of the Sun]</ref>

In ''[[A True Story]]'', the Sun is an inhabited place, ruled by a king named Phaethon, referencing Helios's mythological son.<ref>[[Lucian]] of [[Samosata]], ''[[A True Story]]'' p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=Mf9SHRRn6S0C&pg=PA23 23]</ref> The inhabitants of the Sun are at war with those of the Moon, ruled by King [[Endymion (mythology)|Endymion]] (Selene's lover), over [[colonization]] of the [[Venus|Morning Star]] (Aphrodite's planet).{{sfn|Georgiadou|Larmour|1998|loc=[https://books.google.com/books?id=vVSu4rPaN9oC&pg=PA100 pp 100–101]}}{{sfn|Casson|1962|p =18}}