Chapter
Eight:
Four
Great
Adventures
(from
Mythology
for
Today
­­­Hamilton’s
Mythology)
1. He
goes
to
find
out
if
it
is
true
that
the
Sun
is
his
father,
as
his
mother
has
told
him.
2. The
Sun
swears
by
Styx
that
he
will
grant
Phaethon
any
wish
he
pleases,
to
prove
that
he
is
indeed
the
boy’s
father.
But
Phaethon’s
wish
is
a
deadly
one
‐‐‐
to
do
the
impossible
and
drive
the
Sun’s
chariot.
In
his
attempt,
the
boy
loses
control
of
the
chariot
and
the
horses,
and
sets
the
world
on
fire.
In
order
to
save
the
Earth,
Zeus
is
obliged
to
strike
him
down
with
his
thunderbolt.
3. Zeus
must
put
an
end
to
the
ride
because
Phaethon
will
destroy
the
world
if
he
is
not
stopped.
4. Glaucus
was
punished
by
being
thrown
from
his
chariot,
and
then
devoured
by
his
own
savage
horses.
5. A
phaeton
is
an
eighteenth
century
carriage,
the
word
deriving
from
the
story
of
the
boy
who
tried
to
drive
the
Sun’s
chariot.
A
chimera
is
an
imaginary
monster
made
up
of
incongruous
parts;
the
word
originates
from
the
monster
that
Bellerophon
slew
on
Pegasus.
6. Pegasus
is
not
an
ordinary
horse;
he
is
a
horse
with
wings,
so
he
can
fly
tirelessly.
Pegasus
grew
up
from
the
spot
at
which
the
gorgon
was
slain.
7. Proteus
wants
him
dead
because
Proteus
(mistakenly)
believes
that
Bellerophon
has
wronged
his
wife,
Anteia.
8. He
angered
the
gods
by
attempting
to
ride
Pegasus
up
to
Olympus,
thinking
he
was
great
enough
to
live
among
the
gods.
9. Artemis’
vengeance
brings
an
ironic
end
to
the
twins.
Both
trying
to
spear
a
beautiful
hind
in
the
forest,
they
accidentally
spear
each
other,
thus
each
killing
the
only
person
he
loves.
10. Daedalus
warns
Icarus
not
to
fly
too
close
to
the
Sun,
because
the
wings
he
has
constructed
in
order
to
escape
from
Crete
are
attached
to
wax,
which
would
melt
from
the
Sun’s
heat.
Icarus
does
not
heed
his
father’s
warning
and
flies
up
to
the
Sun;
when
the
wax
melts,
he
falls
into
the
sea.