Editing Helios (section)

==== Rhodes ====
[[File:Colosse de Rhodes (Barclay).jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.05|[[Colossus of Rhodes]]]]

The island of [[Rhodes]] was an important [[Cult (religion)|cult]] center for Helios, one of the only places where he was worshipped as a major deity in ancient Greece.<ref>Burkert, p. 174</ref>{{sfn|Nilsson|1950|page=355}} One of Pindar's most notable greatest odes is an abiding memorial of the devotion of the island of Rhodes to the cult and personality of Helios, and all evidence points that he was for the Rhodians what Olympian Zeus was for [[Elis]] or Athena for the Athenians; their local myths, especially those concerning the [[Heliadae]], suggest that Helios in Rhodes was revered as the founder of their race and their civilization.<ref>Farnell, p. [https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.56576/page/n531/mode/2up?view=theater 418], vol. V</ref>

[[File:Münze aus Rhodos, 170-150 v. Chr. Vorderseite.jpg|Silver drachma coin from Rhodes island with the head of Helios looking to the right and bearing a diadem of rays, ca. 170-150 BC, [[University of Tübingen]], [[Berlin]].|260px|thumb]]

The worship of Helios at Rhodes included a ritual in which a [[quadriga]], or chariot drawn by four horses, was driven over a precipice into the sea, in reenactment to the myth of Phaethon. Annual gymnastic tournaments were held in Helios' honor;<ref name=":seyf">{{Cite book |last=Seyffert |first=Oskar |url=http://archive.org/details/b3135841x |title=A dictionary of classical antiquities : mythology, religion, literature & art |date=1901 |publisher=London : S. Sonnenschein; New York : Macmillan |others=Wellcome Library}}</ref> according to [[Sextus Pompeius Festus|Festus]] (s. v. [[October Horse|October Equus]]) during the Halia each year the Rhodians would also throw quadrigas dedicated to him into the sea.<ref>Parker, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=e_ytDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA138 138]</ref><ref>Farnell, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=2NQF-MSICWEC&pg=PA20 20], vol. IV</ref><ref>Gardner and Jevons, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=ifTOAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA247 247]</ref> Horse sacrifice was offered to him in many places, but only in Rhodes in teams of four; a team of four horses was also sacrificed to Poseidon in [[Illyricum (Roman province)|Illyricum]], and the sea god was also worshipped in Lindos under the epithet Hippios, denoting perhaps a blending of the cults.<ref name=":riat73">''Rhodes in Ancient Times'', p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=cdA5AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA73 73]</ref>

It was believed that if one sacrificed to the rising Sun with their day's work ahead of them, it would be proper to offer a fresh, bright white horse.<ref>Harrison, Jane E. "Helios-Hades." The Classical Review, vol. 22, no. 1, Classical Association, [[Cambridge University Press]], 1908, pp. [http://www.jstor.org/stable/694587 12–16]</ref>

The [[Colossus of Rhodes]] was dedicated to him. In [[Xenophon of Ephesus]]' work of fiction, ''[[Ephesian Tale|Ephesian Tale of Anthia and Habrocomes]]'', the protagonist Anthia cuts and dedicates some of her hair to Helios during his festival at Rhodes.<ref>[[Xenophon of Ephesus]], ''[[Ephesian Tale]]'' pp. [https://www.elfinspell.com/ClassicalTexts/Rooke/XenophonsEphesianHistory/Ephesiaca-Book5.html 107-108]; Dillon 2002, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=A4YyVL0sygAC&pg=PA216 216]</ref> The Rhodians called shrine of Helios, Haleion ({{langx|grc|{{math|Ἄλειον}} }}).<ref>[https://www.cs.uky.edu/~raphael/sol/sol-entries/alpha/1155 Suda, alpha, 1155]</ref>

A colossal statue of the god, known as the Colossus of Rhodes and named as one of the [[Seven Wonders of the Ancient World]], was erected in his honour and adorned the port of the city of Rhodes.<ref>Hemingway, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=n1I_EAAAQBAJ&pg=PA36 36]</ref>

<blockquote>
The best of these are, first, the Colossus of Helius, of which the author of the iambic verse says, "seven times ten cubits in height, the work of [[Chares of Lindos|Chares the Lindian]]"; but it now lies on the ground, having been thrown down by an earthquake and broken at the knees. In accordance with a certain oracle, the people did not raise it again.<ref>[[Strabo]], ''[[Geography]]'' [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Strabo/14B*.html#p269 14.2.5]</ref>
</blockquote>

According to most contemporary descriptions, the Colossus stood approximately 70 [[cubit]]s, or {{convert|33|m|ft|abbr=off}} high – approximately the height of the modern [[Statue of Liberty]] from feet to crown – making it the tallest statue in the [[ancient world]].<ref>Higgins, Reynold (1988) "The Colossus of Rhodes" [https://books.google.com/books?id=vGhbJzigPBwC&pg=PA130 p. 130], in ''The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World'', Peter A. Clayton and Martin Jessop Price (eds.). Psychology Press, {{ISBN|9780415050364}}.</ref> It collapsed after an earthquake that hit Rhodes in [[226 BC Rhodes earthquake|226 BC]], and the Rhodians did not build it again, in accordance with an oracle.

In Rhodes, Helios seems to have absorbed the worship and cult of the island's local hero and mythical founder [[Tlepolemus]].<ref name=":ekr1">Ekroth, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=i54VCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA210 210]</ref> In ancient Greek city foundation, the use of the ''archegetes'' in its double sense of both founder and progenitor of a political order, or a polis, can be seen with Rhodes; real prominence was transferred from the local hero Tlepolemus, onto the god, Helios, with an appropriate myth explaining his relative insignificance; thus games originally celebrated for Tlepolemus were now given to Helios, who was seen as both ancestor and founder of the polis.<ref>Malkin, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=A-0UAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA245 245]</ref> A sanctuary of Helios and the nymphs stood in Loryma near [[Lindos]].<ref>Larson 2001, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=1ww3m1vSRtsC&pg=PA207 207]</ref>

The priesthood of Helios was, at some point, appointed by lot, though in the great city a man and his two sons held the office of priesthood for the sun god in succession.<ref>''Rhodes in Ancient Times'', p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=cdA5AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA83 83]</ref>