The Fall of Phaeton by Peter Paul Rubens, 1605, now in the National Gallery of Art, Washington DC
赫利俄斯，是驾太阳车的太阳神。他高大魁伟，身披紫袍头，戴光芒万丈的金冠。他每天驾驶着四匹火马拉的太阳车划过天空，给世界带来光明。他情人众多，子女也众多，其中最有名的是其熊儿子法厄童（Phaethon）。
法厄童的妈妈是水神俄刻阿诺斯的三千女儿之一可莱美，爸爸是伟大的太阳神赫利俄斯。作为一个神二代，法厄童没什么惊人本领但好虚荣爱吹嘘。每当跟人提起自己的豪出身，特别是豪爸太阳神赫利俄斯，同伴们总是持着怀疑。这也不能怪他们，因为法厄童虽也气宇非凡，但比起独一无二的赫利俄斯，人们在他身上看不到任何太阳神的气概和神彩。终于有一天，法厄童再也无法忍受别人的怀疑，找到妈妈可莱美(Clymene)并讨要自己身为神二代的证据，下面是其母子对话：
Clymene: Son, I've never lied to you. The sun god once told me, he'll grant you any wish, but only one. And if you get what you want from him, you are his son; if you don't, then I am a liar.
Phaethon: How can I get near the warm abode of the Sun?
Clymene: He will make sure not to harm you.
Phaethon: If he is really my father, you don't speak wrong.
Clymene: Rest assured that this is the case: you will truly know it in time.
Phaethon: Enough; I am convinced that you are not telling lies.
法厄童随后来到太阳神殿并对神爸说明来意。赫利俄斯当然记得当初对可莱美的许诺，问法厄童有什么愿望。法厄童小脑瓜一晃，想了想，能证明自己神二代最好的办法当然是炫耀神爸那世间唯一的太阳战车。赫利俄斯听罢陷入万般为难。他一面深知自己是这世上唯一能驾御太阳战车的。可另一方面天神是不可违背诺言的。赫利俄斯万分后悔自己怎么会有这么个熊孩子的同时，也只好让法厄童试驾太阳战车。
刚刚坐进车内的一刻，法厄童就开始后悔自己的选择，因为他惊诧地发现驾车的四匹天宫火马的无比神力。车内的他几乎无法守在座位上，慌乱之即他失去了对火马的控制。太阳车先是升得太高，并在星空冲出个大洞。然后又突然降低到离大地万分危险的成度，所经之处烧焦了草木，烧干了湖泊，连非洲的大片森林也变为沙漠，并把当地居民原本白晰的皮肤也烤成了黝黑。大地之母痛苦难当地向神帝宙斯呼救，宙斯应求并拔出神电击碎了太阳战车，同时也击死了熊孩子法厄童。
法厄童的尸体掉进伊利得奈斯河。沼泽女神可怜他那么年轻地死去，于是埋葬了他。他的姐妹们伤心地来到墓前哀悼，最后化作岸边的杨树。
Phaethon was the son of a water nymph, Clymene, and the sun god Helios. In order to confirm that he really was his father, Helios promised by the river Styx to grant Phaeton any wish. Phaeton asked to drive the sun god’s chariot. According to Ovid’s Metamorphoses, Helios tried to dissuade him, warning his son that not even Jupiter (or Zeus), king of the gods, could not control the fiercely hot chariot pulled by fire-breathing horses. But Phaeton was adamant in his demands and Helios finally granted him his wish.
When Phaeton stepped into the chariot, the horses, used to the great weight of the sun god, thought it empty. Confused, they reared and Phaeton lost control. The horses, driven wild, scorched the earth, reducing Africa to a desert. Mother Earth, in danger of burning up, appealed in desperation to Zeus for help. In order to preserve her, Zeus struck the chariot with a thunderbolt.