The tragic myth of the Sun God's son - Iseult Gillespie episode artwork

EPISODE · May 27, 2026 · 7 MIN

The tragic myth of the Sun God's son - Iseult Gillespie

from TED-Ed · host TED-Ed

Dive into the Greek myth of Helios and Phaethon, where the Sun God allows his mortal son to drive his chariot for a day.--Every morning, Helios unleashed his golden chariot, and set out across the sky. As the Sun God transformed dawn into day, he thought of his son, Phaethon, below. To prove to Phaethon that he was truly his father, Helios decided to grant him anything he wanted. Unfortunately, what Phaethon wanted was to drive Helios’ chariot for a day. Iseult Gillespie shares the tragic myth of the charioteer.Lesson by Iseult Gillespie, directed by Raghav Arumugam and Jagriti Khirwar.Support Our Non-Profit Mission----------------------------------------------Support us on Patreon: http://bit.ly/TEDEdPatreonCheck out our merch: http://bit.ly/TEDEDShop----------------------------------------------Connect With Us----------------------------------------------Sign up for our newsletter: http://bit.ly/TEDEdNewsletterFollow us on Facebook: http://bit.ly/TEDEdFacebookFind us on Twitter: http://bit.ly/TEDEdTwitterPeep us on Instagram: http://bit.ly/TEDEdInstagram----------------------------------------------Keep Learning----------------------------------------------View full lesson: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/the-tragic-myth-of-the-sun-god-s-son-iseult-gillespieDig deeper with additional resources: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/the-tragic-myth-of-the-sun-god-s-son-iseult-gillespie#digdeeperAnimator's website: https://www.jagritikhirwar.com & https://www.raghavarumugam.comMusic: https://www.campstudio.co----------------------------------------------Thank you so much to our patrons for your support! Without you this video would not be possible! Jesse Lira, Ezekiel Raui, Zongpu Kou, Cameron Chakraverty, Petr Vacek, Rhys Patterson, Dennis, Olivia Fu, Katrina Adams, Regina Post, Mary Collins, Kari Teffeau, clumsybunnie , Adam Leos, Cindy Lai, Liz, Rajath Durgada Manjunath, Dan Nguyen, Chin Beng Tan, Tom Boman, Karen Warner, Isorn Sookwanish, Iryna Panasiuk, Diane Gallin, Aaron Torres, Vasundhar, Eric Braun, Denka Wee, Sonja Worzewski, Amy, Michael Clement, Ghaith Tarawneh, Nathan Milford, Tomas Beckett, Alice Ice, Eric Berman, Kurt Paolo Sevillano, Ron Kakar, Jennifer Heald, Megulo Abebe, TAO7CADENCE, Olympia Buckingham, isolwi, Vedasheersh, Michael Chang, Waqar Sheikh, Irene Y., Kate Sem, VPpurplebelt and Ujjwal Dasu. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dive into the Greek myth of Helios and Phaethon, where the Sun God allows his mortal son to drive his chariot for a day.--Every morning, Helios unleashed his golden chariot, and set out across the sky. As the Sun God transformed dawn into day, he thought of his son, Phaethon, below. To prove to Phaethon that he was truly his father, Helios decided to grant him anything he wanted. Unfortunately, what Phaethon wanted was to drive Helios’ chariot for a day. Iseult Gillespie shares the tragic myth of the charioteer.Lesson by Iseult Gillespie, directed by Raghav Arumugam and Jagriti Khirwar.Support Our Non-Profit Mission----------------------------------------------Support us on Patreon: http://bit.ly/TEDEdPatreonCheck out our merch: http://bit.ly/TEDEDShop----------------------------------------------Connect With Us----------------------------------------------Sign up for our newsletter: http://bit.ly/TEDEdNewsletterFollow us on Facebook: http://bit.ly/TEDEdFacebookFind us on Twitter: http://bit.ly/TEDEdTwitterPeep us on Instagram: http://bit.ly/TEDEdInstagram----------------------------------------------Keep Learning----------------------------------------------View full lesson: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/the-tragic-myth-of-the-sun-god-s-son-iseult-gillespieDig deeper with additional resources: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/the-tragic-myth-of-the-sun-god-s-son-iseult-gillespie#digdeeperAnimator's website: https://www.jagritikhirwar.com & https://www.raghavarumugam.comMusic: https://www.campstudio.co----------------------------------------------Thank you so much to our patrons for your support! Without you this video would not be possible! Jesse Lira, Ezekiel Raui, Zongpu Kou, Cameron Chakraverty, Petr Vacek, Rhys Patterson, Dennis, Olivia Fu, Katrina Adams, Regina Post, Mary Collins, Kari Teffeau, clumsybunnie , Adam Leos, Cindy Lai, Liz, Rajath Durgada Manjunath, Dan Nguyen, Chin Beng Tan, Tom Boman, Karen Warner, Isorn Sookwanish, Iryna Panasiuk, Diane Gallin, Aaron Torres, Vasundhar, Eric Braun, Denka Wee, Sonja Worzewski, Amy, Michael Clement, Ghaith Tarawneh, Nathan Milford, Tomas Beckett, Alice Ice, Eric Berman, Kurt Paolo Sevillano, Ron Kakar, Jennifer Heald, Megulo Abebe, TAO7CADENCE, Olympia Buckingham, isolwi, Vedasheersh, Michael Chang, Waqar Sheikh, Irene Y., Kate Sem, VPpurplebelt and Ujjwal Dasu. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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The tragic myth of the Sun God's son - Iseult Gillespie

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This episode was published on May 27, 2026.

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Dive into the Greek myth of Helios and Phaethon, where the Sun God allows his mortal son to drive his chariot for a day.--Every morning, Helios unleashed his golden chariot, and set out across the sky. As the Sun God transformed dawn into day, he...

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