Phaethon and the Heliades were children of Helios and the Oceanid Clymene. After Phaethon's fatal ride of the sun chariot, his sisters the Heliades wept so long that the gods transformed them into poplar trees.
Zeus struck Phaethon from Helios's sun chariot with a thunderbolt to save the earth from burning. Helios grieved but could not prevent the destruction of his son.
Helios swore by the River Styx to grant his son Phaethon any wish. Bound by the unbreakable oath, he could not refuse when Phaethon demanded to drive the sun chariot, leading to the boy's death.
Clymene raised Phaethon and, when he doubted his parentage, assured him that Helios was truly his father. She sent him to the sun god's palace to confirm the truth.
Cycnus, a kinsman of Phaethon, grieved so deeply at the Eridanus that the gods transformed him into a swan. In Ovid's Metamorphoses, his mourning mirrors the Heliades' transformation.
Phaethon fell blazing into the river Eridanus after Zeus struck him from the sun chariot. The Heliades and Cycnus mourned him on the Eridanus's banks.
Gaia cried out to Zeus for aid as Phaethon's wild ride scorched the earth, drying rivers and cracking the ground. Her plea prompted Zeus to strike Phaethon down with a thunderbolt.
The Heliades, sisters of Phaethon, mourned his death on the banks of the Eridanus until the gods transformed them into poplar trees. Their tears became drops of amber.
Zeus destroyed Phaethon with the Thunderbolt of Zeus when the youth lost control of the sun chariot and threatened to burn the earth, striking him from the sky so that his body fell into the river Eridanus.
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