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Phaethon, the mortal son of the sun god Helios, attempts to prove his divine lineage by driving his father's solar chariot across the sky. Lacking the strength to control the fiery horses, he veers off course, nearly incinerating the Earth before being struck down by Zeus’s thunderbolt into the river Eridanos.
After the tragic death of Phaethon, who fell into the river Eridanos while driving the chariot of the sun, his devoted friend King Cygnus of Liguria was consumed by grief. Cygnus spent his days diving into the river to recover Phaethon’s remains, leading the gods to transform him into a swan so he could continue his search in the water. This myth explains the origin of the swan’s graceful yet...