Helios , (the Sol of the Romans), in Greek mythology, the god of the sun, the son of Hyperion and Thea, and the brother of Selene (Luna) and Eos (Aurora). Helios gave light both to gods and to men. He rose in the east from Oceanus, ascended to the highest point in the heavens, and then descending arrived in the evening at the west, and returned to Oceanus. He had two magnificent palaces, one in the east, the other in the west, where he sat enthroned surrounded by ministering Horae. The horses that drew the chariot in which he made his daily journey were pastured in the islands of the blessed, and the golden boat in which he voyaged nightly from the west to the east was the work of Hephaestus (Vulcan). Helios saw everything. The island of Sicily was sacred to him, and he there had flocks of sheep and herds of oxen, which never increased or diminished in number, and which were tended by his daughters, Phaetusa and Lampetia. In later times Helios was frequently confounded with Apollo, though originally they were quite distinct. Among the Greeks this identification was never fully carried out; for no Hellenic poet ever made Apollo to ride in the chariot of Helios, and the representation of Apollo with rays around his head belongs to the time of the Roman empire.

Temples of Helios existed in Greece at a very early period, and subsequently his worship was established in Corinth, Argos, the island of Rhodes, and various other places. The sacrifices offered to him were rams, boars, bulls, goats, lambs, white horses, and honey. Among the animals sacred to him the cock was preeminent. Helios was usually represented as riding in a chariot drawn by four horses.