Editing Helios (section)

==== Rising and Setting ====
[[File:Hans Rathausky - Helios et Selene.jpg|thumb|right|260px|Helios and Selene, by Johann Rathausky, fountain group statue in [[Opatija]], [[Croatia]].]]

Helios was envisioned as a god driving his chariot from east to west each day, rising from the [[Oceanus|Oceanus River]] and setting in the west under the earth. It is unclear as to whether this journey means that he travels through [[Tartarus]].<ref name=":keig">{{Cite book |last=Keightley |first=Thomas |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lWAEAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA53 |title=The Mythology of Ancient Greece and Italy |date=1838 |publisher=D. Appleton |language=en}}</ref>

[[File:Helios, painting on a terracotta disk, 480 BC, Agora Museum Athens, 080646.jpg|thumb|upright|left|230px|Helios the rising Sun, painting on a [[terracotta]] disk, 480 BC, Agora Museum Athens]]

[[Athenaeus]] in his ''[[Deipnosophistae]]'' relates that, at the hour of sunset, Helios climbs into a great cup of solid gold in which he passes from the Hesperides in the farthest west to the land of the Ethiops, with whom he passes the dark hours. According to Athenaeus, [[Mimnermus]] said that in the night Helios travels eastwards with the use of a bed (also created by Hephaestus) in which he sleeps, rather than a cup,<ref name=":ath">[[Athenaeus]], ''[[Deipnosophistae]]'' [http://www.attalus.org/old/athenaeus11b.html#470 11.39]</ref> as attested in the ''[[Titanomachy (epic poem)|Titanomachy]]'' in the 8th century BCE.<ref name=":keig" /> [[Aeschylus]] describes the sunset as such:

{{Blockquote|"There [is] the sacred wave, and the coralled bed of the [[Erythraean sea|Erythræan Sea]], and [there] the luxuriant marsh of the Ethiopians, situated near the ocean, glitters like polished brass; where daily in the soft and tepid stream, the all-seeing Sun bathes his undying self, and refreshes his weary steeds."|title=[[Aeschylus]], ''[[Prometheus Unbound (Aeschylus)|Prometheus Unbound]]''.<ref>[[Strabo]], ''[[Geographica]]'' [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Strab.+1.2.27&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0239 1.2.27], translation by H.C. Hamilton, Esq., W. Falconer, M.A., Ed.</ref>}}

Athenaeus adds that "Helios gained a portion of toil for all his days", as there is no rest for either him or his horses.<ref>{{harvnb|Kirk|Raven|Schofield|1983|pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=kFpd86J8PLsC&pg=PA13 12–13]}}: [F]or him does his lovely bed bear across the wave, [...] from the dwelling of the Hesperides to the land of the Aithiopes where his swift chariot and his horses stand till early-born Dawn shall come; there does the son of Hyperion mount his car."</ref>

Although the chariot is usually said to be the work of [[Hephaestus]],<ref>[[Aeschylus]] in his lost play ''Heliades'' writes: "Where, in the west, is the bowl wrought by Hephaestus, the bowl of [[Phaethon|thy]] sire, speeding wherein he crosseth the mighty, swelling stream that girdleth earth, fleeing the gloom of holy night of sable steeds."</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Athenaeus: Deipnosophists - Book 11 (b) |url=http://www.attalus.org/old/athenaeus11b.html#469 |access-date=2024-08-08 |website=www.attalus.org}}</ref> [[Gaius Julius Hyginus|Hyginus]] states that it was Helios himself who built it.<ref>{{Cite web |title=ToposText |url=https://topostext.org/work/207#2.13.1 |access-date=2024-08-08 |website=topostext.org}}</ref> His chariot is described as golden,<ref name=":hom" /> or occasionally "rosy",<ref name="Oxford University Press"/> and pulled by four white horses.<ref name="Hansen 2004"/><ref>{{Cite web |title=A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology, Habinnas, He'lios, He'lios |url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0104:alphabetic+letter=H:entry+group=6:entry=helios-bio-1 |access-date=2024-08-08 |website=www.perseus.tufts.edu}}</ref><ref>Keightley, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=lWAEAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA56 56], [https://books.google.com/books?id=lWAEAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA62 62]</ref><ref name=":verg" /> The [[Horae]], goddesses of the seasons, are part of his retinue and help him yoke his chariot.<ref>{{Cite web |title=ToposText |url=https://topostext.org/work/141#2.19 |access-date=2024-08-08 |website=topostext.org}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=ToposText |url=https://topostext.org/work/529#38.272 |access-date=2024-08-08 |website=topostext.org}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=C. Valerius Flaccus, Argonautica, C. Valeri Flacci Argonauticon Liber Quartus., line 58 |url=http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:2007.01.0058:book=4:card=58 |access-date=2024-08-08 |website=www.perseus.tufts.edu}}</ref> His sister Eos is said to have not only opened the gates for Helios, but would often accompany him as well.<ref>Bell, s. v. [https://archive.org/details/womenofclassical00bell/page/180/mode/2up?view=theater Eos]</ref> In the extreme east and west were said to be people who tended to his horses, for whom summer was perpetual and fruitful.<ref name=":fairb" />