Phaëthon

Phaëthon ('the shining'), in the writings of Homer and Hesiod, a frequent title of Helios the sun-god, and subsequently employed as his name.—Phaëthon, in Greek mythology, is also the name of a son of Helios, famous for his unfortunate attempt to drive his father's chariot. Scarcely had the presumptuous youth seized the reins, when the horses, perceiving his weakness, ran off, and approaching too near the Earth, almost set it on fire. Whereupon the Earth cried to Jupiter for help, and Jupiter struck down Phaëthon with a thunderbolt into the Eridanus or Po. His sisters, the Heliades, who had harnessed the horses of the Sun, were changed into poplars, and their tears into amber.