Is Helios a good god or a bad god?

Answer 1

In greco-roman mythology, gods were generally not seen as forces of either good or bad - They were instead embodiments of different facets of the world/ human life - and as corruptible, flawed, and riven by passions as the mortals who built temples to them. They were worshiped for their power and wisdom, not their benevolence.

Helios, being the embodiment of the power of the Sun was seen as life-giving, but simultaneously something to be feared. As much as the sun's influence could produce a bounteous harvest, it was also thought to be a cause of drought. He was to be feared, respected, worshiped, but not regarded as a pillar of virtue.

In christian mythology, the binary, atavistic distinction between light and darkness has come to represent the twin forces of good and evil, order and chaos, life and death, as manifested in the conflict between god ("the light of the world") and the 'Prince of Darkness'

But in Greek mythology all is not so simple. Helios himself was neither entirely good nor bad. Even Hades, the god of hell and death, was not a solely 'bad' figure, as he was seen as an agent of justice as well as destruction.

The conflation of ultimate temporal power with ultimate moral authority or 'goodness' is a symptom of monotheism. In polytheism, there is room for gods to be flawed.

In short, you can't exactly categorise Helios as either. He was supposed to be merely a very powerful, human-like being.

He was in peace with the gods and never turned against them.