Book 2

Summary

Phaethon (II)

{Y}ou heard above, I believe, how Epaphus, son of Jupiter, reproached the arrogance of Phaethon, who was proud and puffed-up because of who his father was; how Phaethon lamented to Clymene, whom he loved so much; and how Phaethon reached his father’s house, as his mother’s advice and his own heart guided him. [1–9]

{T}he chamber of the Sun was founded on tall columns, on high and truly sumptuous, bright with flashing gold and gems gleaming red. The engraving was truly opulent; the roof was made of ivory; the double doors were engraved with beautiful and fine silver. The work on them surpassed the material, for Vulcan had seamlessly engraved it with the sea and the world, which the sea entirely encircled. There one could identify and locate in the sea Triton the trumpeter; there was the fearsome Proteus, who is so varied and mutable; Aegaeon the great was there, who rode whales; and Doris together with her daughters, some of whom, it seems, were swimming, while the rest sat on the rocks, drying their green hair. Their forms were not all identical, nor too different: each had her own just as sisters do. It was a very wise smith who had portrayed and depicted such images. On land, people were shown along with castles and cities; towns and villages and farmsteads; plains and meadows; vineyards and marshland; animals domestic and wild; rivers, streams, and springs; nymphs; gods of the fields and pastures. Above that, the firmament was depicted with great subtlety: there were six signs of the zodiac on the right, and six signs on the left. [10–48]

The child Phaethon came there. He stayed far away from his father, because he could not stand the light of him. Phoebus sat on a throne encrusted with emeralds, wearing a crimson robe. Around him at all times were the days and months and years, weeks, hours, and minutes, and earthly existence in its rightful order: Spring was there, full of flowers, adorned with various colors; Summer was there, who was naked and wore a hat of wheat-sheaves; Autumn was there, who produces fruit, tramples the grape harvest, and puts wine in casks; Winter was there, full of frost, its head hoary and bald. Amid these things sat Phoebus, who saw the young man standing flabbergasted in his hall.