Myth
All was well in the land of the mortals, except for one misfortune day that led to the conception of drastic changes to the climate of Earth. Two childhood friends Phaeton and Epaphus, played together, grew up together and went to school together. Phaeton was the son of Helios, the god of the sun, and Epaphus was the son of Zeus, the god of sky and thunder. Despite being the best of friends, there was a fight for power between the two which led to the misfortune events of this one day.
Phaeton was known to consistently gloat to Epaphus that he withheld the powers of the sun, despite being a mortal. However, when Epaphus challenges him to prove these powers he could never prove them. This led Epaphus to scheme a plan to embarrass Phaeton. He invites Phaeton to the pomegranate tree that resided on the top of a distant hill in the village they lived in. Epaphus instructed him to come alone and to not tell a single person of his departure. Phaeton was rather skeptical of this request, nonetheless he agreed to the meeting. The next morning Phaeton arrives at the bottom of the hill, excited to see his childhood friend, he runs up the hill to greet him. However, Epaphus did not harbour the same feelings. He felt that a simple plan to embarrass Phaeton was not enough, he plotted murder against him to put an end to the mockery for once and for all.
Phaeton greeted him with a hug and Epaphus discreetly takes his weapon out of his pocket and aims to strike at Phaeton. Phaeton collapses to the ground in pain. Suddenly, the pomegranate tree began dropping its fruits vigorously. This tree was in fact the divine tree that was connected to Demeter, the goddess of harvest. In the past, Helios had saved the life of Persephone, the daughter of Demeter. To repay him Demeter rushed to the tree to prevent the boy, but she was too late. She then immediately rushes to inform Helios that his son had fallen weak. However, shortly after Phaeton died from extreme blood loss. Helios became burning with fury that he began riding his chariot closer and closer to Earth. The closer he got; the warmer Earth became. It became so hot that mortals were beginning to burn, they couldn’t handle the extreme heat that was being caused by the sun God Helios. Soon all living creatures on Earth were suffering from burns. Finally, Helios avenged his son by ensuring that Epaphus had burned into ashes from the intense heat.
Every year after the incident, Helios rode his chariot close to Earth on the day of the death of his son in order to punish Earth for his son’s death. This day created a great deal of difficulties for all mortals who could not bear the heat.
Analysis
The overarching phenomenon that is expressed within this aetiological myth is the origin of global warming. The sun god Helios was the initial starting point to this myth due to the nature of his powers. Helios was known to be an immortal that was always radiating with brightness while he rode his chariot with four horses. As the sun god Helios resided at the highest point of heaven. (Homer, Homeric Hymns,5-15) Considering these details, the conceptualization of this myth came forward with Helios being the causation of the phenomenon that occurs in this myth. The rays that are omitted from his chariot could behold the power to create global warming on Earth due to the intensity of the heat. This was inspired by the myth of Phaeton and him losing control over his father’s chariot. Phaeton had seemingly convinced his father to allow him to ride his chariot. However, Phaeton was unable to steer the chariot in a clear direction and soon lost control. The chariot possessed rays that were capable of setting things aflame. Due to Phaeton’s careless actions, several parts of Earth were in flames because of the proximity to the rays of the chariot. (Oldfather 1989) This sparked the idea that when this chariot is in the vicinity of Earth, all living things will begin to burn. This is essentially the phenomenon global warming, the warming of the Earth due to human forces, but in this case by an immortal.
The two main characters of the myth are Phaeton and Epaphus, the reason for this choice was due to Ovid and Caxton’s “The Metamorphoses of Ovid” (1968). It is expressed that Phaeton was the ally that possessed the same nature and age to Epaphus, and thus the two clashed similarly within this myth. In this myth, the clash between the two become a larger scale argument that leads to the plotting of murder in order to insinuate the phenomenon that is going to occur as a result. In ancient myth, Epaphus had challenged Phaeton to ride his fathers chariot which later leads to the death of Phaeton due to his incontrollable driving that caused havoc. (Pindar, Pythian,4) This influenced the idea to include the cunning nature of Epaphus in this myth. Epaphus was the reasoning behind the death of Phaeton in ancient myth and in this myth. In order to write this myth, it was necessary to include the nature of Phaeton to explain the outcome of his death. Similar to his impetuous attitude when driving his father’s chariot, Phaeton was also one who was arrogant in thinking he was better than Epaphus due to having the sun god as his father. Jealously is often a driving force to the breakage of many relations. It can even lead to ill minded intentions that could lead to irreversible outcomes driven by negative feelings, such as the murder of one’s peer. As such, in this myth the detriments of jealously and narcissism were represented through the friendship between Phaeton and Epaphus. In the ancient text, Epaphus scoffed that Phaeton was spouting lies and tales. Phaeton being rather ashamed that he could not prove to Epaphus, in that moment, that his father was heavenly, he cries out to his mother yearning for proof of his father’s existence. (Ovid and Caxton 1968) Contrastingly from the ancient myth, Epaphus had schemed to plot murder against Phaeton as a result of his outburst of vexation. This idea was driven by the motive of adding elements of drama within the myth to showcase the severity of the outcome that has become as a result of these actions.
Through research it was discovered that Helios had a connection to Persephone who was the daughter of Demeter. Persephone had been abducted by Hades, the god of the underworld, her mother who was overcame with grief searched for her desperately. However, Demeter was unable to find her daughter and thus she was directed to Helios by Hecate. Helios who foresaw all that occurred in the heavenly and natural world would know best of the whereabouts of her daughter. Thus, Helios aided Demeter in finding her daughter by informing her that she had been given to Hades by Zeus. (Homer, Homeric Hymns, 47) When Persephone was returned to her mother, Hades had given her a pomegranate seed to consume on the condition that she returned to the underworld. (Smith, Wayte and Marindin 1890) In order to signify this connection between Helios and Demeter and her daughter, the pomegranate tree on top of this hill was incorporated. In this myth, the pomegranate tree served as a spiritual power that Demeter possessed. Through this tree she could see the events that occurred on top of the hill and even control it to make slight movements. This becomes a crucial point in the myth as Helios becomes aware of his son’s death due to the knowledge that the tree withheld. However, Phaeton’s death was inevitable as Demeter was unable to protect him in time. Although, this serves to be a similarity between this narrative and myth as both Helios and Demeter were unable to prevent the negative outcomes of each other’s children. Within this myth, Demeter is a character that wishes to return the favour to Helios as she is indebted to him for the discovery of her abducted daughter.
The death of Phaeton contains similarity to the ancient texts as Phaeton dies in an unexpected manner. Phaeton is struck by a thunderbolt by Zeus and in this myth, Phaeton is stabbed by Epaphus, in both myths Phaeton had died as a result of another being striking him for his actions. (Oldfather 1989) The loss of his son caused a great deal of fury to Helios that he decided to avenge his son’s death by causing disruptions to the mortal world. To express the origin of the phenomenon known as global warming, the burning radiance omitted by Helios’ chariot becomes the contributing factor to the climate change of the natural world. This outcome is similar to the myths as in the myth of Phaeton, the improper utilization of the chariot caused flames on Earth as well as the creation of the Milky Way. (Oldfather 1989) Likewise, within this myth the chariot is utilized to bring harm to the climate of Earth as well as create the phenomenon global warming.
Overall, the creation of this myth was influenced by the myths regarding Helios, Phaeton, Persephone and Demeter. Helios being the sun god, is an important figure in the mythical world as he foresees all that is occurring in the immortal and mortal world. The sun is something that mortals depend on to continue their way of living; however, the sun can also bring on negative impacts things such as its influence on the climate. Helios being the sun god, in this myth he is able to cause global warming with the aid of his chariot. Therefore, this myth showcases the origin of global warming and how it came to be in the natural world.
Works Cited
William Smith, LLD, William Wayte, G.E. Marindiin, Ed. A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities (1890), AMULE´TUM. www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0063:entry=amuletum-cn.
Diodorus, and Charles Henry Oldfather. Diodorus of Sicily in Twelve Volumes. Harvard Univ. Press, 1989.
Homer, Homeric Hymns, Hymn 2 to Demeter, 47. 1914. The Homeric Hymns and Homerica. Translated by Hugh G. Evelyn-White. Harvard University Press.
Homer, Homeric Hymns, Hymn 31 to Helios, 5-15. 1914. The Homeric Hymns and Homerica. Translated by Hugh Evelyn-White. Harvard University Press.
Ovid, and William Caxton. The Metamorphoses of Ovid. G. Braziller, in Association with Magdalene College, Cambridge, 1968, pp.33-34.
Pindar, Pythian,4. 2001. Translated by Steven J. Willett.