Of the characters in Greek mythology called Phaethon (/ˈfeɪ.əθən/; Ancient Greek: Φαέθων, Phaéthōn, pronounced [pʰa.étʰɔ͜ɔn]), the best known was the son of the Oceanid Clymene and the solar deity Apollo or Helios. Alternative, less common genealogies make him a son of Clymenus by Merope, of Helios and Rhode (thus a full brother of the Heliadae) or of Helios and Prote.
In the prevailing account, Phaethon, challenged by his playmates, sought assurance from his mother that his father was the sun god. She gave him the requested assurance and told him to turn to his father for confirmation. He asked his father for some proof that would demonstrate his relationship with the sun. When the god promised to grant him whatever he wanted, he insisted on being allowed to drive the sun chariot for a day. Placed in charge of the chariot, he was unable to control the horses. The earth was in danger of being burnt up and, to prevent this disaster, Zeus killed him with a thunderbolt.
The name "Phaethon", which means "Shining One", was given also to Phaethon (son of Eos), to one of the horses of Eos (the Dawn), the Sun, the constellation Auriga, and the planet Jupiter, while as an adjective it was used to describe the sun and the moon. In some accounts the planet referred to by this name is not Jupiter but Saturn.
3200 Phaethon (/ˈfeɪ.əθɒn/ FAY-ə-thon, sometimes incorrectly spelled Phaeton) is an Apollo asteroid with an unusual orbit that brings it closer to the Sun than any other named asteroid (though there are several unnamed asteroids, including three numbered ones, with smaller perihelia, e.g. (137924) 2000 BD19). For this reason, it was named after the Greek myth of Phaëton, son of the sun god Helios. It is 5.1 ± 0.2 km (3.17 ± 0.12 mi) in mean diameter.
Phaethon was the first asteroid to be discovered using images from a spacecraft. Simon F. Green and John K. Davies discovered it in images from October 11, 1983, while searching Infrared Astronomical Satellite (IRAS) data for moving objects. It was formally announced on October 14 in IAUC 3878 along with optical confirmation by Charles T. Kowal, who reported it to be asteroidal in appearance. Its provisional designation was 1983 TB, and it later received the numerical designation and name 3200 Phaethon in 1985.
In Greek mythology, Phaethon was a son of Eos by Cephalus or Tithonus, born in Syria. Aphrodite stole him away while he was no more than a child to be the night-watchman at her most sacred shrines. The Minoans called him "Adymus", by which they meant the morning and evening star.
Phaethon was the father of Astynous, who in his turn became father of Sandocus. The latter migrated from Syria to Cilicia where he founded a city Celenderis; he then married Pharnace, daughter of King Megassares of Hyria, and had by her a son Cinyras.