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File:Santi di Tito 001.jpg
The Sisters of Phaeton Transformed into Poplars by Santi di Tito (2nd half of 16th century)

Template:Greek myth (nymph) In Greek mythology, the Heliades (Ancient Greek: Ἡλιάδες means 'daughters of the sun') also called Phaethontides<ref>Smith, s.v. Phaethontiades</ref> (meaning "daughters of Phaethon") were the daughters of Helios and Clymene, an Oceanid nymph.

NamesEdit

According to one version recorded by Hyginus, there were seven Heliades: Merope, Helie, Aegle, Lampetia, Phoebe, Aetherie and Dioxippe.<ref>Hyginus, Fabulae 154</ref> Aeschylus's fragmentary Heliades<ref>Aeschylus, Heliades (play survived only in brief fragments); Ovid, Metamorphoses 2.340</ref> names Phaethousa and Lampetia, who are otherwise called daughters of Neaera.<ref>Homer, Odyssey 12.128</ref> A scholiast on the Odyssey gives their names as Phaethusa (Φαέθουσα), Lampetia (Λαμπετίην) and Aegle (Αἴγλην).<ref>Scholia ad Homer, Odyssey 17.208</ref>

MythologyEdit

Their brother, Phaëthon, died after attempting to drive his father's chariot (the sun) across the sky. He was unable to control the horses and fell to his death (according to most accounts, Zeus struck his chariot with a thunderbolt to save the Earth from being set afire). The Heliades grieved for four months and the gods turned them into poplar trees and their tears into amber.<ref>Diodorus Siculus, 5.23.2; Ovid, Metamorphoses 10.262 ff</ref> According to some sources, their tears (amber) fell into the river Eridanus, in which Phaethon had fallen.<ref>Pliny, Natural History 37.11.2; Pausanias, 1.4.1; Quintus Smyrnaeus, 5.627 ff</ref>

According to Hyginus, the Heliades were turned to poplar trees because they yoked the chariot for their brother without their father Helios' permission.<ref>Hyginus, Fabulae 152A</ref>

NotesEdit

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ReferencesEdit

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External linksEdit

Template:Metamorphoses in Greco-Roman mythology