The Story#
A long, long time ago, in Greek mythology, there was a boy named Phaethon.
His father was the sun god Apollo.
One day, Phaethon said to his father: “Father, I want to drive your sun chariot!”
Apollo was worried: “The sun chariot is too hard to control. You’ll get hurt.”
But Phaethon insisted on trying.
Apollo had no choice but to agree.
The next morning, Phaethon climbed onto the sun chariot.
“Let’s go!” he shouted.
The sun chariot flew into the sky!
But the horses were too strong. Phaethon couldn’t control them.
The sun chariot flew too high sometimes, freezing the sky; other times it flew too low, burning the earth.
“Help!” Phaethon was terrified.
Zeus saw this and worried the sun chariot would destroy the world.
He threw a lightning bolt—
“Boom!”
The sun chariot was hit, and Phaethon fell from the sky.
Apollo was heartbroken. He regretted letting his son drive the sun chariot.
Little friends, Phaethon got into danger because he didn’t listen to his father. We must remember: some things we can’t do yet—we should listen to adults!
What the Story Teaches Us#
Phaethon got into danger driving the sun chariot because he didn’t listen to his father’s advice. This story teaches us to listen to our parents—some things are too dangerous for us to do when we’re too young.