In Greek mythology, the Cattle of Helios (, ''Ēelíoio bóes''), also called the Oxen of the Sun, are cattle pastured on the island of Thrinacia (sometimes identified with Sicily).

Mythology

Helios In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, Helios (; grc, , , Sun; Homeric Greek: ) is the deity, god and personification of the Sun (Solar deity). His name is also Latinized as Helius, and he is often given the epithets Hyper ...

, who in Greek mythology is the

god of the Sun A solar deity or sun deity is a deity who represents the Sun, or an aspect of it. Such deities are usually associated with power and strength. Solar deities and Sun worship can be found throughout most of recorded history in various forms. The ...

, is said to have had seven herds of oxen and seven flocks of sheep, each numbering fifty head. In the '' Odyssey'', Homer describes these immortal cattle as handsome (), wide-browed, fat () and straight-horned (). The cattle were guarded by Helios’ daughters, Phaëthusa and Lampetië, and it was known by all that any harm to any single animal was sure to bring down the wrath of the god. Tiresias and Circe both warn

Odysseus Odysseus ( ; grc-gre, Ὀδυσσεύς, Ὀδυσεύς, OdysseúsOdyseús, ), also known by the Latin variant Ulysses ( , ; lat, UlyssesUlixes), is a legendary Greek king of Ithaca and the hero of Homer's epic poem the ''Odyssey''. Odysse ...

to shun the isle of Helios (Thrinacia). Odysseus and his crew arrive at Thrinacia after passing

Scylla In Greek mythology, Scylla), is obsolete. ( ; grc-gre, Σκύλλα, Skúlla, ) is a legendary monster who lives on one side of a narrow channel of water, opposite her counterpart Charybdis. The two sides of the strait are within an arrow's r ...

and

Charybdis Charybdis (; grc, Χάρυβδις, Khárybdis, ; la, Charybdis, ) is a sea monster in Greek mythology. She, with the sea monster Scylla, appears as a challenge to epic characters such as Odysseus, Jason, and Aeneas. Scholarship locates her in t ...

. When Eurylochus begs to be allowed to land to prepare supper, Odysseus grudgingly agrees on condition that the crew swear that if they come upon a herd of cattle or a great flock of sheep, no one will kill any of them. They are held on the isle for a month by an unfavorable storm sent by Poseidon. When Odysseus goes up the island to pray to the gods and ask for help, Eurylochus convinces the crew to drive off the best of the cattle of Helios and sacrifice them to the gods: "if he be somewhat wroth for his cattle with straight horns, and is fain to wreck our ship, and the other gods follow his desire, rather with one gulp at the wave would I cast my life away, than be slowly straitened to death in a desert isle." When he returns to the ship, Odysseus rebukes his companions for disobeying his orders. But it is too late, the cattle are dead and gone. Lampetie tells Helios that Odysseus' men have slain his cattle. In turn, Helios orders the gods to take vengeance on Odysseus' men. He threatens that if they do not pay him full atonement for the cattle, he will take the sun to the Underworld and shine it among the dead. Zeus promises Helios to smite their ship with a lightning bolt and cleave it in pieces in the midst of the ocean. Soon the gods show signs and wonders to the Odysseus' men. The skins begin creeping and the flesh bellowing upon the spits, both the roast and raw, and there is a sound like the voice of cattle. For six days, Odysseus's company feast on the kine of Helios. On the seventh day, the wind changes. After they set sail, Zeus keeps his word and the ship is destroyed by lightning during a storm and all of his men die. Odysseus escapes by swimming to Calypso's island. Odysseus is spared but, as forewarned by Circe and Tiresias, is himself punished when his return to Ithaca is delayed by a seven-year sojourn on Ogygia.

Thrinacia

Thrinacia ( Homeric Greek ''Thrinakíā'', from " trident"; English pronunciation ) is the island home of the Cattle of Helios in Book XII of Homer's '' Odyssey'', guarded by Helios' daughters

Lampetia In Greek mythology, Lampetia ( grc, Λαμπετίη, translit=Lampetíē or grc, Λαμπετία, label=none, translit=Lampetía, lit=shining) was the daughter of Helios and Neaera; she was the personification of light. Her twin sister, Pha ...

and

Phaethusa In Greek mythology, Phaethusa or Phaëthusa ( grc, Φαέθουσα ''Phaéthousa'', "radiance") was a daughter of Helios and Neaera, the personification of the brilliant, blinding rays of the sun.Wilhelm Heinrich Roscher (Hrsg.): Ausführliches ...

, born to him by Neaera. Homeric ''Thrinacia'' was later identified with Sicily, and its name re-interpreted as ''Trinakria'' (Τρινακρία, from τρεῖς and ἄκραι, as " slandwith three headlands")."Θρινακίη" in Henry George Liddell. Robert Scott. A Greek-English Lexicon. revised and augmented throughout by. Sir Henry Stuart Jones. with the assistance of. Roderick McKenzie. Oxford. Clarendon Press. 1940. But Homeric Thrinacia is also associated with Malta, and Sicily is instead also identified with the episode of the

Cyclops In Greek mythology and later Roman mythology, the Cyclopes ( ; el, Κύκλωπες, ''Kýklōpes'', "Circle-eyes" or "Round-eyes"; singular Cyclops ; , ''Kýklōps'') are giant one-eyed creatures. Three groups of Cyclopes can be distinguish ...

Polyphemus.

Footnotes

References

Primary sources

Apollodorus, 1.9
* Homer
''Odyssey'', XII

Secondary sources