Greek mythology
13. Phaethon Riding the Sun Chariot
During his early years, Phaethon grew up under the care of his stepfather, King Merops, alongside his sisters known as the Heliades - Merope, Helie, Phoebe, Dioxippe, and Aetheria. Some accounts suggest these sisters were his half-siblings through Merops and Clymene, while others maintain they were his full divine sisters through Helios. Regardless of their exact relation, their fates would become inextricably linked with his tragic end.
As a youth, Phaethon faced constant mockery from his peers. They would taunt him about his name, "the shining one," sarcastically questioning whether he truly was the son of the sun god as his name suggested. These taunts planted seeds of doubt and yearning in young Phaethon's heart, driving him to question his own identity and heritage.
Tormented by uncertainty, Phaethon repeatedly approached his mother Clymene, begging her to reveal the truth about his father. For years, she remained silent, perhaps understanding the dangerous path such knowledge might set him upon. However, as Phaethon grew into a young man, his persistence and growing need to know his true identity finally wore down his mother's resistance. In a moment that would set in motion a chain of catastrophic events, Clymene revealed to her son that his father was indeed Helios, the mighty god who drove the sun chariot across the sky each day.
This revelation ignited an unquenchable fire in Phaethon's soul. No longer content with mere knowledge of his divine parentage, he resolved to seek out his father and prove to the world that he was truly the son of the sun god. The journey to Helios's golden palace was long and arduous, but Phaethon's determination never wavered. He traversed distant lands and faced numerous challenges until at last, he stood before the magnificent eastern palace of the sun.
When Phaethon declared his wish - to drive the sun chariot across the sky for a single day - Helios's joy turned to horror. The sun god understood all too well the immense responsibility and skill required to control the four mighty horses that pulled the solar chariot. Even among the gods, few could manage this task, for it required not only tremendous strength but also perfect precision to maintain the delicate balance that kept the sun at the proper distance from the earth.
Helios pleaded with his son to reconsider, offering him any other gift within his power to give. He described in detail the perils of the journey: the fierce fire-breathing horses that only he could control, the treacherous path through the sky with its dangerous constellations, and the monstrous creatures that lurked in the heavens. He warned Phaethon that even Zeus himself chose a different route when traversing the sky, for the path of the sun chariot was fraught with unique dangers.
But Phaethon, his heart set upon this ultimate proof of his divine heritage, would not be swayed. Perhaps it was the years of mockery he had endured, or simply the rashness of youth, but he remained adamant in his choice. Bound by his oath upon the River Styx, Helios had no choice but to acquiesce to his son's fatal wish.
But from the moment Phaethon took the reins, disaster was inevitable. The horses, sensing an unfamiliar and weaker hand guiding them, grew wild and uncontrollable. They veered from their accustomed path, first soaring too high into the heavens, causing the clouds to burn and leaving what would become the Milky Way scorched across the sky. Then, plunging too close to the earth, they set mountains ablaze and dried up rivers and lakes.
The devastation was unprecedented. Great forests burst into flames, cities were reduced to ashes, and entire nations were scorched. It was during this catastrophic ride that the peoples of Ethiopia were said to have acquired their dark skin, burned by the sun's too-close passage. The Sahara Desert was created as fertile lands were transformed into endless seas of sand. The earth itself began to crack and break under the intense heat, and the seas began to boil.
Gaia, the Earth Mother, could no longer bear the destruction of her realm. In desperate pain, she cried out to Zeus, begging him to intervene before the entire world was reduced to ashes. Zeus, witnessing the chaos unfolding across the cosmos, realized he had no choice but to act. Though he knew it would pain Helios, he understood that the destruction of the world could not be allowed to continue.
The aftermath of Phaethon's fall brought even more tragedy. His sisters, the Heliades, were inconsolable in their grief. Day after day, they stood by the river where their brother had fallen, weeping without cease. The gods, perhaps in mercy, transformed them into poplar trees, but even then, their tears continued to fall, becoming drops of amber that the river carried away.
Cycnus, Phaethon's close friend and distant relative, was so affected by the young man's death that he repeatedly dove into the Eridanus, trying to recover any remaining traces of Phaethon's body. His dedication and grief moved the gods to transform him into a swan, forever associated with water and blessed with a beautiful voice to sing his sorrow. This is why the constellation Cygnus (the Swan) can be found in the night sky, eternally swimming through the starry river of the Milky Way.
The impact of Phaethon's death on Helios was profound. Some versions of the myth tell that the sun god, devastated by the loss of his son, withdrew from his duties, leading Apollo to take over the task of driving the sun chariot. However, this detail varies in different tellings, with many later myths still depicting Helios as the sun's charioteer.