Greek mythology · 5 chapters

Phaethon and the Sun Chariot

To prove his father was the sun, a boy seized the reins of heaven, and nearly burned the world.

Phaethon, doubting that the sun-god Helios is truly his father, demands proof and is granted any wish, then asks to drive the chariot of the sun for a single day. Too weak to master the immortal horses, he scorches the earth and sets the heavens ablaze, until Zeus strikes him down with a thunderbolt to save the world. He falls flaming into a river, mourned by his sisters whose amber tears still drip from the poplar trees they become.