PHETON. Phaeton was the son of Helios, the Sun god, in Greek mythology; in Roman mythology his father was Phoebus. The Sun god promised Phaeton that he would grant whatever he asked, and he requested to be allowed to drive the Sun's chariot for one day. Phoebus granted the request. Phaeton found, however, that he could not control the horses; as they left their course, the chariot scorched the earth and the crops, and the heat caused the death of all the animals. Jupiter stopped Phaeton with a thunderbolt, and he fell into the river Eridanus (Met II.19-328; OM II.1-63).

The Learned Eagle tells the frightened poet that the Milky Way was formed when Pheton lost control of the horses as they sped across the heavens and burned the earth and the atmosphere, HF II.940-959. Troilus thinks that Pheton still drives his father's chariot, because the sun seems to have taken a longer route, Tr V.659-665.

Pheton, the ME and OF variant, appears medially, HF II.942; Tr V.664.