Phaeton

“ All living things awoke; the flowers opened their petals; the grain grew golden; the fruit grew ripe. Could but Epaphos see him now! Surely he must see him, and realise that not Apollo but Phaeton was guiding the horses of his father, driving the chariot of the Sun.
Quicker and yet more quick grew the pace of the white-maned steeds. Soon they left the morning breezes behind, and very soon they knew that these were not the hands of the god, their master, that held the golden reins. ”

“ When Phaeton, wishing to prove his heavenly birth by his beneficence, had the sun’s chariot but one day, and drove out of the beaten track, he burned several blocks of houses in the lower streets of heaven, and scorched the surface of the earth, and dried up every spring, and made the great desert of Sahara, till at length Jupiter hurled him headlong to the earth with a thunderbolt, and the sun, through grief at his death, did not shine for a year.
There is no odor so bad as that which arises from goodness tainted. It is human, it is divine, carrion. ”

“ Phaeton was a young enterprising prince of Libya. Crossing the Mediterranean in quest of adventures, he landed at Epirus, from whence he went to Italy to see his intimate friend Cygnus. Phaeton was skilled in astrology, from whence he arrogated to himself the title of the son of Apollo. One day in the heat of summer, as he was riding along the banks of the Po, his horses took fright at a clap of thunder, and plunged into the river, where, together with their master, they perished. Cygnus, who was a poet, celebrated the death of his friend in verse, from whence the fable.—Vid. ”

“ He was only partly a god, and he was very, very young. In impotent horror he tugged at the reins to try to check the horses' descent, then, forgetful of Apollo's warning, he smote them angrily. But anger met anger, and the fury of the immortal steeds had scorn for the wrath of a mortal boy. With a great toss of their mighty heads they had torn the guiding reins from his grasp, and as he stood, giddily swaying from side to side, Phaeton knew that the boon he had craved from his father must in truth be death for him. ”

“ And then the stars went away, even to the Daystar that went last of all, and, at Apollo's signal, Aurora, the rosy-fingered, threw open the purple gates of the east, and Phaeton saw a path of pale rose-colour open before him.
With a cry of exultation, the boy leapt into the chariot and laid hold of the golden reins. Barely did he hear Apollo's parting words: "Hold fast the reins, and spare the whip. All thy strength will be wanted to hold the horses in. Go not too high nor too low. The middle course is safest and best. Follow, if thou canst, in the old tracks of my chariot wheels!" ”

“ Eagerly Phaeton replied, "For one day let me drive the sun-chariot across the sky. No one will ever again deny my high lineage if Apollo grant me this boon."
The sun-god immediately saw what a rash promise he had made. Three times he shook his bright head and then replied, "I beg thee, Phaeton, choose another boon for none but Phoebus Apollo can drive the horses of the sun-chariot. The path through high heaven is beset with dangers. First the steeds must climb the steep ascent of the eastern sky ”

“ Phaëton, to prove that he is really the son of Phœbus, the Sun, demands of his parent the right to drive his chariot for one day. The sun-god reluctantly consents, not without many pleadings that the infatuated and rash boy would give up his inconsiderate ambition. Phaëton persists. The old man says:
"Even the ruler of vast Olympus, who hurls the ruthless bolts with his terrific right hand, can not guide
[1. "The Metamorphoses," book xi, fable 1.]
{p. 155}
this chariot; and yet, what have we greater than Jupiter? ”

“ In the story of Phaeton, whose name means “the bright and shining one,” a description of the golden palace and car of the sun is given us. We are told that the venturesome young charioteer, by usurping his father’s place, causes incalculable mischief, and, in punishment for his mismanagement of the solar steeds (the fleecy white clouds) , is hurled from his exalted seat by a thunderbolt launched by the hand of Jupiter.
“This story arose from phrases which spoke of drought as caused by the chariot of Helios, when driven by some one who knew not how to guide his horses ”

“ For ’tis a mischief, not a gift, you ask.”
Addison.
But Phaeton, who, like many another conceited youth, fancied he knew better than his sire, would not give heed to the kindly warning, and persisted in his request, until Apollo, who had sworn the irrevocable oath, was obliged to fulfill his promise.
The hour had already come when the Sun usually began his daily journey. The pawing, champing steeds were ready; rosy-fingered Aurora only awaited her master’s signal to fling wide the gates of morn; and the Hours were ready to escort him as usual. ”

“ EXPLANATION. If we were to regard this fable solely as an allegory intended to convey 58 II. 304-310 a moral, we should at once perceive that the adventure of Phaëton represents the wilful folly of a rash young man, who consults his own inclination, rather than the dictates of wisdom and prudence. Some ancient writers tell us that Phaëton was the son of Phœbus and Clymene, while others make the nymph Rhoda to have been his mother. Apollodorus, following Hesiod, says that Hersa, the daughter of Cecrops, king of Athens, was the mother of Cephalus, who was carried away by Aurora ”

“ Phaëton, sprung from the Sun, was equal to him in spirit and in years; whom formerly, as he uttered great boasts, and yielded not at all to him, and proud of his father, Phœbus, the grandson of Inachus could not endure; and said, “Thou, like a madman, believest thy mother in all things, and art puffed up with the conceit of an imaginary father.”
Phaëton blushed, and in shame repressed his resentment; and he reported to his mother, Clymene,114 the reproaches of Epaphus; and said, “Mother, to grieve thee still more, I, the free, the bold youth, was silent ”

“ Not at all: a telescope might have swept the parishes of Tipton and Freshitt, the whole area visited by Mrs Cadwallader in her phaeton, without witnessing any interview that could excite suspicion, or any scene from which she did not return with the same unperturbed keenness of eye and the same high natural colour. In fact, if that convenient vehicle had existed in the days of the Seven Sages, one of them would doubtless have remarked, that you can know little of women by following them about in their pony phaetons. ”

“ Here its favorite resorts are the small islands of Great Sound, Castle Harbor, and Harrington Sound. The Phaeton, as it is felicitously called, nests in the Bahamas in holes in the perpendicular faces of cliffs and on the flat surfaces of rocks. A single egg is laid, which has a ground-color of purplish brownish white, covered in some specimens almost over the entire surface with fine reddish chocolate-colored spots.
These species compose the small but distinct family of tropic birds and are found throughout the tropical and sub-tropical regions of the world. ”

“ Hercules in bondage; or, as the author has it, 'Hercules groaning under the bonds which he cannot break.' (3) Omphale deriding the vain efforts of the hero."
[236]
"PHAËTON," SYMPHONIC POEM No. 2: Op. 39
Phaëton was produced in Paris, under Eduard Colonne, at a concert at the Théâtre du Châtelet, December 7, 1873. The score has this preface:
"Phaëton has obtained leave to drive his father's, the Sun's, chariot through the heavens. ”

“ With the exception of the Phaetons, which have many of the characters of the Laridæ, the members of this Family have more or less naked skin about the face, and on the throat, which latter is dilatable: the tongue is very minute, and the nostrils are mere slits, scarcely or not at all perceptible; in the nestling bird, however, they are open. ”

“ Go not too high or too low, for the sake of heavens and earth; else men and gods will suffer. The Fates alone know whether evil is to come of this. Yet if your heart fails you, as I hope, abide here and I will make the journey, as I am wont to do."
But Phaethon held to his choice and bade his father farewell. He took his place in the chariot, gathered up the reins, and the horses sprang away, eager for the road. ”

“ One day when Phaethon was telling his companions about his father, the sky king, they laughed and said, “How do you know that Helios is your father? You have never seen him. If, as you say, he cannot safely come nearer to the earth, why do you not sometimes go to his land.”
Phaethon answered, “My father’s throne is far away from this valley. My mother has promised that when I am stronger, I shall go to my father’s palace. I often watch his golden chariot roll by in its path and think perhaps some day I shall drive the glorious horses of the sun. ”

“ The Phaeacians hold this city and land, and I am the daughter of Alcinous, great of heart, on whom all the might and force of the Phaeacians depend.' [Pg 138]
Thus she spake, and called to her maidens of the fair tresses: 'Halt, my maidens, whither flee ye at the sight of a man? Ye surely do not take him for an enemy? That mortal breathes not, and never will be born, who shall come with war to the land of the Phaeacians, for they are very dear to the gods. Far apart we live in the wash of the waves, the outermost of men, and no other mortals are conversant with us. ”

“ It would seem that while the feather germ may be artificially stimulated to produce three successive generations of feathers within a year, it may, on the other hand, be induced artificially to maintain a continuous activity extending over long periods. That is to say, the normal quiescent period, and periodic moult, may be suspended, so that the feather maintains a steady and continuous growth till it attains a length of several feet. ”

“ As in bird embryos there is no evidence that feather papillae ever develop into scales or that scale papillae ever develop into feathers it may be assumed that feather papillae are fundamentally different from scale papillae, the difference presumably being due to the presence of special factors in the germ-plasm. ”

“ Very rarely the spines are fenestrated (Pl. 35, fig. 1) ; only in one genus (Heliodrymus) they are all or partly branched (Pl. 33, fig. 9; Pl. 35, figs. 3, 5) .
The peculiar development of the phacoid shell has been already described by J. Müller (compare my Monograph, 1862, pp. 156, 438) .
The Central Capsule of the Phacodiscida is everywhere circular, lenticular, envelops the medullary shell, and is enclosed by the phacoid shell, perforated by the radial beams, which connect the latter to the former.
Synopsis of the Genera of the Phacodiscida.
Subfamily 1. ”

“ There are many other species of Pheasants, distinguished by some peculiarity of the plumage, but there is no special difference in their habits.
In the wild state the Pheasants prefer wooded slopes or marshy plains, and their food is composed of grains, berries, Worms, Insects, Snails, etc. They are shy and timid in their nature, taking flight at the least indication of danger. They make their nest on the ground in the midst of a thicket, or in a tuft of grass, and the hen Pheasant lays from twelve to twenty eggs, which require twenty-four days to hatch. ”

“ Phacoid shell three times as broad as the medullary shell, surrounded by four to eight rings of increasing breadth from the centre, the outer of which are more or less spongy. Each ring is divided by forty to fifty piercing radial beams into chambers of increasing size. Pores regular, circular; a single one on each chamber, ten on the radius of the phacoid shell. On the margin are scattered ten to twenty thick and short spines, four-sided pyramidal, about as long and as broad at the base as the diameter of the medullary shell. ”

“ The body-covering of birds is, without exception, comprised of feathers, and by this character alone birds may be distinguished from all other animals.
The most perfect form of feather is made up of a long, tapering rod, fringed on either side, for the greater part of its length, by a secondary series of slender and tapering rods forming a more or less acute angle with the central axis. This fringe is known as the vexillum or “vane” (fig. 1 a) . ”

“ I doubt if there is a single instance in which the male bird takes up a position to present his ornamental plumage to the sight of the female without a special erection and movement of the feathers themselves. Such a stimulation must affect the living epidermic cells of the feather papilla. Even supposing that the feather is not growing at the time, it is probable, if not certain, that the stimulation will affect the papilla at the base of the feather follicle, so as to cause increased growth of the succeeding feather. ”

“ In this group also a thick temporary flagellum “sarcoflagellum” may be formed, apparently by the coalescence of a number of pseudopodia. The pigmented mass or “phaeodium” in the ectoplasm of Phaeodaria appears to be an excretory product, formed within the central capsule and passing immediately outwards; a similar uniform deposit of pigmented granules occurs in the Colloid species, Thalassicolla nucleata. The wall of the central capsule is simple in the Spumellaria, but formed of two layers in the Nassellaria and Phaeodaria. ”

“ Phaëthon driving Apollo’s Chariot.
Sometimes they came so near the earth that the leaves [Pg 130] and grass withered, the crops were all destroyed, and the streams disappeared. Then they turned so far away that snow fell, and the people shivered and suffered from the cold.
All the people on earth were afraid, and even the gods on high Olympus wondered what was amiss with Apollo, that his horses were so unruly.
Finally Jupiter looked over the heavens, and, seeing the reckless Phaëthon, hurled a thunderbolt at him, and he fell headlong into the river Po. ”