The two faces of the Sun
Helios on his chariot – Relief, State Museum, Berlin – Source: Britannica.com

Italian version

Helios and Apollo are to be considered two aspects of the same divinity. Helios represented the physical vehicle of the Sun, embodying the creative and regenerative power inherent in its manifestation. Classical iconography depicting him aboard the solar chariot on its daily ride offers an example of this. As the son of the Titans Hyperion and Theia, Helios was not one of the twelve Olympian deities.

On the other hand, Apollo is an Olympian divinity, recognised as the son of Zeus and Leto. He has multiple attributions, including being the god of archery, dance, prophecies, healing, protector of flocks, and, according to Homeric literature, bringer of plagues. Only in late Hellenism does his identification as a god of light begin to take hold, thanks to one of the epithets with which philosophers and poets identify him: Phoebus, the Brilliant.

The situation underwent significant changes in the Roman world during the transition period between classical antiquity and the European Middle Ages. The advent of the cult of Sol Invictus on 25 December 274 AD, initiated by Emperor Aurelian, marked a turning point. Helios, associated with the Mithraic cults imported from Zoroastrianism, began taking on actual divinity characteristics. However, it was only during the reign of Emperor Julian that Helios became the primary divinity, dividing himself into a trinity. The One governed the Platonic forms, Helios-Mithras represented the intellectual realm, and Sol manifested Helios on the material plane.

Apollo’s divinity persisted until at least the fifth century AD, despite Helios-Sol’s emergence in philosophical texts. Helios-Sol embodies both the visible aspect of solar power and the underlying spiritual matrix represented by Apollo. In a broader sense, Apollonian qualities can be viewed as expressions of solar energy, manifesting as health (Apollo the healer) or disease (Apollo the bringer of plagues) when the energetic balance is disrupted. The god has become the hidden Sun, the Sun behind the sun, with his attributions revealing his central role, albeit obscured by its manifestations.

For more information, see my post on the Sun in Astrology.