747Now, a goddess, she is worshipped with great renown by the linen-clad throng; now Epaphus is at last believed to have been born of the seed of great Jupiter, and throughout the cities holds temples joined with his mother's. 750Equal to him in spirit and years was Phaethon, child of the Sun. 751Once, when he was boasting grandly and would not give way to him, proud of Phoebus as his father, the grandson of Inachus did not bear it, and said, 'Madman, you believe your mother in everything and are puffed up by the image of a false father.' 755Phaethon blushed, checked his anger out of shame, and carried Epaphus' insults to his mother Clymene; 757'and, so that you may grieve the more, mother,' he said, 'I, so free-spoken, I, so bold, kept silent.
758I am ashamed that these taunts could both be spoken against us and not be refuted. 760But you, if I am indeed born of heavenly stock, give a token of so great a lineage and claim me for heaven.' 762He spoke, and threw his arms around his mother's neck, and begged her by his own head and that of Merops and by the marriage torches of his sisters to give him signs of his true father. 765It is uncertain whether Clymene was moved more by Phaethon's prayers or by anger at the charge spoken against her; she stretched both arms to the sky, and looking towards the light of the sun said, 'By this radiance, distinguished with flashing rays, which both hears and sees us, I swear to you, my son, that you were born of this Sun whom you behold, this Sun who governs the world.
771If I speak falsely, may he himself refuse to let me see him, and may this light be the last for my eyes. 773Nor is it a long task for you to come to know your father's house: the home from which he rises borders on our land. 775If only your mind moves you, go, and you will learn from him himself.' 776At once, after such words from his mother, Phaethon darts off joyfully and grasps the aether in his mind, and crosses his own Ethiopians and the Indians set beneath the starry fires, and eagerly approaches his father's rising.