The Four Great Adventure

_Phaeton_
_Pegasus and
Bellerophon_
(The summary)

Prepared by: ALEN DE CHAVEZ (II ENGLISH-C)

Phaeton
 PHAETON
Phaethon was a name given
to different figures in Greek
mythology, but the best
known was the son of the
Oceanid nymph Clymene
and either the god Apollo or
Helios; both of those gods
were associated with the
sun
The myth has it that when
Phaethon was challenged by
his friends, he asked his
mother if his father was really
a god. Clymene reassured him
that it was true and told him
to ask his father directly. So,
he asked Apollo (or Helios) to
give him some proof that he
was his son by linking him to
the sun in some way. The
young man asked that he
drive the sun chariot for one
day and his father agreed.
Although his father warns him
that no god (let alone a human)
can control the horses and
safely ride the chariot across the
sky, Phaethon will not listen. The
god reluctantly conceded to the
boy's wishes and handed him the
reigns. But his inexperience
proved fatal, for Phaethon
quickly lost control of the
immortal steeds and the sun-
chariot veered out of control
setting the earth ablaze.
 Apollo/Helios seems to have no choice
but to watch as the horses run
recklessly through the sky, crashing
into stars and even setting the earth on
fire. To prevent the entire planet from
burning, Zeus sends a thunderbolt
which kills Phaethon and drives the
horses into the sea.
 The plains of Africa were
scorched to desert and men
charred black. Zeus,
appalled by the destruction,
smote the boy with a
thunderbolt, hurling his
flaming body into the
waters of the River
Eridanos. Phaethon's
sisters, the Heliades,
gathered on the banks and
in their mourning were
transformed into amber-
teared poplar trees.
 After his death Phaethon was placed
amongst the stars as the constellation
Auriga ("the Charioteer"), or else
transformed into the god of the star
which the Greeks named Phaethon-- the
planet Jupiter or Saturn. The name
Phaethon means "the shining" or
"radiant one" from the Greek verb
phaethô "to shine."
 PEGASUS
Pegasus was a winged
horse born from the
blood of beheaded
Medusa, and given by
the goddess Athena to
the Muses of the Mount
Helicon to being taken
care of.
 BELLEROPHON
 Bellerophon was a great
equestrian, a young man from
Corinth, whose biggest dream
was to have Pegasus for
himself. Although
Bellerophontes is supposed to
be the son of King Glaucus of
Corinth, there were rumors
that his father was actually
Poseidon, the God of the Sea.
In the latter case, that would
While Pegasus was enjoying his calm days with
 

the Muses, Bellerophon was dreaming about

adventures. Looking for them he met Proteus,
the early sea-god, and son-in-law of the King of
Lycia. Believing in their friendship, Bellerophon
didn’t recognize Proteus’s jealousy, let alone his
friend’s plan to kill him.
Aware of Bellerophon’s adventurous nature,
Proteus sent him with a sealed letter to his in-laws.
When he arrived in Lycia, Bellerophon found out
that every night Chimera terrorized the village
taking children, women and livestock away and
leaving their bones alongside the mountain.
 Bellerophon didn’t know that his
own death was requested in the
letter he brought. Proteus asked his
in-laws to get rid of the messenger.
Instead of killing him on spot, the
king asked Bellerophon to kill the
Chimera, knowing that he would
never come back alive. Bellerophon
excited and went for advice to
Polyidus or Polyeidos, the wisest
man in Lycia. Polyeidos told him he
would need the winged horse
Pegasus.
 More than anything,
Bellerophon wants to ride
Pegasus, a winged horse,
so he goes to Athena's
temple to pray. Athena
comes to him in a dream
and gives him a golden
bridle which, she says,
will tame the horse. It
does, and Pegasus
becomes Bellerophon's
loyal beast.
 Bellerophon was given the King’s
daughter for his wife and he
succeeded the king after his death.
But Belerophon’s restless nature
called for new adventures and he
rode Pegasus to fly to the Mount
Olympus to visit the gods.
 Was it greed or simply lack
of awareness, but it was the
wrong idea of Bellerophon.
Furious because
Bellerophon even dared to
think to come to the heights
of the Olympus, Zeus sent a
gadfly towards the flying
guest. Pegasus was stung
and disturbed and
Bellerophon lost his balance
and fell on the ground.
Athena, as it’s said, spared his life
softening the ground for the fall,
but until the end of his life, the
crippled and lonely Bellerophon
was hiking around looking for his
precious Pegasus. Pegasus
continued to live on Mt Olympus,
where Zeus welcomed him and kept
him as his favorite and most
important steed. The myth says that
Pegasus was loyal to Zeus until his
last day.