LOGOI

The corpus record

ἥλιος

elios · ὁ

sun, the light of life, live, East

Generated live from the audited corpus — every figure on this page is a database query, not prose from memory.

Where it lives

  • Ecclesiastes 36 · 79.58/10k
  • Joel 3 · 19.48/10k
  • Jonas 2 · 19.01/10k
  • De Mundo 11 · 17.35/10k
  • De Insomniis 4 · 16.76/10k
  • De Divinatione per Somnum 2 · 16.68/10k
  • Epistula Jeremiae 2 · 15.89/10k
  • Works and Days 9 · 15.61/10k
  • Malachias 2 · 14.4/10k
  • Revelation 13 · 13.14/10k
  • Josue (cod. Vat.) 17 · 12.78/10k
  • Epinomis 8 · 12.68/10k

Densest 12 of 116 attested works shown, by occurrences per 10,000 attested tokens.

What it meant — LSJ

sun, the light of life, live

sun, Il. 7.421, etc.; ὁρᾶν φάος ἠελίοιο to see the light of life, live, 18.61, etc.; ὑπʼ ἠελίῳ τε καὶ οὐρανῷ ἀστερόεντι ναιετάουσι 4.44; γυνὴ . . ἀρίστη τῶν ὑφʼ ἡλίῳ E. Alc. 151; οὐκέτʼ ἔστιν ὑφʼ ἁλίῳ ib. 395; also ὑπὸ ἡλίου ἑωρᾶσθαι Th. 2.102; οἱ ὑπὸ τοῦτον τὸν ἥλιον ἄνθρωποι D. 18.270; τριῶν τῶν ὑπὸ τὸν ἥ. μεγίστων ἡγεμονιῶν Plu. Luc. 30: prov., οὐδʼ ὁ ἥ. εἴσεται Hld. 7.21; ὥσπερ σελήνη γʼ ἡλίῳ (sc. ὅμοιος) a pale reflection, Com.Adesp. 5.15D.

2 East, eastern

to determine the cardinal points, πρὸς ἠῶ τʼ ἠέλιόν τε towards the East, opp. πρὸς ζόφον: εἴτʼ ἐπὶ δεξίʼ ἴωσι πρὸς ἠῶ τʼ ἠέλιόν τε, εἴτʼ ἐπʼ ἀριστερὰ τοί γε ποτὶ ζόφον ἠερόεντα Il. 12.239, cf. Od. 9.26; ὅσοι ναίουσι πρὸς ἠῶ τʼ ἠέλιόν τε, ἠδʼ ὅσσοι μετόπισθε ποτὶ ζόφον 13.240; πρὸς ἠῶ τε καὶ ἡλίου ἀνατολάς, opp. πρὸς ἑσπέρην, Hdt. 7.58; τὰ πρὸς ἠῶ τε καὶ ἥλιον ἀνατέλλοντα Id. 4.40; οἱ ἀπὸ ἡλίου ἀνατολέων Αἰθίοπες the eastern . . , Id. 7.70.

3 day, a day, year

day, S. El. 424; a day, Pi. O. 13.37, Hp. Alim. 42, E. Hel. 652 (pl.), Ps.-Luc. Philopatr. 4,26, etc.; later, year, Herod. 10.1.

4 sunshine, sunʼs heat, sunbeams, hot sunny days

sunshine, sunʼs heat, ἐπὶ τοῖς ὄρεσιν Pl. Phd. 116e; ἥ. πολύς Luc. Nav. 35, cf. Herm. 25; πολὺν τὸν ἥ. ἐμφαίνειν, of a sunburnt person, Id. Ind. 3, cf. Rh.Pr. 9: pl., sunbeams, Thphr. Sign. 22, Ael. NA 16.17; hot sunny days, Th. 7.87.

5 sunshine, brightness

metaph., sunshine, brightness, ψυχῆς Plu. Es. carn. 1 2.994e, cf. Artem. 2.36, etc.; of a person, Ἑλλάνων δόξης δεύτερον Ἀέλιον IG 14.1188; of Ptol. VI, UPZ 15.33; νέος Ἥ., of Nero and Caligula, SIG 814.34, 798.3.

II Helios, the sun-god

as pr. n., Helios, the sun-god, Od. 8.271, etc.; νὴ τὸν Ἥ. Men. Sam. 108; ὑπὸ Δία Γῆν Ἥλιον, in manumission-formula, POxy. 48.6, 49.8 (i A.D.), IG 9(1).412 (Aetolia), IPE 2.54.10 (iii A.D.); [Ἥλιος] δούλους ἐλευθέρους ποιεῖ Artem. 2.36; identified with Apollo, Carm.Pop. 12, E. Fr. 781.11; with Dionysus, D.Chr. 31.11, etc.

2 Saturn

Ἡλίου ἀστήρ, of the planet Saturn, v.l. in Pl. Epin. 987c, cf. D.S. 2.30, Theo Sm. p.130H. (I.-E. sāwelios, cf. Cret. ἀβέλιος, Lith. sáulė, Lat. sōl.)

In the wild

6 of 866 attestations shown. Ask for more.

Where it came from

  • Beekes, Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Brill 2010) Treated in Beekes, Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Brill 2010) s.v. ἥλιος (scan p. 563; entry #2453). Root candidates: *suel-.
  • Chantraine, Dictionnaire etymologique de la langue grecque Treated in Chantraine, Dictionnaire etymologique de la langue grecque s.v. ἥλιος (scan pp. 424-425; entry #2994).
  • Frisk, Griechisches etymologisches Worterbuch Treated in Frisk, Griechisches etymologisches Worterbuch s.v. ἥλιος (scan pp. 663-664; entry #2328). Root candidates: *säuel-, *sül-.

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