The fall of Phaeton, Johann Liss, beginning of 17th century. Johann Liss (also called Jan Lys (c 1590 or 1597 &ndash 1627 or 1631 was a leading German Baroque painter of the 17th century active mainly in Venice As a means of recording the passage of Time, the 17th Century was that Century which lasted from 1601 - 1700 in the Gregorian calendar

In Greek mythology, Phaëton or Phaethon (pronounced /ˈfeɪətn/ or /ˈfeɪəθən/) (Greek: Φαέθων "shining") was the son of Helios (Phoebus, the "shining one", an epithet later assumed by Apollo), or of Clymenus by Merope or Clymene. Greek mythology is the body of stories belonging to the ancient Greeks concerning their gods and Heroes the nature of the world and the origins and significance Greek (el ελληνική γλώσσα or simply el ελληνικά — "Hellenic" is an Indo-European language, spoken today by 15-22 million people mainly In Greek mythology the Sun was personified as Helios (ˈhiliˌɑs ( Ἥλιος Latinized as Helius) Phoebus (pronounced /ˈfiːbəs/ or /ˈfibəs/ is the Latin form of Greek Phoibos (Φοῖβος "Shining-one" a byname used in classical An epithet (from Greek ἐπίθετον - epitheton, neut of ἐπίθετος - epithetos, "attributed added" is a Merope was the name of several probably unrelated characters in Greek mythology Or, in the later myths, Apollo.

In an alternate genealogy, Eos bore Cephalus a son named Phaëthon, but Aphrodite stole him away while he was no more than a child to be the night-watchman at her most sacred shrines. For other uses of the name Eos see Eos (disambiguation. For the Slavic goddesses called the Auroras see The Zorya. Cephalus is an Ancient Greek name used both for historical persons and for characters in Greek mythology. The Minoans called him Adymus, by which they meant the morning and evening star (Hesiod, Theogony, 986; Solinus, xi:9; Nonnus, Dionysiaca, xi:131 and xii:217). The Minoan civilization was a Bronze Age civilization which arose on the island of Crete. Hesiod ( Greek: Hesiodos) was an early Greek Poet and Rhapsode, who presumably lived around 700 BCE Gaius Julius Solinus, Latin Grammarian and compiler probably flourished around the middle of the fourth century though historical scholar Theodor Mommsen Theophanes Nonnus was a Byzantine physician For the saint of this name see Saint Nonnus.

In the version of the myth told by Ovid in the Metamorphoses, Phaeton bragged to his friends that his father was the sun-god. One of his friends, who was rumored to be a son of Zeus, refused to believe him and said his mother was lying. So Phaeton went to his father Helios, who swore by the river Styx to give Phaeton anything he should ask for in order to prove his divine paternity. Phaeton wanted to drive his chariot (the sun) for a day. The chariot is the earliest and simplest type of Carriage, used in both peace and war as the chief vehicle of many ancient peoples The Sun (Sol is the Star at the center of the Solar System. Though Helios tried to talk him out of it, Phaeton was adamant. When the day came, Phaeton panicked and lost control of the mean horses that drew the chariot. First it veered too high, so that the earth grew chill. Then it dipped too close, and the vegetation dried and burned. He accidentally turned most of Africa into desert; burning the skin of the Ethiopians black. A desert is a Landscape or region that receives very little precipitation. NOTE This intro is the result of careful NPOV work Please do not make potentially controversial edits to it without first discussing on the talk page Eventually, Zeus was forced to intervene by striking the runaway chariot with a lightning bolt to stop it, and Phaëthon plunged into the river Eridanos. Zeus (zjuːs in Greek: nominative: Zeús /zdeús/ genitive: Diós; Modern Greek /'zefs/ in Greek mythology The River Eridanos (or Eridanus) is a river of Hades in Greek mythology, whose name has been adopted by Geologists and paleogeographers His sisters the Heliades grieved so much that they were turned into poplar trees that weep golden amber. "Helia" redirects here For the Genus of noctuid Moths see Helia (moth In Greek mythology, the Populus is a genus of between 25–35 species of Flowering plants in the family Salicaceae, native to most of the Northern Hemisphere. Amber is Fossil tree Resin, which is appreciated for its color and beauty

This story has given rise to two latter-day meanings of "phaeton": one who drives a chariot or coach, especially at a reckless or dangerous speed, and one that would or may set the world on fire. The chariot is the earliest and simplest type of Carriage, used in both peace and war as the chief vehicle of many ancient peoples A coach was originally a large usually closed four-wheeled Carriage with two or more horses harnessed as a team, controlled by a Coachman and/or one or

Phaëton in other stories

Phaeton, by Gustave Moreau

Fragments of Euripides' tragedy on this subject suggest that Phaethon survives. Gustave Moreau ( April 6, 1826 &ndash April 18, 1898) was a French Symbolist painter. Euripides ( Ancient Greek:) (ca 480 BC–406 BC was the last of the three great tragedians of classical Athens (the other two being Aeschylus In reconstructing the lost play and discussing the fragments, James Diggle has discussed the treatment of the Phaeton myth (Diggle 2004).

Perhaps the most famous version of the myth is given us through Ovid in his Metamorphoses (Book II). Publius Ovidius Naso ( March 20, 43 BC – 17 AD was a Roman poet known to the English -speaking world as Ovid who wrote on many topics including The Metamorphoses by the Roman poet Ovid is a narrative poem Ovid is emphasizing that Phaeton seeks assurance that his mother, Clymene, is telling the truth about his father.

Dante refers to the episode in both the Inferno and Paradiso Canto XVII of his Divine Comedy. The Divine Comedy

The motif of the fallen star must have been familiar in Israel, for Isaiah referred to it in admonishing the king of Babylon for his pride ("How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!" Isaiah 14:12ff). Isaiah (; Greek:, Ēsaiās; Arabic: اشعیاء, Ash-ee-yaa; "Salvation of/is YHWH " is The Jewish Encyclopedia reports that "it is obvious that the prophet in attributing to the Babylonian king boastful pride, followed by a fall, borrowed the idea from a popular legend connected with the morning star. " The falling-star image reappears in John's Apocalypse without a name. The Book of Revelation, also called Revelation to John, Apocalypse of John ( pronounced, from the Ἀποκάλυψις Ἰωάννου In the 4th century, Jerome's translation of the "morning star" as "Lucifer" carried the fallen-star myth-element into Christian mythology. Jerome (c 347 – September 30, 420) ( Latin: Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus; Εὐσέβιος Σωφρόνιος Ἱερώνυμος Christian mythology ( μῦθος (mythos in Greek is the body of traditional Narratives associated with Christianity. For fuller details, see Lucifer and Azazel. Lucifer is a name frequently given to Satan in Christian belief Azazel ( Aramaic: רמשנאל Hebrew: עזאזל Aze'ezel Arabic: عزازل Azazil) is an enigmatic name from the Hebrew scriptures

Camille Saint-Saëns wrote a symphonic poem entitled Phaëton. Charles-Camille Saint-Saëns (/ʃaʁl kamij sɛ̃sɑ̃s/ (9 October 1835 &ndash 16 December 1921 was a French Composer, Organist, conductor, and

Extra-terrestrial impact theory

It has been noted by a number of commentators, including the astronomers Victor Clube and Bill Napier, that, if stripped of its obviously mythological elements, the story of Phaethon reads like a genuine account of the impact of an asteroid or a piece of cometary debris. They compare the description of an intensely bright light and searing heat with eyewitness accounts of the Tunguska event and point out that the after effects of Phaethon's fall, including flooding and a darkening of the sun, are consistent with the dust veil and tsunamis which an impact might be expected to cause (Clube & Napier 1982, The Cosmic Serpent, pgs 206-9). The Tunguska Event, or Tunguska explosion, was a powerful Explosion that occurred near the Podkamennaya (Lower Stony Tunguska River in what is now

External links

• George Stubbs's 'The Fall of Phaeton' at the Lady Lever Art Gallery
• Comet Phaethon's Ride, by Bob Kobres