Why is Apollo confused with Helios/a sun deity? (he is not the sun god btw)
Feel free to correct me or add info
I'm sure most of us have heard people call Apollo the sun god (absolutely wrong) and I'm sure some Helios devotee's hearts go all grrr when they hear this because, yeah same. But, why are they confused in the first place? I'm sure some of us already know but I'm also sure some don't, so here is a fast post regarding this.
This all started because of an Apollo epithet, Phoebus to be specific. It basically means the shining or brilliant and is really used in the Homeric poems, generally associated with the sun right. The thing is that Apollo is not associated with the sun... not at all, not even in his symbols. So, if you probably don't know this I'll think it's because you don't know what Apollo is the deity of, so basically he is the god of poetry, music, prophecies, the plague, etc.
If that's not enough for you here are some differences between Helios and Apollo.
Helios is a titan god, Apollo is an olympian god (here is a post regarding the type of deities)
You can associate Helios to the Island of Rhodes (he is the protector of it) while you can associate Apollo to multiple Oracles, specifically Delphi.
they are a whole generation apart- like Helios is a titan, and Apollo is son of Zeus and Leto. What I mean is that titans were before Zeus so when Helios was there, Apollo was not.
Helios rides a chariot in which he drags the sun across the Earth while Apollo doesn't.
In general, they are completely different deities, they are both great tho! So please, don't say Apollo is the god of the sun, that is embarrassing :)
