WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.280 Phaethon 00:00:04.280 --> 00:00:06.970 A mother had four children: 00:00:06.970 --> 00:00:10.810 three dark daughters and a shining son. 00:00:10.810 --> 00:00:12.490 The boy was the youngest. 00:00:12.490 --> 00:00:15.490 His head was wild and red like fire, 00:00:15.490 --> 00:00:17.870 his skin bright white. 00:00:17.870 --> 00:00:20.870 His sisters, they were calm, careful. 00:00:20.870 --> 00:00:22.980 He was hotheaded. 00:00:22.980 --> 00:00:26.320 Mother and daughters doted on Phaethon. 00:00:26.320 --> 00:00:30.660 They bowed to his every whim. 00:00:30.660 --> 00:00:36.910 As this boy grew he noticed something strange. 00:00:36.910 --> 00:00:45.490 His friends had two parents and he was so unlike his sisters. 00:00:45.490 --> 00:00:48.600 It wasn’t just that they looked different – 00:00:48.600 --> 00:00:51.560 they shunned what he loved. 00:00:51.560 --> 00:00:56.730 On bright summer days they hid in the shade by the edge of the lake while he, 00:00:56.730 --> 00:01:00.390 he loved the fierce heat, the light. 00:01:00.390 --> 00:01:04.480 One day he went to his mother. 00:01:04.480 --> 00:01:07.030 ‘Who is my father?’ 00:01:07.030 --> 00:01:09.820 She smiled, shrugged. 00:01:09.820 --> 00:01:12.580 ‘Aren’t we enough for you?’ 00:01:12.580 --> 00:01:15.170 ‘Why won’t you tell me? 00:01:15.170 --> 00:01:18.800 Don’t I have a right to know?’ 00:01:18.800 --> 00:01:20.960 He gave his mother no peace. 00:01:20.960 --> 00:01:24.280 Every day the same question until, 00:01:24.280 --> 00:01:28.880 ‘You are the son of the Sun.’ 00:01:28.880 --> 00:01:30.900 He ran to his friends. 00:01:30.900 --> 00:01:34.800 ‘I am the son of the god Helios himself!’ 00:01:34.800 --> 00:01:35.980 They laughed. 00:01:35.980 --> 00:01:37.400 ‘How is that possible? 00:01:37.400 --> 00:01:38.560 He’s far above us. 00:01:38.560 --> 00:01:42.060 He drives his chariot across the sky each day.’ 00:01:42.060 --> 00:01:43.980 ‘He is. He is my father.’ 00:01:43.980 --> 00:01:45.610 ‘Do you have proof?’ 00:01:45.610 --> 00:01:47.420 ‘My mother told me.’ 00:01:47.420 --> 00:01:48.760 ‘Listen to him: 00:01:48.760 --> 00:01:50.870 “My mother told me”!’ 00:01:50.870 --> 00:01:53.430 Hot with shame, he ran from them. 00:01:53.430 --> 00:01:54.960 He sank to his knees. 00:01:54.960 --> 00:01:57.210 He shouted at the sky. 00:01:57.210 --> 00:02:00.310 ‘Helios, if you are my father, 00:02:00.310 --> 00:02:05.910 then when you have finished your journey across the heavens, come to me.’ 00:02:05.910 --> 00:02:10.890 That night he was woken by a stifling heat. 00:02:10.890 --> 00:02:14.350 A cloaked figure stood at the end of the bed. 00:02:14.350 --> 00:02:16.630 The stranger drew back his hood. 00:02:16.630 --> 00:02:19.750 The boy shielded his eyes. 00:02:19.750 --> 00:02:21.980 ‘My child. 00:02:21.980 --> 00:02:23.700 I have come.’ 00:02:23.700 --> 00:02:26.920 The stranger approached to embrace him but the boy recoiled. 00:02:26.920 --> 00:02:29.080 ‘How do I know that you are the Sun? 00:02:29.080 --> 00:02:30.510 Give me proof.’ 00:02:30.510 --> 00:02:33.430 ‘Ask for anything – anything. 00:02:33.430 --> 00:02:35.790 I will grant your wish.’ 00:02:35.790 --> 00:02:38.000 ‘Then let me be you. 00:02:38.000 --> 00:02:42.320 Let me make your journey across the heavens.’ 00:02:42.320 --> 00:02:45.470 It was too late. 00:02:45.470 --> 00:02:49.610 Helios had given his word. 00:02:49.610 --> 00:02:54.200 ‘Something else, I beg you: anything.’ 00:02:54.200 --> 00:02:57.300 ‘I knew it! I knew you were lying.’ 00:02:57.300 --> 00:03:00.600 ‘I’m not lying. 00:03:00.600 --> 00:03:04.050 You are mortal. 00:03:04.050 --> 00:03:08.140 You do not have the strength to drive my chariot. 00:03:08.140 --> 00:03:11.760 Granting this wish will end your life. 00:03:11.760 --> 00:03:14.730 I struggle to control those horses. 00:03:14.730 --> 00:03:16.530 They are fire-breathers, 00:03:16.530 --> 00:03:19.910 always straining against the reins. 00:03:19.910 --> 00:03:26.430 The first part of my journey is so steep it takes all my strength and resolve to keep my footing in the chariot. 00:03:26.430 --> 00:03:31.460 Every glance down to the tiny earth below fills me with dizzy panic. 00:03:31.460 --> 00:03:38.770 I must hold my course while all around me the stars are whirling and spinning. 00:03:38.770 --> 00:03:45.210 Perhaps you think that there are tranquil meadows above us. 00:03:45.210 --> 00:03:53.410 From the earth it may seem so but mine is a journey from one danger to the next. 00:03:53.410 --> 00:03:57.350 The road is plagued with ferocious beasts. 00:03:57.350 --> 00:03:58.940 Listen to me. 00:03:58.940 --> 00:04:00.670 Think again. 00:04:00.670 --> 00:04:01.800 You want a sign? 00:04:01.800 --> 00:04:03.960 You want a sign that I am your father? 00:04:03.970 --> 00:04:06.960 Here is the sign, written on my face. 00:04:06.960 --> 00:04:08.210 Do you see the worry, 00:04:08.210 --> 00:04:09.420 do you see the concern? 00:04:09.420 --> 00:04:10.700 I am afraid! 00:04:10.700 --> 00:04:12.720 I am afraid for you.’ 00:04:12.720 --> 00:04:16.110 ‘I hate you! 00:04:16.110 --> 00:04:18.150 You gave me your word! 00:04:18.150 --> 00:04:19.300 Talk is cheap. 00:04:19.300 --> 00:04:23.900 If you deny me this, then don’t come back.’ 00:04:23.900 --> 00:04:29.450 Helios sighed. 00:04:29.450 --> 00:04:32.490 ‘Very well. 00:04:32.490 --> 00:04:36.130 I have lingered too long already. 00:04:36.130 --> 00:04:38.750 Night has ended. 00:04:38.750 --> 00:04:42.690 Day must begin.’ 00:04:42.690 --> 00:04:45.560 He led the boy outside. 00:04:45.560 --> 00:04:49.410 His chariot was a thing of dazzling beauty. 00:04:49.410 --> 00:04:53.910 The axle and shaft and car were bright gold. 00:04:53.910 --> 00:04:58.300 The wheels and spokes were silver studded with jewels. 00:04:58.300 --> 00:05:00.430 The boy climbed into the car. 00:05:00.430 --> 00:05:03.820 Helios gave him the reins. 00:05:03.820 --> 00:05:06.190 ‘Grip these with all your strength. 00:05:06.190 --> 00:05:08.960 Don’t let go, no matter what happens. 00:05:08.960 --> 00:05:10.970 You will see a groove in the sky, 00:05:10.970 --> 00:05:12.800 the marks my wheels have made; 00:05:12.800 --> 00:05:14.270 that is your path. 00:05:14.270 --> 00:05:16.660 Don’t stray from it.’ 00:05:16.660 --> 00:05:22.440 The blazing horses were impatient, stamping and straining, champing at the bit. 00:05:22.440 --> 00:05:25.350 Helios: ‘Please. 00:05:25.350 --> 00:05:26.920 Think again.’ 00:05:26.920 --> 00:05:29.690 But Phaethon, bursting with pride, 00:05:29.690 --> 00:05:31.380 shook the reins. 00:05:31.380 --> 00:05:34.400 The horses hurled themselves upward into the sky. 00:05:34.400 --> 00:05:36.930 The breath was gone from the boy’s body. 00:05:36.930 --> 00:05:39.680 Instantly those horses knew something was amiss; 00:05:39.680 --> 00:05:41.720 the weight behind was too light. 00:05:41.720 --> 00:05:43.070 There was no ballast. 00:05:43.070 --> 00:05:46.340 The chariot swung one way then the other. 00:05:46.340 --> 00:05:49.100 This chariot was beyond the boy’s control. 00:05:49.100 --> 00:05:50.640 Where was the path? 00:05:50.640 --> 00:05:53.890 They galloped as if up a sheer cliff. 00:05:53.890 --> 00:05:59.410 He tried to shout out orders to his team but his voice was lost in the roar of the wind. 00:05:59.410 --> 00:06:01.830 Phaethon wished himself home. 00:06:01.830 --> 00:06:04.050 He wished he’d never nagged his mother, 00:06:04.050 --> 00:06:05.840 doubted his father. 00:06:05.840 --> 00:06:07.190 The reins were twisted. 00:06:07.190 --> 00:06:10.090 He crashed from one side of the car to the other. 00:06:10.090 --> 00:06:15.840 Now, celestial beasts appeared scattered across his course. 00:06:15.840 --> 00:06:19.840 A great scorpion lunged at him with its monstrous claws; 00:06:19.840 --> 00:06:23.060 now a lion, a bull, a huntsman. 00:06:23.060 --> 00:06:24.160 The boy screamed. 00:06:24.160 --> 00:06:25.530 The reins went slack. 00:06:25.530 --> 00:06:29.000 With nothing to restrain them the horses galloped where they would. 00:06:29.000 --> 00:06:33.980 They swooped so near the earth that mountains crumbled to ash, 00:06:33.980 --> 00:06:38.890 oceans boiled, cities were blasted to blackened stumps, 00:06:38.890 --> 00:06:41.780 lakes became hissing clouds of steam, 00:06:41.780 --> 00:06:45.120 whole forests became blazing torches. 00:06:45.120 --> 00:06:47.450 Great cracks appeared in mother earth, 00:06:47.450 --> 00:06:51.090 shafts of light shone even into the land of the dead. 00:06:51.090 --> 00:06:53.310 Ghosts fled in every direction; 00:06:53.310 --> 00:06:57.770 the jailor Hades, dazzled, stunned, powerless. 00:06:57.770 --> 00:07:00.610 Zeus above saw the devastation. 00:07:00.610 --> 00:07:03.310 He took a lightning bolt in his right hand, 00:07:03.310 --> 00:07:06.790 drew it behind his back and threw. 00:07:06.790 --> 00:07:10.410 Phaethon was hurled headlong from the chariot. 00:07:10.410 --> 00:07:17.510 He tumbled, his arms windmilling, his legs kicking at nothing. 00:07:17.510 --> 00:07:21.600 He was dead before he struck the waters of a lake. 00:07:21.600 --> 00:07:29.640 His father was so sick with sorrow for one whole day the sky went black. 00:07:29.640 --> 00:07:35.190 Phaethon’s three sisters searched the earth until they found his battered body. 00:07:35.190 --> 00:07:37.820 They leant over him sobbing. 00:07:37.820 --> 00:07:43.670 Helios, moved by their devotion, transformed them. 00:07:43.670 --> 00:07:54.010 Their toes became roots, their arms branches, their hair leaves. 00:07:54.010 --> 00:07:58.500 Silver bark covered their faces. 00:07:58.500 --> 00:08:04.710 They became weeping willow trees.