Legends of The Sun: From Solar Gods to Flying Chariots

Thanks to scientific discoveries, we know for certain that life on Earth depends upon the sun. But long before scientists even discovered that our planet revolves around it, ancient cultures recognized the importance of the sun – and they had a multitude of legends, myths and even gods based on it.

Here, we’ve compiled some of the most wonderful and fascinating legends about the sun from cultures around the world.

1. Aztecs (Mexico)

The Aztecs believed that they were in the period of the fifth sun, with the four previous suns having been destroyed by jaguars, hurricanes, raining fire and a great flood, respectively. The god who sacrificed himself to become this fifth sun was called Nanahuatzin, or ‘the pimply or scabby one.’ He jumped into the sacrificial bonfire and was blown into place by Ehecatl, the god of the wind.

2. Ancient China (China)

In ancient China, it was believed that there were originally 10 suns, all of whom were the sons of solar goddess Shiho. Each day, she would wheel one of them across the sky in her sky chariot. However, one day they got bored and decided to cross the sky together, scorching the planet with their combined heat and provoking sun god Dijun to hire an archer to teach the suns a lesson. He did this by killing nine of them with his arrows, sparing the last one only because a child stole his final arrow.