The difference between the "Day" and the "Sun"

[Pteranotropi]

To you, what is the difference between outright solar deities and deities reffered as governing the day/daylight?


At least Indo-European day deities seem to be basically described as solar gods in all but name, carrying their chariots across the sky to illumine the earth. Hemera/Eos sometimes appears in the place of Helios, Helios is said to govern daylight, and Dagr has the same kingly associations as solar deities - in the place of Sunna, no less. Rune readings of mine seem to indicate syncretism between Helios and Dagr, but I don't know how reliable that is.

[Faemon]

To you, what is the difference between outright solar deities and deities reffered as governing the day/daylight?

I guess day deities can come out even when it's cloudy, and solar deities can't because it's cloudy? They could be related, perhaps inextricably so, because most of us are generally diurnal creatures who take cues from light or clocks to get busy during the day. But separating the heat and light of the sun from the designated time period and putting deities in different spheres like "heat-and-light god" or "time god" sounds like splitting hairs.

[Tanbrid]

I'm mostly familiar with Indo-European pantheons, and there often is a distinction- though it's more about dawn than day. There are several IE cultures that have dawn goddesses separate from sun deities- the Greek Eos, as you mentioned, Roman Aurora, Baltic Ausrine, Ushas in the Vedas, Anglo-Saxon Eostre.Some of them seem to be linguistic cognates.
I think in Norse mythology, Delling is supposed to represent dawn, he is the father of Dag, day vs. Sunna, goddess of the Sun.

There are also gods of "light" that are not sun gods per se- the Norse Bragi, Gaelic Lugh, Apollo (sun god to Romans, less so for Greeks from what I understand) Light can also represent knowledge, inspiration, truth, goodness some idioms in English that come to mind are "seeing the light" and "shining light on a subject"

Likewise, there are also deities of night vs. deities of the moon (both also typically female. Greek Nyx, Roman Nox, Norse Nott, Vedic Ratri. Also cognates (except Ratri)

Some links
http://chronarchy.com/essays/usas-exploration.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delling
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Lithuanian_gods#Gods

[Aiwelin]

To you, what is the difference between outright solar deities and deities reffered as governing the day/daylight?


At least Indo-European day deities seem to be basically described as solar gods in all but name, carrying their chariots across the sky to illumine the earth. Hemera/Eos sometimes appears in the place of Helios, Helios is said to govern daylight, and Dagr has the same kingly associations as solar deities - in the place of Sunna, no less. Rune readings of mine seem to indicate syncretism between Helios and Dagr, but I don't know how reliable that is.

 
All I can give is my experience with two Anglo-Saxon deities related to the Sun: Eostre and Sunne.  In my experience, Sunne is the sun: She guides it across the sky, illumines the world.  Eostre is a dawn Goddess that I see more as a gatekeeper; much like the Zorya in Slavic legend, who open the gates for Their father, the sun.  As a gatekeeper, guardian of that transition, Eostre also has associations (for me) with spring, birth, and other times of new beginnings.  Sunne for me is more associated with heat, power, fertility and growth.

[SunflowerP]

 

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