The Father of the Lights of Heaven
Hyperion was one of the twelve Titans, children of Uranus and Gaia, and the lord of heavenly light. The Greeks credited him with first observing and ordering the movement of the sun, the moon, and the dawn — the celestial rhythms that measure out the day, the month, and the year.
His name means "the high one" or "he who watches from above," from hyper ("over") and a root meaning "to go" or "to watch." With his sister-wife Theia, the Titaness of sight and shining light, he fathered the three great luminaries: Helios the sun, Selene the moon, and Eos the dawn.
Like his brothers Cronus and the other male Titans, Hyperion belonged to the generation overthrown by the Olympians. Homer sometimes uses "Hyperion" as another name for the sun itself, blurring the father into his luminous son Helios.
Titan of light who first watched and ordered the heavens.
His son, the sun-god who drives the fiery chariot across the sky each day.
His daughter, the rosy-fingered dawn who opens the gates of morning.
Common Questions
What does the name Hyperion mean?
Hyperion means "the one who watches from above" or "the high one," from the Greek hyper. It fits his role as the Titan who observed and governed the lights of heaven.
Is Hyperion the sun god?
Not exactly. Hyperion is the Titan of light and father of the sun-god Helios. Homer occasionally calls the sun "Hyperion," which is why the two are sometimes confused, but mythologically Helios is his son.
