This story comes from Tony Kline’s translation of Ovid’s Metamorphoses. This story follows how Phaethon died, and the aftermath of how his family reacted. Phaethon had previously found out that the Sun God was his father, and after meeting him, demanded to drive the chariot of the sun, as was his birthright. His father, having said he’d grant any request that Phaethon made, tried his best to change his mind, but couldn’t succeed. Phaethon tried to drive the chariot, but because the horses were so wild, failed and let the sun chariot go wildly off course. As the heat of the sun chariot became unbearable, Earth called out to Jupiter for help.
Reading Notes:
- Jupiter climbed up to the tallest mountain, and yelled for all the gods to witness that he had no other choice for what he was about to do.
- Jupiter threw a lightning bolt at the chariot, and hit Phaethon right in the head.
- The horses broke free from the chariot and ran away, while Phaethon shot through the sky like a shooting star, eventually landing in a stream.
- Some nymphs found his body and gave him a burial with a headstone announcing his fate.
- His father didn’t run the sun the next day, but resumed his duties the day after, as he wished to mourn his son.
- His mother and his sisters wandered the earth until he found his grave, and spent four days weeping and beating their chests.
- After the fourth day, although his mother tried to stop it from happening, his sisters turned into trees.
- Meanwhile, Cycnus, a friend of Phaethon, vented his grief in a similar manner, and turned into a swan because of it.
- Phaethon’s father swore that he wouldn’t pull the chariot again, and demanded that the others try and see how hard it could be.
The death of Phaethon (Source: Wikipedia)
No comments:
Post a Comment