Phaethon's Ride
conceptThe myth of Helios's son who drove the sun chariot across the sky, lost control, and was struck down by Zeus to prevent the earth from burning.
The Myth
Phaethon was the son of Helios, the sun god, and the Oceanid Clymene. Mocked by his peers for claiming divine parentage, he travelled to his father's golden palace in the east. Helios, overjoyed, swore by the river Styx to grant any wish. Phaethon demanded to drive the sun chariot for a single day. Helios begged him to choose anything else — the horses were too powerful for any mortal — but the oath was unbreakable. At dawn, Phaethon mounted the chariot. The four horses, sensing a lighter hand on the reins, bolted. The chariot careened too close to earth, scorching the land (creating the Sahara Desert, the Greeks believed) and too far away, freezing other regions. Mountains caught fire, rivers boiled, and the earth cried out to Zeus. Zeus hurled a thunderbolt, killing Phaethon. His body fell blazing into the river Eridanus (the Po). His sisters, the Heliades, wept until the gods transformed them into poplar trees whose tears became amber.
Symbols
Fun Fact
A "phaeton" became the name for a light, fast horse-drawn carriage in the 18th century — and the name transferred to early automobiles. Volkswagen still makes the Phaeton. Amber — the fossilised resin of ancient trees — was explained by the Greeks as the solidified tears of Phaethon's sisters. The Greek word for amber, elektron, gives us "electricity," because rubbing amber produces static charge. Every time someone says "electric," they are three etymological steps from a dead boy falling out of the sun.
Words We Inherited
English words and phrases that trace back to this myth:
Explore Further
Clymene (Oceanid)
nymphOceanid nymph and mother of Phaethon and the Heliades.
Phaethon
heroPhaethon was the son of Helios who insisted on driving the chariot of the sun and lost control,...
Helios
godThe Titan who drove the sun chariot across the sky each day, providing light to the world. Helios...
Zeus
godSupreme ruler of the Olympian gods and lord of the sky. Zeus overthrew his father Kronos and...
Zeus (King)
godZeus was the king of the Olympian gods, ruler of the sky, wielder of the thunderbolt — the supreme...
Helios (Sun God)
godHelios was the Titan god who drove the chariot of the sun across the sky each day — seeing...
Mount Olympus (Sacred)
placeThe highest mountain in Greece and mythological home of the twelve Olympian gods, whose...
Mount Parnassus
placeMount Parnassus was the mountain above Delphi sacred to Apollo and the Muses — the symbolic home of...
Styx
placeThe great river that formed the boundary between the world of the living and the realm of the dead....
Styx (Goddess)
nymphStyx was both a river and an Oceanid goddess — the first divine ally of Zeus in the Titanomachy,...
Styx (River)
placeThe Styx was the most sacred river of the underworld — the river by which the gods swore their most...
Zeus Xenios
godAn epithet of Zeus as guardian of guests and the sacred law of hospitality (xenia), whose violation...