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Charlotte Mason Picture Study Aid Peter Paul Rubens

another part are the spokes of the broken wheels; and the fragments of the chariot torn in pieces

are scattered far and wide. But Phaëton, the flames consuming his yellow hair, is hurled

headlong, and is borne in a long tract through the air; as sometimes a star from the serene sky
may appear to fall, although it really has not fallen. Him the great Eridanus receives, in a part of

the world far distant from his country, and bathes his foaming face.”
2
• From The National Gallery of Art:

“Phaeton, the Sun-god Apollo's son, had begged and begged his father to allow him to
drive the Chariot of the Sun across the sky. After Apollo finally conceded, his worst

fears were confirmed: the rash youth had neither the strength nor the experience to

control the chariot and keep it on its regular course through the heavens. The horses
bolted in an erratic pattern, so that Earth either froze because the Sun Chariot was too

far away, or it was scorched by the Sun's heat. At left, the Horae, butterfly-winged

female figures personifying the seasons, which represent the harmony and order of the

universe, are reacting in terror as Earth below bursts into flame. Even the great
astrological bands that arch through the heavens are disrupted. Outside the picture

frame, Jupiter, the supreme god, has just unleashed a thunderbolt aimed at Phaeton in

order to save the universe from complete destruction. As the chariot disintegrates and

the horses tumble apart, Phaeton plunges to his death.”
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2 (Riley)

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