In Greek mythology

Greek mythology

Greek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the ancient Greeks, concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. They were a part of religion in ancient Greece...

, the Cattle of Helios pastured on the island of Thrinacia

Thrinacia

Thrinakia , also Trinacria or Thrinacie, mentioned in Book 11 of Homer's Odyssey, is the island home of Helios's cattle, guarded by his eldest daughter, Lampetia...

, which is believed to be modern Sicily

Sicily

Sicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...

. Helios

Helios

Helios was the personification of the Sun in Greek mythology. Homer often calls him simply Titan or Hyperion, while Hesiod and the Homeric Hymn separate him as a son of the Titans Hyperion and Theia or Euryphaessa and brother of the goddesses Selene, the moon, and Eos, the dawn...

, also known as the sun god, is said to have had seven herds of oxen and seven flocks of sheep, each numbering fifty head. In the Odyssey

Odyssey

The Odyssey is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is, in part, a sequel to the Iliad, the other work ascribed to Homer. The poem is fundamental to the modern Western canon, and is the second—the Iliad being the first—extant work of Western literature...

, Homer describes this immortal cattle as handsome , wide-browed and curved-horned . The cattle were guarded by Helios’ daughters, Phaëthusa

Phaethusa

In Greek mythology, Phaethusa , or Phaëtusa was a daughter of Helios and Neaera, the personification of the brilliant, blinding rays of the sun. With her sister, Lampetia, she guarded the cattle of Thrinacia....

 and Lampetië

Lampetia

In Greek mythology, Lampetia was the daughter of Helios and Neaera; she was the personification of light. With her sister, Phaethusa, she guarded the cattle of Thrinacia. She told her father when Odysseus' men slaughtered some of his cattle which were ageless and deathless, like a forbidden fruit...

, and it was known by all that any harm to any single animal was sure to bring down the wrath of the god.

Teiresias and Circe

Circe

In Greek mythology, Circe is a minor goddess of magic , described in Homer's Odyssey as "The loveliest of all immortals", living on the island of Aeaea, famous for her part in the adventures of Odysseus.By most accounts, Circe was the daughter of Helios, the god of the sun, and Perse, an Oceanid...

 both warn Odysseus

Odysseus

Odysseus or Ulysses was a legendary Greek king of Ithaca and the hero of Homer's epic poem the Odyssey. Odysseus also plays a key role in Homer's Iliad and other works in the Epic Cycle....

 to shun the isle of Helios. When Eurylochus

Eurylochus

In Greek mythology, Eurylochus, or Eurýlokhos appears in Homer's Odyssey as second-in-command of Odysseus' ship during the return to Ithaca after the Trojan War. He was also a relative of Odysseus through marriage...

 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 kine or a great flock of sheep, no one will kill any of them. They are held on the isle for a month by unfavorable winds, and when Odysseus goes up the island to think, Eurylochus convinces the crew to drive off the best of the kine 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."

Lampetie tells Helios

Helios

Helios was the personification of the Sun in Greek mythology. Homer often calls him simply Titan or Hyperion, while Hesiod and the Homeric Hymn separate him as a son of the Titans Hyperion and Theia or Euryphaessa and brother of the goddesses Selene, the moon, and Eos, the dawn...

 that they have slain his kine, and he in turn begs Zeus

Zeus

In the ancient Greek religion, Zeus was the "Father of Gods and men" who ruled the Olympians of Mount Olympus as a father ruled the family. He was the god of sky and thunder in Greek mythology. His Roman counterpart is Jupiter and his Etruscan counterpart is Tinia.Zeus was the child of Cronus...

and the other gods to take vengeance on the company of Odysseus. He threatens that if they do not pay him full atonement for the cattle, that he will go down to Hades and shine among the dead. Zeus promises to smite their ship with a lightning bolt, and cleave it in pieces in the midst of the ocean.

When returns to the ship, Odysseus rebukes his companions, but it is too late, the cattle are dead and gone. Soon the gods show signs and wonders to them. 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 kine. 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.

Primary sources

• Apollodorus, 1.6.1-2.
• Homer’s Odyssey, XII.
• Pindar, Nemean Odes, 4.27-30.
• Pindar, Isthmian Odes, 6.32-35.

Secondary sources

• Gantz, Timothy. Early Greek Myth. Vol. 1 pp. 419–420 and Vol. 2 pp. 705. Johns Hopkins University Press. London (1993).
• Tripp, Edward. The Meridian Handbook of Classical Mythology. New York (1970).