Helios (the Roman equivalent was Sol), was the ancient Greek personification of the sun. Helios was imagined as a young handsome god crowned with the shining aureole of the sun. Each day he drove the chariot of the sun across the sky. As time passed, Helios was increasingly identified with the god of light, Apollo. His attributes are the whip and the globe, and his sacred animals were the cock and the eagle.
The Colossus of Rhodes, the sixth the seven wonders of the ancient world, was a huge statue of Helios measuring 32 meters (100 feet) high, built at Rhodes in 280 BC by Charès of Lindos. In an earthquake in 224-223 BCE the statue broke off at the knees. Rhodes also held annual gymnastic games in honor of Helios.