Overview

This text deals with conceptions of the Greek sun-god, Helios, in some selected works of late antique literature. The syncretistic picture is characterized by the heterogenous contours and polyvalent functions that were assigned to the god. The main part of the book presents Helios in the Orphic hymns, in the Greek-Egyptian Magical Papyri, in Neoplatonic philosophy and in the Dionysiac epic of Nonnos. The introduction gives a summary of the importance attached to Helios in the older Greek literary tradition, and the appendix contains a sketch of the roles attributed to ancient Near Eastern sun-deities. Both sections shed light on the conditions that gave rise to the phenomenon of late antique sun theology. These texts, analyzed from the perspective of sun theology, extend and enrich an otherwise cultically and politically coloured image of a sun religion consisting largely of classical and oriental components.

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Wolfgang Fauth, Dr.Phil. (1953) University of Göttingen, is Professor of classical philology at the University of Göttingen. He has published numerous articles on the classical and oriental history of religions.

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