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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Greenfield" data-source="post: 6043774" data-attributes="member: 6669384">Okay, I just did a little research:  The tale, being Greek, names the sun god Helios, not Apollo (Apollo was the Roman name for the same god).  The son's name was Phaeton, and his mother was the queen of Ethiopia.  The boy was given a Wish by his father, and he wished to drive the chariot of the sun.  Helios was afraid and tried to talk him out of it, but the boy insisted, and even gods feared to break an oath sworn on the river Styx, so he let the boy go.He advised him to fly neither too high nor too low.  The boy, however, wanted to show off for a friend/rival, and fly low enough that his friend could see him.  The result of the sun coming too close to the earth was that it burned and cracked the land, leaving a scar called Sahara.  It burned the men of that land brown.Different versions have different endings.  In some Zeus struck the boy dead to halt the destruction, and the horses returned to their stables.  In others he crashed to earth someplace in the great desert.So there's your short course in Greek mythology.  Maybe I'll do something with that.</blockquote>