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Key Details
Type
IslandMythology
Greek Pantheon
Coordinates
37.5°N, 14.5°E
About This Location
Helios's cattle
Thrinacia in Odyssey 12 is the island of the Sun, with seven herds of cattle and seven flocks of sheep, unharmed until Odysseus sleeps and Eurylochus talks the starving crew into slaughter. The hides crawl; the meat lows on the spits. Helios demands vengeance; Zeus wrecks the ship. Sicily later claimed the name. There is no Helios cult described on the beach. The stop is a taboo about property of a god who sees everything.
Primary Sources
“If you leave the cattle unharmed, you may yet reach Ithaca. If you harm them, I foretell the ruin of ship and crew.”
More from Greek Pantheon
Mount Olympus
MountainThe highest mountain in Greece and the mythological home of the twelve Olympian gods.
The Underworld
RealmThe gloomy realm of the dead ruled by Hades, located deep beneath the earth.
Delphi
Sacred SiteThe site of the oracle of Apollo, considered the center of the world (omphalos) by the ancient Greeks.
Tartarus
UnderworldThe deepest abyss of the underworld, a dungeon of torment where the Titans were imprisoned and the wicked punished for eternity.
Elysian Fields
RealmA paradise at the end of the earth where heroes and the virtuous were sent after death to live in eternal bliss.
River Styx
Body Of WaterThe principal river of the underworld, upon which even the gods swore binding oaths. Charon ferried the dead across its dark waters.