Hyginus however attributes a version of the story to Hesiod. The only Phaethon Hesiod seem to recognize is the son of Eos, Helios' sister and the goddess of the dawn, by her lover Cephalus. Neither seems to know Phaethon as an individual, as "Phaethon", meaning "the radiant" seems to be exclusively an epithet used for Helios by them. Homer and Hesiod įor the two earliest ancient Greek authors, Homer and Hesiod, the chariot and the four horses that pull Helios each morning do not seem to exist at all the oldest work in which they appear being the Homeric Hymns. According to a scholium on the Odyssey and a papyrus of the Società Italiana, Phaethon's mother Clymene was not an Oceanid, but rather a mortal woman, a daughter of Minyas, who married Helios. Alternatively, less common genealogies make him a son of Clymenus by Oceanid Merope, of Helios and Rhodos (thus a full brother of the Heliadae) or of Helios and Prote. Phaethon was said to be the son of the Oceanid Clymene and the sun god Helios. Phaethon fell to earth and was killed in the process. In some versions, the Earth first froze when the horses climbed too high, but when the chariot then scorched the Earth by swinging too near, Zeus decided to prevent disaster by striking it down with a thunderbolt. Placed in charge of the chariot, Phaethon was unable to control the horses. Despite Helios' protests and advice against, Phaethon doesn't back down from his initial wish, and thus Helios reluctantly allows him to drive his chariot. There, he asks Helios for permission to drive his father's sun-chariot for a single day. 1731ĭetails vary according to version, but most have Phaethon travel far east to meet his father, sometimes in order to get him to assure his paternity. Phaethon's tale was commonly used to explain why uninhabitable lands on both sides of extremity (such as hot deserts and frozen wastelands) exist, and why certain peoples have darker complexions, while his sisters' amber tears accounted for the river's rich deposits of amber.Īncient Greek Φαέθων, Phaethon, means "radiant", from the verb φαέθω, meaning "to shine." Therefore, his name could be understood as, "the shining/radiant (one)" Ultimately the word derives from φάος, phaos, the Greek word for light, from the Proto-Indo-European root *bheh 2-, 'to shine.' Mythology Apollo and Phaëthon, by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, c. His dead body falls into the river Eridanus, and his sisters the Heliades are turned to black poplar trees as they mourn him. In the end, after many complaints, from the stars in the sky to the earth itself, Zeus strikes Phaethon with one of his lightning bolts, killing him instantly. As a result, he drives the chariot too close to the earth, burning it, and too far from it, freezing it. He is then allowed to take the chariot's reins his ride is disastrous, as he cannot keep a firm grip on the horses. Despite Helios' fervent warnings and attempts to talk him out of it, counting the numerous dangers he would face in his celestial journey and reminding Phaethon that only he can control the horses, the boy is not dissuaded and does not change his mind. There he is recognised by his father, and asks him for the privilege to drive his chariot for a single day. ə θ ən/ Ancient Greek: Φαέθων, romanized: Phaéthōn, pronounced ), also spelled Phaëthon, was the son of the Oceanid Clymene and the sun-god Helios in Greek mythology.Īccording to most authors, Phaethon is the son of Helios, and out of desire to have his parentage confirmed, travels to the sun-god's palace in the east. 1700–1711 by Dominique Lefebvre, from Paris, France, now at The Victoria and Albert Museum, London
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