Talk:Helios

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[edit] Not to be confused with Apollo, the god of sunlight.

I'm pretty sure the ancients did confuse him with Apollo, and thereby make Apollo god of the sun per se, though it would make sense if it was through such a connection.

...In fact, thinking about it, that Artemis, who had to do with things like hunting, later became goddess of the moon pretty much guarantees that there was a full conflation. So I'm changing the above passage.

I agree with you. Apollo largely supplanted Helios' role in later Greek society, and took over essentially his whole portfolio. Tokerboy 20:21 Dec 10, 2002 (UTC)

There may have been links, but to suggest that Apollo completely subsumed Helios shows a distinct lack of acknowledgment of the ancient sources. To suggest such an identification would mean ignoring just why there were distinct difference in icnographic styles between Helios and Apollo? Both are almost instantly recognisable, and instantly differentiated. Why there were different temples? Why different priesthoods? Why different roles and functions? The whole idea of Apollo-Helios is an unfortunate by product from classical scholarship from the 19th century that was utterly obsessed with theories of the development of monotheism (and hence "proving" the superiority of the Christian faith) despite all evidence to the contrary.

Have some respect... ancients knew what they did, and why... to claim that they were confused at this point in history is an unthinkable degradation of... who else? but yourself... tokerboy.

I think this article shuld be devided. Artist

Isn't Helios also a spacecraft? They were launched in 1974 and 1975 to orbit and measure the Sun. They also set the speed record for spacecraft at 252,800 km/h. There were two of them. Helios 1 and 2.

Correctamundo. I have added a page for the Helios probes and also a French satellite, the Helios 1B, and linked to them from the Helios (disambiguation) page. akaDruid 09:04, 23 Aug 2004 (UTC)

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• "Many believe that Apollo becomes the Olympian "sun god", but this idea is mostly based on speculation and assumption." This was entered 18:45, 24 April 2005 by User:12.214.203.120 and let stand. . --10:01, 10 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] modern Greek pronunciation

EY-lee-os?

Does the Halo that Helios has (which pretty clearly represents the Sun) have any precidents, or is this the first time one is recorded with a deity? Is it also the source of the christian halo's, as there seems to be some transition between the Greek and Christian traditions? Does this imply that the 'power' behind christian iconography is pagan sun worship?

The connection is indirect. In literature (e.g. the C6th BC Homeric Hymns), Greek gods are described shining with a bright light. In art history, however, the halo first only appears as the sun's aureole (with spikes representing sunbeams). This device was developed in Roman times into the halo we are familiar with and was used for gods in general (from Aphrodite to Poseidon in mosaics). It was from this tradition in Greco-roman art that the Christian device was adopted, to signify divine (rather than solar) light. Theranos 15:24, 10 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] "Consorts/Children"

These empty lists of consorts and children appended to all the Greek mythology articles offer no context, no sources, and so are rendered meaningless. --Wetman 07:09, 30 October 2006 (UTC)