Sunrise and Its Importance in Mythology

Sunrise in one's life depicts the heralding of a new beginning. May it be the clock striking midnight to mark one's birthday or the day of a special occasion, like an anniversary or a wedding. Sunrise brings hope and as a very popular Indian saying goes, "Every night is followed by sunrise", which means that every period of darkness and trouble is followed by a sunrise, which will bring a solution and a time to celebrate.

Sunrise and the Sun Gods have played important roles for centuries through the mythologies of various cultures. The Greek, Chinese, Indians, Egyptians and many more have given the Sun much importance, so let's look at the impact the Sun has had on mankind for centuries depicting its importance to all.

Chinese Mythology

The Chinese believed that there were ten Suns and one used to arrive as the other one used to leave to bathe. There are many versions of this story, but this is how the most popular version goes. This is from the chapter called "The Systems of the Heavens" by Huai-nan Tzu, with a little addition by other scholars of that time. The ten suns used to bathe in the T'iang Valley where the Leaning Mulberry (the tree) stood tall. The nine suns stayed on its lower branches whilst the tenth sun resided on its top branch. Another version goes that in the middle of a great wasteland, there was a mountain called Neih-yao Chun-ti, next to which was the Yang Valley. Next to the Yang Valley was the Leaning Mulberry, which was an old three hundred leagues tall tree with mustard plant leaves. On this tree one sun arrived, borne by a crow (sometimes three legged) as the other sun left. The whole process of sunrise to sunset from Yang (sunny) Valley or Yu Yuans's riverbank to Meng Valley covers Nine Provinces and Seven halts, depicting times during the day.

Greek Mythology

In Greek mythology, Helios personified the sun. The Greek poet Homer often called him only the Titan or Hyperion. He wrote that Helios was the son of the Titans Hyperion and Theia and described him as the brother of the Selene, the goddess of the moon, and of Eos, the goddess of dawn. This is also what is believed to have given birth to the common Greek words for the sun, moon and dawn. Helios was believed to be a handsome god who had a crown of a shining aureole of the sun and he drove the chariot of the sun every day across the sky to the earth after circling Oceanus and then after passing the world ocean, he returned East at night time. It was believed that the chariot of the sun was drawn by solar steeds or fire darting steeds that were later named Phlegon, Aeos, Pyrios and Aethon.

Egyptian Mythology

The God of the sun in ancient Egypt was called Ra (pronounced Rah or sometimes even as Re). He became a major deity by the fifth dynasty and was primarily identified as the mid day sun god, as there were other deities that depicted other positions of the sun. Ra changed over time and soon came to be recognised as the god of all the times of the day. The cult of Ra was based from Heliopolis, which means the City of the Sun. Ra was also later merged with another god, Horus and was called Re-Horakhty. He was believed to command the earth, sky and the underworld. He is associated with the Falcon, which was the symbol of the sun deities and is represented by the sun disc as his symbol.

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