Helios was the sun god of the Greeks. He was generally conceived as a charioteer who drove the sun across the earth from east to west each day.

Mythology

Throughout human history people have been aware of the life-giving properties of the Sun. Most significant ancient civilizations, as well as the smaller communities and tribes of antiquity, have recognized the Sun as an essential life force in the physical domain, and many, the Egyptians and Greeks for example, put the Sun into their pantheon of gods. Helios was the sun god of the Greeks. He was generally conceived as a charioteer who drove the sun across the earth from east to west each day. In ancient times Helios was sometimes identified with Apollo, but the sun, as a cult in the ancient world, did not receive wide acceptance until the late Roman empire when, as Sol Invictus, he virtually became their principal god. The Roman goddess of the dawn was Aurora, and in the northern hemisphere the aurora displays, or northern lights, are also known as the aurora borealis, or northern dawn. In the southern hemisphere these effects are called aurora australis, or southern dawn.