The tragic myth of the Sun God's son - Iseult Gillespie

Dive into the Greek myth of Helios and Phaethon, where the Sun God allows his mortal son to drive his chariot for a day.

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Every morning, Helios unleashed his golden chariot, and set out across the sky. As the Sun God transformed dawn into day, he thought of his son, Phaethon, below. To prove to Phaethon that he was truly his father, Helios decided to grant him anything he wanted. Unfortunately, what Phaethon wanted was to drive Helios’ chariot for a day. Iseult Gillespie shares the tragic myth of the charioteer.

Lesson by Iseult Gillespie, directed by Raghav Arumugam and Jagriti Khirwar.

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[aldastar]

It is amazing how often Zeus is linked directly or indirectly to many of the Greek tragedies. Like, this wouldn't happen if his son had been quiet.

[ribbitrabbit]

Hm, let’s see:

-Demigod
-Curious demigod
-Demigod gets what they want
-Zeus incinerates them

Yup, sounds like a Greek story to me.

[marcopollo]

I love how the ancient greeks would look at a group of stars and be like. Yep looks like a scorpion to me.

[rachelthornton]

In some versions of the story, Cygnus, Phaeton’s friend (and in some versions his lover), begged the gods to give him the power to save Phaeton from the bottom of the river. They turned him into a swan, but when he swam to the bottom of the river, it was too late and could only recover Phaeton’s body. Cygnus would spend the rest of his days in mourning as a swan, avoiding the sun because it reminded him too much of Phaeton. Upon death, the gods placed him in the stars as a constellation with Phaeton.

[no-is-a-pilot]

For those interested, this story is mentioned in Ovid's opus Metamorphoses, I can't recommend it enough.

[elvixpro]

Helios: But son, it's too dangerous for a morta-
Phaeton: *_I ' M S P E E D_*

[brainrotofchoice]

"Phaethon felt there was but one way to prove their connection to the world and himself."
A DNA test? I mean Helios is in charge of the sun so I'm sure there's a million ways to pr-
"He needed to drive Helios' chariot for a day."
Of course. This kid I swear.

[mynameisnothing]

He died all because of Epaphus saying that he isn't the child of a sun god

[daddyji]

This story is a perfect and stark example of how parents give into the whims and wishes of their kids rather than guiding them properly leading to problems. Also it is a reminder that even gods are not perfect

[SariaSchala]

I remember one of my mythology professors described this as the myth where a teenager crashed his dad's car.

[mr.spinoza]

I mean, who wouldn't put the fate of our solar system into the hands of a young naive child without so much as a driving licence?

[unslaadkrosis]

“Here Phaethon lies who in the sun-god's chariot fared. And though greatly he failed, more greatly he dared.”

[nearryReamy]

Is amazing how humanity searched for a really creative way to explain a catastrophe like ice age. The sun was in the sky then it went away and everything froze because his son was uncertain of himself.
Fact: Little Ice Age (LIA), climate interval that occurred from the early 14th century through the mid-19th century, when mountain glaciers expanded at several locations, including the European Alps, New Zealand, Alaska, and the southern Andes, and mean annual temperatures across the Northern Hemisphere declined by 0.6 °C (1.1 °F) relative to the average temperature between 1000 and 2000 CE.

[Kurorito]

Another version
As a young man, Phaeton could take the rein. But along his journey, he meets monsters his father usually encounters on his daily basis. He swiftly managed to dodge them all until one, Scorpius. It startled Helios's horses(four of them) and Phaeton lose control. The ending is all the same.

[Amantducafe]

I always love how Greek tragedies/stories are about the flaws of both humans and gods. Not only was Phaethon too confident and stubborn but Heleos was not able to refuse him the impossible task.

[mcphersonsound]

Dude really had nothing going for him except he had a famous dad.

[Yash-wmnj]

Well how interesting...

In Hindu Mythology too, we were told the story about how HANUMAN( Monkey god - The son of Wind god) saw the SUN and thought of it as a mango fruit.

As he was the son of wind god, he had the power of flight, so he went after Sun, but INDRA ( Chief god of lightning - Similar to Zeus ) feared that Hanuman will eat the whole sun... So he attacks Hanuman with Vajra!! ( A lightning bolt weapon in Sanskrit )

[freddyjosereginomontalvo]

I love how we can see and learn with these beautiful and differents animations for free.

[kedarmeow]

Ancient Greeks were lucky enough to see stars & constellations in Night sky unlike us.
I need to travel 10 km from my city just to witness some stars, Never saw Constellations.

Someday I'll see that Phaethon Boy
in constellation & remember this awesome story & video. Thanks Ted Ed.

[tunp]

This is the Greek mythology version of your kid driving your car and crashing it.