Helios [key] [Gr.,=sun], in Greek religion and mythology, the sun god, son of the Titans Hyperion and Theia. Each morning he left a palace in the east and crossed the sky in a golden chariot. In the evening he rested in another palace in the west and then sailed to the east along the river Oceanus. Although he was often invoked for serious oaths, his worship in Greece was negligible, except on Rhodes. There the famous Colossus represented him, and an important festival was celebrated in his honor. In later times he was identified with Apollo. Helios was the father of Aeëtes and Circe by Perse, and of Phaëthon by the nymph Rhode (or Clymene). He was often referred to simply as Titan, especially in Rome, where he was also known as Sol, and where he was an important god. His sister was Eos.
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