Ovid - Phaethon
Phaethon, son of Apollo, is mocked by Epaphus, son of Io, with Epaphus questioning his divine lineage
Phaethon, ashamed, asked his mother Clymene for proof of his divine father, and she encourages him to go to the palace of Apollo to ask for himself.
Epaphus connects previous story, Io with Phaethon story
Palace of Apollo fashioned from gold, silver, bronze and ivory
throne of emeralds
sitting beside him are Day, Month, Year, and Century
Massive and shining palace
Spring, Autumn, Winter and Summer also there
Phaethon pleads to Apollo to confirm his divine birth, and Apollo, to "dispel all doubt" swears by the River Styx that he will grant any request
Phaethon wished to drive his fathers chariot, the sun, for a day
Apollo grieved and remorse greatly, knowing his son would die if he were to do this task
Nevertheless, as he had sworn by the Styx to grant the request, he could not break this oath
Apollo pleaded with Phaethon to change his mind, but Phaethon would not
"not mortal your desire"
"This, to which even the gods may not aspire"
Again, this theme of punishment if a mortal infringes on the domain of the gods, present in other stories
Clear dichotomy of divine and mortal, destruction and misery if two interventions
Actions of the gods make victims
Phaethon takes reins
States that the road is very steep, and the final part drops sheer
Wild beasts, i.e. the constellations, lie in wait In the sky
Spinning poles and axis of the world
Apollo's final advice was to take the reins and whip the horses hard, so that they do not run wild
Also to not go too high, and burn the heavens, or too low, and burn the earth
Must follow the tracks already set, and do not take shortcuts, follow wide curving path
"young and light and proud"
Theme of hubris, pride of men attempting to be like gods, ends in disaster
The chariot feels too light without the weight of Apollo, it jumps and bounces and the horses run wild, leaving the well worn highway
Phaethon, blinded and shocked by the wild beast and flux of the sky around him, is unable to maintain control
The suns heat dries all the rivers and lakes, cracks the ground, sets fires to all mountain tops
He lets go of the reins in fear, and this leads to even greater disaster
Aethiops skin turned black, as their blood was summoned too close to their skin, from the heat, Aetiology of people of colour
Mother Earth, shaking and convulsing with earthquakes, begs Jupiter to end her suffering, greater than that of his own lightning bolts
She pleads with him that this is not the thanks she expected from providing her sustenance to the world and being harvested and mined
Jupiter finally struck Phaethon from the sky, killing him, and his body fell to Earth and was buried by nymphs
Clymene, mother of Phaethon, searches in her grief for his body
Three sisters, in their grief, transform into trees
Cycnus, Phaethons brother, transforms into a swan, afraid of the sky due to Jupiters cruel lightning bolts