# Greek Myths: Who Crashed Apollo's Chariot? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 22, 2006, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greek-myths-who-crashed-apollos-chariot/373747 "2006-09-22T17:56:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2006, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greek-myths-who-crashed-apollos-chariot/373747/1 "2006-09-22T17:56:43Z")
Who stole Apollo’s chariot, lost control over the horses that pulled Apollo’s (or more correctly, Helio’s) chariot across the sky, and crashed into the earth? I believe it is a myth to explain how the oceans formed. ---
**Author:** ![BarnOwl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e95f7d/32.png) [@BarnOwl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BarnOwl)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2006, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greek-myths-who-crashed-apollos-chariot/373747/2 "2006-09-22T17:58:36Z")
Rocky. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2006, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greek-myths-who-crashed-apollos-chariot/373747/3 "2006-09-22T17:59:59Z")
You’re thinking of **Phaethon** , although in the earliest myths he’s the son of Helios, the sun god, not Apollo. He didn’t crash the chariot – he lost control and it went out of control across the sky. Helios, who was riding in another chariot, couldn’t stop him. He burned the Libyan desert dry and threatened the earth with destruction. Zeus threw a thunderbolt that destroyed him. He fell into a river or the ocean. His sisters wept for him, and their tears became amber. I wrote a very interesting and different interpretation of this myth, and presented it at the annual Classical; Association of New England Meeting a couple of years ago. ---
**Author:** ![Kizarvexius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/da6949/32.png) [@Kizarvexius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kizarvexius)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2006, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greek-myths-who-crashed-apollos-chariot/373747/4 "2006-09-22T20:20:57Z")
> [@](#): > > Apollo in his chariot rode > In glinting gold attire > His car was bright with chrysolite > His horses snorted fire > He held them to their frantic course > Across the blazing sky > His darling son > Was Phaethon > Who begged to have a try From my seventh grade English book (c 1984). That’s only the first verse of three. Which I will refrain from quoting further, partly out of deference to SDMB rules, but also because my memory gets a little hazy in verse two. I don’t remember who wrote the poem, but it obviously made an impression on me. ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2006, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greek-myths-who-crashed-apollos-chariot/373747/5 "2006-09-22T21:07:19Z")
O-rings. I’ve said too much. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2006, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greek-myths-who-crashed-apollos-chariot/373747/6 "2006-09-22T21:22:27Z")
[QUOTE=CalMeacham] I wrote a very interesting and different interpretation of this myth, and presented it at the annual Classical; Association of New England Meeting a couple of years ago. [/QUOTE] So what was your take on the myth? ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2006, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greek-myths-who-crashed-apollos-chariot/373747/7 "2006-09-22T21:51:55Z")
Damn, let it go already! I said I was sorry! ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2006, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greek-myths-who-crashed-apollos-chariot/373747/8 "2006-09-22T22:02:30Z")
Wait a second…was Ted Kennedy driving the chariot? ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2006, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greek-myths-who-crashed-apollos-chariot/373747/9 "2006-09-25T19:05:58Z")
Do Mel Gibson, Halle Berry and Paris Hilton have alibis? ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2006, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greek-myths-who-crashed-apollos-chariot/373747/10 "2006-09-25T19:36:29Z")
It was terrorists. ---
**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2007, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greek-myths-who-crashed-apollos-chariot/373747/11 "2007-01-06T12:01:24Z")
Yes, Helios is technically correct. Apollo seems to have been a god without a focused purpose. I guess the Greeks didn’t know what to do with him. In this article, you can see he was assigned or shared, traded, or stole(?) the rolls of other gods. [Apollo - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo) Those crazy classic Greeks! Too much lead in their diets! - Jinx ---
**Author:** ![Spezza](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a698b9/32.png) [@Spezza](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spezza)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2007, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greek-myths-who-crashed-apollos-chariot/373747/12 "2007-01-06T12:41:31Z")
[QUOTE=Jinx] Too much lead in their diets! [/QUOTE] Where did the lead come from?! Additionally, just because Apollo did not have a single function in the Greek Pantheon does not mean he was not a significant god. The panhellenic sanctuary at Delphi, one of the most important in the ancient world, is dedicated to Apollo. One of the four premier ancient athletic festivals were held there, in honour of Apollo. He is quite a significant god; possibly the reason he does not have a single focused purpose. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2007, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greek-myths-who-crashed-apollos-chariot/373747/13 "2007-01-06T12:49:13Z")
[QUOTE=Spezza] Where did the lead come from?! [/QUOTE] Where do you think the word ‘plumbing’ comes from? ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2007, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greek-myths-who-crashed-apollos-chariot/373747/14 "2007-01-06T17:06:22Z")
[QUOTE=Derleth] Where do you think the word ‘plumbing’ comes from? [/QUOTE] Latin. (It is generally the Romans, not the Greeks, who have been speculated to have suffered decline because of lead in their water. (Probably not true, anyway.)) ---
**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2007, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greek-myths-who-crashed-apollos-chariot/373747/15 "2007-01-06T17:09:09Z")
Look, we really don’t like to bring it up at the dinner table… ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2007, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greek-myths-who-crashed-apollos-chariot/373747/16 "2007-01-06T17:31:54Z")
Sometimes spelled **Phaeton** , which also became a type of horse-drawn carriage, and eventually a body style of vintage automobiles. VW is currently using it as a model name. As a carriage, it was a lightly sprung sporty model with large wheels - fast and dangerous, hence the allusion. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2007, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greek-myths-who-crashed-apollos-chariot/373747/17 "2007-01-06T20:09:18Z")
Hey Dad can I borrow the car? ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2007, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greek-myths-who-crashed-apollos-chariot/373747/18 "2007-01-06T22:13:19Z")
[QUOTE=tomndebb] It is generally the Romans, not the Greeks, who have been speculated to have suffered decline because of lead in their water. [/QUOTE] Is this you saying the Greeks _didn’t_ use lead in their pipes? I honestly don’t know, and just guessed that the technology for plumbing would be the same for both Greeks and Romans of the same periods. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Rieux](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Dr.Rieux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Rieux)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2007, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greek-myths-who-crashed-apollos-chariot/373747/19 "2007-01-06T22:19:41Z")
Yeah, but the Greeks of the Roman period weren’t the Greeks of the Greek period. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2007, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greek-myths-who-crashed-apollos-chariot/373747/20 "2007-01-06T22:24:23Z")
[QUOTE=Dr. Rieux] Yeah, but the Greeks of the Roman period weren’t the Greeks of the Greek period. [/QUOTE] Ah, true enough. Did the Romans of the Greek period even have plumbing? 😉 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greek-myths-who-crashed-apollos-chariot/373747.md?page=2)