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{{Short description|Daughters of Helios in Greek mythology}}
{{About ||the moth genus of the family Pyralidae |Heliades (moth){{!}}''Heliades'' (moth) |another set of Helios' children |Heliadae}}

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

In [[Greek mythology]], the '''Heliades''' ({{Langx|grc|Ἡλιάδες|4=daughters of the sun}}; {{IPAc-en|h|iː|ˈ|l|aɪ|.|ə|d|iː|z}}, {{Respell|hee|LYE|ə|deez}}) were the daughters of [[Helios]] and [[Clymene (mother of Phaethon)|Clymene]], an [[Oceanid]] [[nymph]]. They were also called '''Phaethontides'''<ref>Smith, [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0104%3Aalphabetic+letter%3DP%3Aentry+group%3D18%3Aentry%3Dphaethontiades-bio-1 s.v. Phaethontiades]</ref> ({{Langx|grc|Φαεθοντίδες|4=daughters of Phaethon}}), due to "Phaethon" being a common epithet for Helios.
[[File:Heliades by Rupert Bunny.jpg|thumb|Heliades by [[Rupert Bunny]], 1920s]]

== Names ==
According to one version recorded by [[Gaius Julius Hyginus|Hyginus]], there were seven Heliades: [[Merope (Greek myth)|Merope]], Helie, [[Aegle (mythology)|Aegle]], [[Lampetia]], [[Phoebe (mythological characters)|Phoebe]], Aetherie and [[Dioxippe]].<ref>[[Gaius Julius Hyginus|Hyginus]], ''Fabulae'' [https://topostext.org/work/206#154 154]</ref> Aeschylus's fragmentary ''Heliades''<ref>[[Aeschylus]], ''Heliades'' (play survived only in brief fragments); [[Ovid]], ''[[Metamorphoses]]'' [https://www.poetryintranslation.com/PITBR/Latin/Metamorph2.php#anchor_Toc64106113 2.340]</ref> names [[Phaethusa|Phaethousa]] and Lampetia, who are otherwise called daughters of [[Neaera (Greek mythology)|Neaera]] and have a different role in myth, being in charge of their father's sheep and cattle.<ref>[[Homer]], ''[[Odyssey]]'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0136%3Abook%3D12%3Acard%3D111 12.128]</ref><ref>[[Apollonius Rhodius]], 4.922-981</ref> A scholiast on the ''[[Odyssey]]'' gives their names as Phaethusa (Φαέθουσα), Lampetia (Λαμπετίην) and Aegle (Αἴγλην).<ref>[[Scholia]] ad Homer, ''Odyssey'' [https://cts.perseids.org/read/greekLit/tlg5026/tlg007/1st1K-grc1/2.17.1-2.17.3 17.208]</ref>

== Mythology ==
Their brother, [[Phaethon|Phaëthon]], died after attempting to drive his father's chariot ([[Helios]] 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 enormously, and through this grief they turned themselves into [[poplar tree]]s, and as they kept crying, their tears turned into [[amber]].<ref>[[Diodorus Siculus]], [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Diodorus_Siculus/5B*.html#23.2 5.23.2]; [[Ovid]], ''[[Metamorphoses]]'' [https://www.poetryintranslation.com/PITBR/Latin/Metamorph10.php#anchor_Toc64105570 10.262 ff]</ref> According to some sources, their tears (amber) fell into the river [[Eridanos (mythology)|Eridanus]], in which Phaethon had fallen.<ref>[[Pliny the Elder|Pliny]], ''[[Natural History (Pliny)|Natural History]]'' [https://topostext.org/work/153#37.11.2 37.11.2]; [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]], [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Paus.+1.4.1&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0160:book=0:chapter=0&highlight=daughters 1.4.1]; [[Quintus Smyrnaeus]], [https://books.google.com/books?id=KiDDDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT134 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'' [https://topostext.org/work/206#152A 152A]</ref>

A proverb preserved in Plutarch associates the tears of the Heliades with great wealth.<ref>Plutarch, ''De Proverbiis Alexandrinorum''  [http://www.poesialatina.it/_ns/greek/testi/plutarchus/De_proverbiis_Alexandrinorum_%5BSp.%5D.html 43]</ref>

== Notes ==
{{Reflist}}

== References ==
* [[Diodorus Siculus]], ''The Library of History'' translated by [[Charles Henry Oldfather]]. Twelve volumes. [[Loeb Classical Library]]. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann, Ltd. 1989. Vol. 3. Books 4.59&ndash;8. [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Diodorus_Siculus/home.html Online version at Bill Thayer's Web Site]
* Diodorus Siculus, ''Bibliotheca Historica. Vol 1-2''. Immanel Bekker. Ludwig Dindorf. Friedrich Vogel. in aedibus B. G. Teubneri. Leipzig. 1888–1890. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:2008.01.0540 Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library].
* [[Gaius Julius Hyginus]], ''Fabulae from The Myths of Hyginus'' translated and edited by Mary Grant. University of Kansas Publications in Humanistic Studies. [https://topostext.org/work/206 Online version at the Topos Text Project.]
* [[Homer]], [[Odyssey|''The Odyssey'']] with an English Translation by A.T. Murray, PH.D. in two volumes. Cambridge, MA., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1919. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0136 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.] [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0135 Greek text available from the same website].
* [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]], ''Description of Greece'' with an English Translation by W.H.S. Jones, Litt.D., and H.A. Ormerod, M.A., in 4 Volumes. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1918. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Paus.+1.1.1 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library]
* Pausanias, ''Graeciae Descriptio.'' ''3 vols''. Leipzig, Teubner. 1903.  [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0159 Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library].
* [[Ovid|Publius Ovidius Naso]], ''Metamorphoses'' translated by Brookes More (1859-1942). Boston, Cornhill Publishing Co. 1922. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.02.0028 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.]
* Publius Ovidius Naso, ''Metamorphoses.'' Hugo Magnus. Gotha (Germany). Friedr. Andr. Perthes. 1892. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.02.0029 Latin text available at the Perseus Digital Library].
* [[Quintus Smyrnaeus]], ''The Fall of Troy'' translated by Way. A. S. Loeb Classical Library Volume 19. London: William Heinemann, 1913. [http://www.theoi.com/Text/QuintusSmyrnaeus1.html Online version at theio.com]
* Quintus Smyrnaeus, ''The Fall of Troy''. Arthur S. Way. London: William Heinemann; New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons. 1913. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:2008.01.0490 Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library].
* [[Pliny the Elder]], ''Pliny – Natural History, 10 volumes.'' Translated by Rackham, H.; Jones, W. H. S.; Eichholz, D. E. Loeb Classical Library. 1938–1962.
* [[William Smith (lexicographer)|Smith, William]]; ''[[Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology]]'', London (1873). [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0104%3Aentry%3Dheliadae-bio-1 "Heliadae and Heliads"]
{{SmithDGRBM}}

== External links ==
*{{Commons category-inline}}
* [https://www.theoi.com/Nymphe/NymphaiHeliades.html HELIADES from The Theoi Project]

{{Metamorphoses in Greco-Roman mythology}}

[[Category:Metamorphoses into trees in Greek mythology]]
[[Category:Children of Helios]]
[[Category:Metamorphoses characters]]