The Cattle of Helios

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Topics in Greek mythology
Gods Primordial gods and Titans Zeus and the Olympians Pan and the nymphs Apollo and Dionysus Sea-gods and Earth-gods
Heroes Heracles and his Labors Achilles and the Trojan War Odysseus and the Odyssey Jason and the Argonauts Perseus and Medusa/Gorgon Oedipus and Thebes Theseus and the Minotaur Triptolemus and the Eleusinian Mysteries
Related Satyrs, centaurs and dragons Religion in Ancient Greece

In Greek mythology, the Cattle of Helios pastured on the island of Thrinacia, which is believed to be modern Sicily.^[1] Helios, also known as the sun god, is said to have had seven herds of oxen and seven flocks of sheep, each numbering fifty head.^[2] In the Odyssey, Homer describes this immortal cattle as handsome (ἄριστος), wide-browed (εúρυμέτωπος) and curved-horned (ὀρθόκραιρος).^[3] 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.

Contents 1 Mythological references 1.1 Odysseus 1.2 Heracles 2 Footnotes 3 References 3.1 Primary Sources 3.2 Secondary Sources

[edit] Mythological references

[edit] Odysseus

The most famous reference to this cattle is during Odysseus’ adventures and hardships that he faced immediately after the Trojan War as the Ithakan king tried to return to his family and home.

Odysseus is forewarned by the seer, Tiresias, and the goddess, Circe, to avoid the island of Thrinacia altogether and was more than willing to heed the warning, but after telling his crew to sail past the island he was faced with a mutiny. Since he was down to his last ship (from the twelve that he had left Troy with) and he needed their support in order to reach home, Odysseus reluctantly agreed but had his men swear that they would not touch either the oxen or sheep that belonged to Helios.

Odysseus’ fear of landing on Thrinacia were soon realized as a strong south wind, which would have blown him and his men back towards Scylla and Charybdis, did not abate for an entire month keeping them on the island and depleting the last of their supplies and rations. Thinking to placate the gods to stop the winds so that they could leave the island, Odysseus left his men and headed inland. It did not take his men long, encouraged by Eurylochus, to slaughter some of the cattle; believing strongly that it was better to die a warrior's death (even if that meant at the hands of the gods) than to die of hunger. Odysseus’ men killed the best from a herd of Helios’ sacred cattle.

Helios is portrayed as a vengeful god and demands from Zeus retribution and punishment for the heinous deed. The result was the destruction of Odysseus’ last ship and the death of the remainder of his crew.^[4]

[edit] Heracles

The other reference to the Cattle of Helios is from a story involving another Greek hero, Heracles. It was declared by an oracle that in the battle of the Olympian Gods against the Giants that the Olympians would only be victorious with a mortal’s aid^[5]. Heracles was no ordinary mortal but a son of Zeus himself by Alcmene.

Soon after the Trojan War, Heracles along with his comrade-in-arms, Telamon, was directed by the goddess Athena to Phlegra, presumably Thrace’s Pallene (near Chalcidice)^[6]. According to Pindar, on this peninsula lived the “eldest of the Giants”, Alkyoneus, whom it was said was the herdsman of a stolen cattle of Helios. It was this theft that had initiated the war between the Olympians and the Giants.^[7]

Similar to Helios’ reaction to Odysseus’ treatment of his cattle, Helios wanted Alkyoneus punished and thus began the war between the Olympians and Giants. Heracles later shoots and successfully kills Alkyoneus^[8].

This event is also believed to be depicted on five pots featuring a herd of cows on the reverse side, although whether the individual depicted with the cows is Heracles or Alkyoneus is undetermined.^[9]

[edit] Footnotes

[edit] References

[edit] Primary Sources

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

[edit] Secondary Sources

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