Phaethon, and his sisters

Phaethon, the son of Helios

(Greek verb phaethô: “Shining,” or “Radiant”)

Virgil once again draws inspiration from Greek myth and language in Eclogues 6! However, some liberties were taken. Our myth in question is that of Phaethon, the son of Helios.

The line reads:

tum Phaethontiades musco circumdat amaro
corticis, atque solo proceras erigit alnos. (62-63)

Which translates to:

“Then he encloses Phaethon's sisters in the moss of bitter bark, and he alone raises the tall alders.”
...more or less.

So, let’s talk about it. There are two things that strike me right away. First, why did Virgil mention his sisters and not Phaethon himself? Second, why would he want to sing about the sisters in mourning? I hope to find the answers soon.


Well, I’ll start with the myth of Phaethon. Phaethon is the son of the Oceanid nymph, Clymene, and Helios, who brings the dawn with his sun-chariot (there is also some talk of him being Apollo’s son instead, but I’ll stick with Helios here). Basically, after a little bit of peer pressure, Phaethon asked his mother if his father was really a god. Clymene tried to reassure him, but told Phaethon to ask Helios himself if he still did not believe it. He does confront Helios, and lo’, he is his son! But we cannot end there, as Phaethon needs to prove himself, and asks Helios if he can ride the sun-chariot. Helios reluctantly agrees, and off his son goes.(1)


Now, here comes the fun part. There are a couple of different versions as to what caused the end of Phaethon. It is either he simply lost control of the chariot or he flew too close to the constellation Scorpio, and the scorpion scares the horses.

(Side note to Scorpio! Scorpio was created and sent after Orion for being too boastful - Orion said he would kill every animal, and Artemis said, “nah, have a scorpion.”)(2)


Phaethon’s mistake made him bring the sun close to the earth, setting himself and the earth on fire (climate change, anyone?). Zeus saw this, and struck the chariot with a thunderbolt, causing Phaethon to fall off the chariot and into the River Eridanos. His tomb was placed at the river.


Now, who were his sisters? The Heliades were seven nymph daughters of the sun-god Helios. They came to Phaethon’s grave, where they wept and grieved so much, they were transformed into white poplar trees and their tears became golden amber. The meaning of the white poplar trees, or populus alba, is peaceful afterlife and memory of the dead.(3) However, here, Virgil mentions his sisters mourning and becoming the tall alder trees. These are from the birch family, not like the populus which are from the willow family. Maybe he does this to stay with the theme of birch and beech trees?





Sources:

1. “Phaethon,” Theoi.com https://www.theoi.com/Titan/Phaethon.html,
“Metamorphoses, Book 2,” Ovid.
Also, a fun/cute narrated story from the University of Cambridge, “Classical Tales”! http://classictales.educ.cam.ac.uk/stories/metamorphoses/phaethon/index.html
2. “Scorpius,” Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/place/Scorpius#ref139448
3.”Populus Alba,” Campus Arboretum, University of Arizona.


Image:
Phaethon print. British Museum. https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/P_1893-1018-61