Phaeton

I'd heard this myth before. It's about Apollo's son. He claimed that he was the son of a god, and his friends laughed at him. One day he got mad and decided to travel to India to see his father.

Apollo was delighted to meet him, and he said he'd grant him any one wish. Phaeton answered that he would like to drive the chariot of the sun, and although his father desperately tries to convince him not to, he doesn't listen.

So he goes on the chariot and loses control, going way too close to the earth. He causes enormous devastation, including forming several deserts and destroying great cities. Finally Zeus gets sick of it and strikes him with lightning. His sisters mourn, and they become weeping willows.

I actually really like this myth. I think it's a pretty cool one, and it really shows the difference between mortals and gods. Phaeton, though he is the son of a god, is still a mortal and as such is not powerful enough to control as wild a thing as the sun, while Apollo manages to do it everyday.

The moral of this story is: Do not be arrogant, and do not bite off more than you can chew.