HOMECreate-Your-Own-Myth
What the Greeks thought:
Now that you’ve told us what you think, you can see what the Greeks thought! Here it is, so sit back, relax, and read the story!
Helios, the sun-god, drove the sun across the sky each morning in his chariot. Each night, he drove it home and darkness fell. Helios had a mortal son called Phaethon. Phaethon was very proud of his father. He bragged that his father was the mighty god, but no one believed him. His schoolmates laughed at his stories in disbelief. They told him that he had no proof. They said that they would only believe him if he flew the chariot across the sky. Phaethon grew angry with them, so one day when his father had finished driving his chariot, Phaethon went to his father and asked him to swear on the river Styx that he would grant any wish Phaethon wanted. His father gladly did, and Phaethon asked if he could drive the chariot. Helios tried to talk him out of it, for no one could control the chariot except for him, but it didn’t work. Phaethon was not about to change his mind. Sadly, Helios consented.
The next morning, Phaethon came to his father before it was time for the chariot to leave. Helios gave him a list of rules and precautions to follow, but Phaethon was so excited that he barely paid attention. He slowly drove it to the gates and out to the horizon. The horses sensed that their master wasn’t leading them. They soon began to grow wild and tore across the sky out of control. Phaethon was afraid and called out for help, but his father could do nothing. As Phaethon went over his school, his friends gaped at the sight of him. They finally believed him, but they would never be able to tell him that.
The horses leading the chariots began to come closer to the Earth - so close that they burned the people in the continents Africa and Asia. They would have set the whole Earth on fire had not Zeus seen what was happening. To save the people, he had to throw a thunderbolt at the horses. Phaethon was killed and fell to the Earth. His father mourned his death forever.