Phæthon, an ambitious son of Apollo, watched his father day after day, and wished that he, too, might ride in such radiant splendor above the clouds. At last he made his way to the sun-palace and begged his father that he might show his comrades in Greece that he was truly the child of so glorious a god by being privileged to drive the sun. Apollo was horrified, but Phæthon persisted and at last he gave his reluctant consent. The headstrong youth then jumped into the chariot, grasped the reins of the celestial steeds and started along the zodiac. Ancient poets assert that the Earth looked up and trembled as she watched the snow-white horses of the Sun-god tear wildly up the steep slope in the east. The constellations shook with terror as they swerved from the beaten pathway, the Serpent twined about the icy Pole grew warm and began to writhe, and the Bear's stars fluttered and "wished to dip in the forbidden sea." Half dead with fear, Phæthon saw the shadowy star-decked forms of wild beasts scattered about the heavens and shuddered as the fierce Scorpion moved his claws and brandished his sting. Now beyond all control, the horses veered aside from the "heat vex't creatures" and rushed straight toward the earth, but, just in time, Jupiter hurled a tremendous thunderbolt and knocked Phæthon out of his chariot into a nearby river. The horses now turned toward the horizon which rested beyond the waters in the west, but the burning sun-ball had been drawn so close to the earth that the Nile had fled in fright and hid its head, which still remains hidden, and over a great area now known as the African desert, the moisture had risen like a cloud of steam leaving a drear, unfertile waste of land good for naught. The poor African people fared even worse, for while gazing bewildered at the wild antics of the sun, their faces were scorched and their bodies were scorched and they transmitted forever after to all succeeding generations the scourge of being hopelessly black! As a memorial of this famous adventure, the name of the river Eridanus, into which Phæthon had fallen, was given to one of the star groups in the sky. This was also supposed to be a consolation to Apollo, who grieved so deeply at the death of his son and all the unfortunate consequences of his adventure that he offered to allow any other god on Olympus the privilege of driving the sun on its daily course from east to west, but no other god could do this, nor were any willing to try.