Bk II:31-48 Phaethon and his father. The Sun, seated in the middle of them, looked at the boy, who was fearful of the strangeness of it all, with eyes that see everything, and said, "What reason brings you here? What do you look for on these heights, Phaethon, son that no father need deny?" Phaethon replied, "Universal light of the great world, Phoebus, father, if you let me use that name, if Clymene is not hiding some fault behind false pretense, give me proof father, so they will believe I am your true offspring, and take away this uncertainty from my mind!" He spoke, and his father removed the crown of glittering rays from his head and ordered him to come nearer. Embracing him, he said, "It is not to be denied you are worthy to be mine, and Clymene has told you the truth of your birth. So that you can banish doubt, ask for any favour, so that I can grant it to you. May the Stygian lake, that my eyes have never seen, by which the gods swear, witness my promise." Hardly had he settled back properly in his seat when the boy asked for his father's chariot and the right to control his wing-footed horses for a day. |
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