Origin
Helios is the son of the Titans Hyperion and Theia, the brother of Selene, the Moon, and of Eos, the Dawn. Every morning he leaves his palace in the east, crosses the whole sky, then reaches the ocean in the west. Nothing escapes him: he sees everything that happens on earth.
The story
That all-seeing gaze makes him a precious witness. It is Helios who tells Demeter that her daughter Persephone has been taken by Hades, and he again who warns Hephaestus of the affair between Aphrodite and Ares.
One day his son Phaethon begs to drive the chariot. Helios reluctantly agrees. The horses feel a hand that is too light, bolt, scorch the earth, then fly so far that it freezes. Zeus has to strike the young man with lightning to save the world. The Romans called him Sol, and Apollo eventually took his place as the sun god.
The symbol
The Sun holds more than 99 % of the mass of the solar system. Its light takes a little over eight minutes to reach us: when you look at it, you see the Sun as it was eight minutes ago.
In astrology, the Sun stands for your identity, your vitality and what makes you shine. It rules Leo, and its sign in your chart is the one everyone knows: your sun sign.