LampetiaandPhaethusa were the two nymph-daughters of the sun-god Helios, who pastured the sacred herds of their father on the mythical island of Thrinakie. Lampetia shepherded seven flocks of fifty sheep with a silver crock, while Phaethousa tended seven herds of fifty cattle with a copper staff.
Odysseus and his crew arrived at Thrinakie after passing Scylla and Charybdis. When his crew begged to be allowed to land to prepare supper, Odysseus grudgingly agrees on condition that the they swear that if they come upon a herd of cattle or a great flock of sheep, no one will kill any of them. Eurylochus though convinces the crew to drive off the best of the cattle of Helios and sacrifice them to the gods. Lampetia tells Helios that Odysseus’ men have slain his cattle. In turn, Helios orders the gods to take vengeance on Odysseus’ men. After they set sail again, Zeus kept 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.
LampetiaandPhaethusa were the two nymph-daughters of the sun-god Helios, who pastured the sacred herds of their father on the mythical island of Thrinakie. Lampetia shepherded seven flocks of fifty sheep with a silver crock, while Phaethousa tended seven herds of fifty cattle with a copper staff.
Odysseus and his crew arrived at Thrinakie after passing Scylla and Charybdis. When his crew begged to be allowed to land to prepare supper, Odysseus grudgingly agrees on condition that the they swear that if they come upon a herd of cattle or a great flock of sheep, no one will kill any of them. Eurylochus though convinces the crew to drive off the best of the cattle of Helios and sacrifice them to the gods. Lampetia tells Helios that Odysseus’ men have slain his cattle. In turn, Helios orders the gods to take vengeance on Odysseus’ men. After they set sail again, Zeus kept 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.
Helioswas the Titan god of the sun, a guardian of oaths, and the god of sight. He dwelt in a golden palace in the River Okeanos at the far ends of the earth from which he emerged each dawn, crowned with the aureole of the sun, driving a chariot drawn by four winged horses. When he reached the the land of the Hesperides in the far West he descended into a golden cup which bore him through the northern streams of Okeanos back to his rising place in the East.
Helios was depicted as a handsome, usually beardless, man clothed in purple robes and crowned with the shining aureole of the sun.
His parents were the Titans Hyperion and Theia, who also bore his siblings Selene (Moon) and Eos (Dawn).
The Cattle of Helios, also called the Oxen of the Sun, were immortal cattle pastured on the island of Thrinacia, who were guarded by Helios’ daughters, Phaethusa and Lampetia.
