“Mom! I want to meet my father!” Elio shouted. “My friends always tease me for not having a father!’
“I agree, Elio,” Elio’s mom, Sindy, replied. “The truth is you father is the sun god Helios, and it’s about time you meet him.”
Several days later, Elio arrived at the Dubai airport. Using the address his mom gave him, he arrived at Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world.
“Elio! Why are you here?” Helios asked.
“Are you my father?” Elio asked.
“Of course Elio, can’t you see you have my eyes?” Helios laughed.
“I don’t believe it, you never came to see me! ” Elio shouted.
“Elio! Tell me how I can prove that I'm your father,” said Helios. “I swear by the Styx that I’ll do anything to prove that I’m your father”
Elio looked around the room and saw a red sports car covered in fire. “Father, what is that car?”
“That, my son, is the sun,” Helios answered.
“Father, if I'm your son, let me drive the sun,” said Elio. “I’ve heard that my half-brother, Phaeton, got to drive the sun all by himself!”
Painful flashbacks suddenly appeared before Helios. He remembers the horror on Phaeton’s face when the sun chariot went out of control. He remembers the lifeless body of his eldest son is his arms. Tears started pouring out from Helios’ eyes.
“Elio, don’t ever mention driving the sun!” roared Helios. “You should go back home to your mom.”
Elio was heart-broken. He never expected his father would send him home right after they met. Elio ran out of the building with tears in his eyes. He was furious that his father wouldn’t grant his wishes. As he ran out of the building, Elio thought to himself, I’m am not going home unless I get to drive the sun.
When night arrived, Elio snuck into the building, grabbed the car keys, and jumped into the car. Fire surrounded him in glory, and he went on his way into the sky. Elio drove the sun as if he’s the sun god himself. Suddenly, he lost control of the steering wheel. Zeus saw the danger and struck the car with his lightning bolt. The car broke into pieces, and one of the tires penetrated the atmosphere. The heat of the car pours into the world, melting the ice in the ocean.
In America, Demeter was devastated because her daughter was taken back to the underworld where she’ll spend the next four months with Hades. As she was grieving over the loss of Persephone, she realized something different. In other years, the world would grow cold because of her sorrow, but this year the heat from the summer lingers.
On a Hawaii beach, Poseidon looks out into the ocean. ‘Something is wrong…’ he told himself. Holding his trident could sense that the water level and water temperature were rising. He smiled to himself because he knows that his beach business is just about to get better.
Myth Analysis
This etiology myth was about the phenomenon of global warming and was a modern sequel to the mythology of Phaeton. In the mythology, Elio lived in the modern era, which was different from the mythology of Phaeton. I incorporated the myth into present-day content, similar to the way Rick Riordan developed his story. The name "Elio" means "sunlight" from ancient Greek. Unlike Phaeton, Elio wasn't mocked by his relatives for claiming that his father was Helios (Ovid. Metamorphoses 1). Instead, Elios was bullied by his classmates because he didn't know who his father was. I designed my myth so that Elio didn't know who his father was, rather than having him claiming that he is the son of the sun god. Doing so, I made the situation more believable in modern-day life. I set Elio's identity as a common citizen of Canada, rather than as the "prince of Marope'' (Ovid. Metamorphoses 1). Both changes made Elio’s identity more believable in a modern context. Instead of Helios living in the Palace of the Sun, I adapted the story so that Helios resided in Burj Khalifa (Ovid. Metamorphoses 2). I used Burj Khalifa as the residence of Helios in my myth to show the authority of the sun god and to modernize the content. Furthermore, I chose to have Helios residing in the tallest building on Earth to symbolize a closer distance to the sky. Burj Khalifa was also similar to the Palace of the Sun in the sense of wealth and power. In my myth, Helios swore on the Styx that he would do anything to prove he is Elio’s father, rather than sworn that he will fulfill any of Elio's wishes (Ovid. Metamorphoses 1). However, like his promise to Phaeton, he swore to Elio by the river Styx. I kept this element in the myth because the river Styx represented an unbreakable vow. The promise was a crucial element that I kept in the story because it resembles the start of an unstoppable tragedy. However, instead of promising to “fulfill any wishes”, Helios swore to Elio that he'll “do anything to prove that he is Elio’s father”. I made this change to show how Helios has changed since the incident of Phaeton’s tragedy. Helios learned from his mistakes and will no longer swear on promises that would potentially lead to another heart-breaking tragedy. In my myth, Elio wished to drive the red sports car that was the sun (Ovid. Metamorphoses 1). In the mythology of Phaeton, Helios' sun was a chariot, not a red sports car (Statius. Thebaid). I decided to change Helios' sun into a red sports car rather than keeping it as an ancient Greek chariot. A red sports car presented a modern version of the Greek chariot, and it also showed the luxurious ambiance of Dubai. In some ways, a chariot is similar to an ancient version of a sports car. By using the red sports car, I aimed to portray Helios as a rich and powerful billionaire to compliment his role as the sun god. The color red also represents the sun’s color. In actual Greek myths, Phaeton was allowed to drive the sun because Helios swore to grant him any wish (Diodorus Siculus. Library of History (Books III - VIII)). However, some versions suggested that Phaeton secretly stole Helios’ chariot without Helios’ permission (Hyginus, Fabulae). I decided to use the storyline in which Elio stole the car because Helios wouldn’t permit him to drive it. The fact that Helios wouldn’t allow Elio to drive the sun shows that he learned his mistakes from allowing Phaeton to drive his chariot. As a result, Helios was extra protective of his children and even went as far as scolding them for thinking of driving the sun.
This paragraph looks into the connection between my etiology myth and the phenomenon of global warming. In my myth, Elio lost control of Helios’ sports car, which spread the fire everywhere. To stop the accident from worsening, Zeus strikes Elio and the car down with his lightning bolt. When the car was destroyed, a tire penetrated the atmosphere of Earth. In most versions, Zeus also strikes the chariot down and destroys the chariot (Ovid. Metamorphoses 1). However, some versions suggested that Zeus did not destroy the chariot, but rather struck it back to its course (Diodorus Siculus. Library of History (Books III - VIII)). For my myth, I chose the version where Zeus destroyed the car. The tire that penetrated the atmosphere resembles a hole in the ozone layer. The heat from the car that got destroyed symbolizes the sun's radiation that enters the Earth from the hole in the ozone layer. This part of the story does not happen in the actual myth, but only in my mythology to explain global warming. In my mythology, Demeter was grieving because her daughter, Persephone, was brought back to Hades to spend the next four months with him. However, unlike other years, the world didn’t grow cold from Demeter’s grieving. In the actual myth, Persephone was abducted by Hades. During her time in the underworld with Hades, Persephone ate a pomegranate. Because she ate food from the underworld, she wasn’t allowed to leave. Under Zeus’ command, Persephone was allowed to stay in Olympus, but she must spend 4 months in a year with Hades (Hesiod, Homeric Hymns). Every year when Persephone returns to Hades, Demeter falls into a feeling of deep sorrow and brings winter to the Earth. In myth, Demeter also grieved over the departure of Demeter, but winter didn’t come. The "missing of winter" is to present the effect of global warming. Global warming raises the temperature in the world, causing a shorter winter season in many countries. In my mythology, Poseidon can sense the rising of water level and of water temperature of the ocean by using his trident. It is reasonable for Poseidon to have the ability to sense the condition of the ocean with his trident because he’s the god of the sea (Pseudo-Orpheus, The Hymns of Orpheus). The rising water level and water temperature of the ocean were caused by global warming. The rising water temperature was due to the heat from solar radiation, and the rising water level was due to the melting of ice in the antarctic. The cause of global warming was explained by the tragedy of Elio, whereas the effects of global warming were explained by Poseidon and Demeter’s mythology.
Bibliography (8th edition MLA):
Diodorus Siculus. Library of History (Books III - VIII). Translated by Oldfather, C. H. William Heinemann Ltd, 1935, London.
Ovid. Metamorphoses 1. Translated by More, Brookes. Cornhill Publishing Co, 1922, Boston.
Ovid. Metamorphoses 2. Translated by Golding, Arthur. William Seres, 1567, London.
Statius. Thebaid. Translated by Mozley, J H. William Heinemann Ltd, 1928, London.
Hyginus, Fabulae. Translated by Grant, Mary. University of Kansas Press, 1960, Lawrance.
Hesiod, Homeric Hymns. Translated by Evelyn-White, H G. William Heinemann Ltd, 1914, London.
Pseudo-Orpheus, The Hymns of Orpheus. Translated by Taylor, Thomas. University of Pennsylvania Press, 1999.
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