Phaethon

Phaethon was a son of Helios and a mortal woman. He is most famous for featuring in a Greek myth explaining the different climates of the world.

In Mythology
One day, while Phaethon was playing with with his friends, he decided to tell his friend Epaphus (the son of Poseidon) about his divine origins. When he told him, he started laughing. "You aren't the child of Helios! What a laugh!" This made Phaethon angry. The next day, he asked his mother where his father lived. "Your father lives in the east, my son." she kindly said. "But why would you want to go there?" But nothing she said could stop Phaethon.

When the sun set in the west, Phaethon set out. When he reached Helios's palace, he was astounded. The doors were made of pure ivory, the walls of gold, and the floors of white marble. He was amazed.

Helios' throne was even more amazing. It was pure light. After their meeting for the first time, Helios promised his son one gift. Phaethon made his father swear on the River Styx, the most holy of oaths, to give him one request. Phaethon asked his father is he could drive the sun. "No, son." Helios said. "The road is too dangerous, the horses too bold. You would be killed." But nothing Helios said could change Phaethon's mind, and he had sworn to fulfil his wish.

When it was time for the Helios to go out on his daily journey, he started to give Phaethon insctructions. "First," Helios explained, "You musn't go too close to the earth, for you will burn up the ground. Secondly, you can't go too near to the sky, for the earth will grow too cold." Phaethon nodded his head eagerly. "Alright," said Helios. "Here you go!" Eos, goddess of the dawn and Helios' sister, opened the gates and Phaethon drove out. At first, it seemed easy to drive the sun. But then, it grew harder.

Once the chariot started climbing the hill, the horses grew restless. They started to sway and buckle, pulling the sun up too high. Phaethon tried to stop them, but nothing could. Finally, Phaethon managed to drag them away from the stars and back on the path. But the horses wounldn't rest. They started dragging the sun closer to earth, so close the all the crops burned and Gaia cried out in pain. Zeus heard her cries and shot Phaethon with a bolt of lightning. Phaethon and the chariot fell in the west, where his sisters, the Heliades found his dead body. The were so sorrowed, that turned into poplar trees. Since that day, Helios has never let anyone besides Eos and himself, drive the sun.