Phaethon.
One day with the sun’s reins
Phaethon: Greek Myth of Helios’s Son and the Sun Chariotasks to drive the sun’s chariot as proof of his divine parentage. His father’s promise gives him control of a task beyond his strength, putting the entire earth at risk.
More than a myth.
The promise of the Sun
Challenged about his ancestry, seeks out the Sun’s palace. His father acknowledges him and promises a gift, swearing an oath before hearing the request. Phaethon chooses a day at the chariot’s reins. The Sun’s attempts to explain the danger come too late to make the promise easy to withdraw.
The chariot leaves its course
The horses sense the unfamiliar driver, and cannot control the route. The chariot rises and plunges, bringing destructive heat across the earth. imagines rivers drying and landscapes burning. finally strikes the driver with a thunderbolt to end the catastrophe. The narrative’s scale distinguishes this failed ascent from the private disaster of ’s flight.
A family left to mourn
falls into the river Eridanus, and his mother and sisters search and grieve. The become trees whose tears harden into amber. The transformation carries their grief into the natural world. ’s narrative combines a cosmic crisis with a family’s attempt to recover the child at its center.
Questions about Phaethon
Was Phaethon the son of Apollo or Helios?
The driver’s father is the Sun, commonly identified as in Greek retellings of . Later associations of with the sun can obscure the distinction.
Why did Zeus kill Phaethon?
The uncontrolled solar chariot was scorching the world. ’s thunderbolt stops its disastrous course.
It’s a family affair.
Phaethon
The solar chariot & catastrophic proofNo children represented in this edition.
The stories of Phaethon.
Ancient voices.
Enduring stories.
Myths have many tellings. These are the ancient works behind this profile, linked to freely available English translations.
Metamorphoses
Book 1.747–779 · the disputed parentage
Metamorphoses
Book 2.1–366 · the chariot and mourning