Since the beginning of time, the god of the Sun, Helios, would ride a magnificent golden chariot pulled by four white horses bringing the Sun across the sky from the east to the west. At night, Helios returns to the east sailing in a golden boat made by the god Hephaestus. There was never a day Helios failed to complete his journey as he possessed immense power that no other god had. When completing his daily route, he is able to view everything that happens during daylight around the world. Considering he is the only one who witnessed the abduction of Persephone by Hades and Aphrodite's affair with Ares. Helios was well worshipped as he provides light and heat, producing a good harvest for humans.
In Mount Olympus, resides Apollo, the god of prophecy and oracles, music, archery and poetry. Jealous of Helios’s power and respect, Apollo comes up with a scheme to take everything away from Helios by using his biggest weakness against him. Helios had a son with an Okeanid-nymph, Clymene named Phaethon.
Apollo approached Phaethon in the form of one of his friends, doubting the validity of his father’s identity and trying to manipulate Phaethon. “If Helios really is your father, he would let you drive the sun chariot across the sky. Then I will believe you.” Apollo said.
Phaethon swore to prove that his father was in fact Helios, the sun god, so he decided to go and meet his father for the very first time. Upon meeting his father, Phaethon begged Helios to let him drive the sun chariot for one day. The hesitant Helios eventually gave into his son’s stubbornness and let him take control of the chariot.
Blinded by the enormous power he held and pride, Phaethon ignored his father’s warnings to be extremely cautious. He quickly lost control of the horses and the sun chariot swerved letting the earth on fire. News of the incident swiftly reached an appalled Zeus who struck a lightning bolt into the sky, which sent Phaethon’s flaming body hurling down into the river Eridanus.
Apollo then went to Zeus and convinced him that Helios is the main culprit of the unfortunate incident and should be punished for his crimes. Zeus banished Helios and declared Apollo would replace his duty of bringing the Sun from the east to the west in the sun chariot.
Helios later found out that Apollo tricked Phaethon into driving the sun chariot which caused him to be filled with rage for his son’s death and exile, placing a curse on all mankind making the earth warmer and warmer as time progresses.
“The earth’s temperature will rise until the entire world is up in flames! No power in the universe will be able to reverse this curse!” Helios yelled as he left.
Helios’s impact and presence started to slowly fade like he ceased to exist. However, his curse on the earth will affect generations of people till the end of time.
Analysis:
The topic of my aetiological myth is global warming. Therefore, I immediately gravitated towards writing a myth including gods and characters related to the weather or fire. Global warming is defined as “a gradual increase in world temperatures” which could be easily linked to the heat of the sun, fire and light. There are some parallels between the characters in the myth and people in the 21st century which makes this story a reflection of reality and what is actually happening in the world right now.
The first paragraph of the myth is a brief introduction of Helios, the sun god so that readers will have an idea of who he is and what he does. Information from the first paragraph is all based on texts written in ancient sources even though they are a hybrid of works from different poets. Helios was known for bringing the sun from the east to the west, but the sun chariot was never mentioned in the Iliad and the Odyssey. The sun chariot was an important element to the myth as it essentially is the cause of Phaethon’s misdemeanour. “Then, when he has stayed his golden-yoked chariot and horses, he rests there upon the highest point of heaven, until he marvellously drives them down again through heaven to Ocean.” (Evelyn-White, Homeric Hymn 31 to Helius, 31.15) Regarding the description of Helios being ‘all-seeing’ is proved in ancient texts that he was the only one who witnessed multiple important incidents. “And near to them came the famous god of the two strong arms, having turned back before he reached the land of Lemnos; for Helius had kept watch for him and had brought him word.” (Homer, The Odyssey, 8.300) This text describes Helios’s role in uncovering Aphrodite’s affair with Ares.
The myth revolves around the manipulation of Helios’s son, Phaethon by Apollo which caused part of the earth to set on fire. In some ancient texts, there is a myth of Phaethon begging Helios to let him drive the sun chariot as a favour. “Many poets and historians give the story that Phaethon, the son of Helios, while yet a youth, persuaded his father to retire in his favour from his four-horse chariot for a single day; and when Helios yielded to the request Phaethon, as he drove the chariot, was unable to keep control of the reins, and the horses, making light of the youth, left their accustomed course.” (Diodorus, Library of History, 5.23.2) However, Apollo never appears in any of these myths, but I thought the theme of deception will give Helios a bigger reason to place the curse on the earth. Phaethon did truly ignore his father’s warnings and lost control of the sun chariot leading Zeus no choice but to strike him with a lightning bolt. “Phaethon half-consumed fell from the chariot of Helios into the opening of that deep lake; and even now it belcheth up heavy steam clouds from the smouldering wound.” (Apollonius, Argonautica, 592) Phaethon died immediately after falling into the river. Helios was never blamed for the incident and was not replaced as the sun god by Apollo either. There have not been any ancient sources that suggest Apollo replaced Helios’s role as the sun god.
The reason why I added Apollo to the myth as the antagonist was because he has been identified and linked to Helios in the past by some Greek poets and philosophers. Both of them share some similarities, for example, the idea of Helios being all-knowing and all-seeing can be compared to the prophetic nature that Apollo possesses. “That Apollon is the same as the sun and that one god is furnished with two names is made clear to us by the mystical words spoken in the secret initiation rites and by the popular refrain which can be heard everywhere: The sun is Apollon and Apollon is the sun.” (Heraclitus, Homeric Problems, 860) This was a lyric from a Greek folk song which proves that there was a time where Apollo was considered to be the sun. There were people who thought Helios and Apollo were the same god and merged them together in ancient texts as Helios was barely mentioned later on. I thought the myth could not only serve as an aetiological myth for global warming but could also explain the absence of Helios in ancient sources through Apollo stepping in and replacing him as ‘the Sun’.
In the myth, the reason for global warming was because Helios placed a curse on the earth, saying the earth’s temperature will continue to rise until it is up in flames. The motive behind his actions was due to the tragic death of his son Phaethon and he was forced into exile due to Apollo’s betrayal. I imagined Helios to have a fiery personality due to his association with the sun and light making him furious at the previous events. He wanted to avenge his son’s death and wanted to show Zeus or Apollo that stripping him of his duties was a huge mistake by showing them exactly how powerful he was. He placed a curse that was irreversible even by the almighty god Zeus. Some believe that Helios is the only god that is able to control the sun chariot which is not proven by any sources. However, it does insinuate Helios possesses a power that not even Zeus or Apollo has.
I believe there is a parallel between Phaethon and modern-day humans as Phaethon took advantage of his freedom and privilege of using Helios’s sun chariot recklessly which caused enormous damage to nature and the land. On the other hand, people nowadays still have little concern for the environment and have the habit of destroying the natural habitat. It can be as minor as littering to something as large as deforestation. Both parties have no regard for their surroundings and tend to make decisions solely based on personal advantages. It is human nature to think about yourself first and be selfish in most circumstances including polluting the earth to a point of destruction. Therefore, global warming is a pressing problem caused by the selfishness and recklessness of human beings demonstrated by Phaethon himself.
Bibliography
Anonymous. 1914. The Homeric Hymns and Homerica with an English Translation by Hugh G. Evelyn-White. Cambridge, MA.,Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd.
Apollonius Rhodius. 1912. Argonautica edited and translated by R.C. Seaton. Loeb Classical Library. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press
Heraclitus. 2015. Greek Lyric V Folk Songs translated by Campbell. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press, London. W. Heinemann
Homer. 1919. The Odyssey with an English Translation by A.T. Murray, P.H.D. in two volumes. Cambridge, MA., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1919.
Unknown. 1978. Loeb Classical Library, 12 volumes, Greek texts and facing English translation by C.H. Oldfather. Harvard University Press.
Ovid. 1922. Metamorphoses. Brookes More. Boston, Cornhill Publishing Co.
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