Page 77 - SpringBoard_ELA_Grade7_Flipbook

aCTIvITy 1.11
continued
poor Choices: “phaethon”
resolved: decided affront: insult
oracle: a high priest or priestess who advises the gods
My Notes
37 “Oh, Clymene’s6 boy. I remember your mother well. How is she?”
38 “In health, sire.”
39 “And did I not leave some daughters with her as well? Yellow-haired girls —
quite pretty?”
40 “My sisters, sire. The Heliads.”
41 “Yes, of course. Must get over that way and visit them all one of these seasons.
And you, lad — what brings you to me? Do you not know that it is courteous to await an invitation before visiting a god — even if he is in the family?”
42 “I know, Father. But I had no choice. I was taunted by a son of Zeus, Epaphus. And I would have flung him over the cliff and myself after him if I had not resolved to make my lies come true.”
Chunk 5
43 “Well, you’re my son, all right. Proud, rash, accepting no affront, refusing no
adventure. I know the breed. Speak up, then. What is it you wish? I will do anything in my power to help you.”
44 “Anything, Father?”
45 “Anything I can. I swear by the river Styx,7 an oath sacred to the gods.”
46 “I wish to drive the sun across the sky. All by myself. From dawn till night.”
47 Apollo’s roar of anger shattered every crystal goblet in the great castle.
48 “Impossible!” he cried. “No one drives those horses but me. They are tall as
mountains. Their breath is fire. They are stronger than the tides, stronger than the wind. It is all that I can do to hold them in check. How can your puny grip restrain them? They will race away with the chariot, scorching the poor Earth to a cinder.”
49 “You promised, Father.”
50 “Yes, I promised, foolish lad. And that promise is the death warrant. A poor
charred cinder floating in space — well, that is what the oracle predicted for the earth — but I did not know it would be so soon . . . so soon.”
Chunk 6
51 “It is almost dawn, Father. Should we not saddle the horses?”
52 “Will you not withdraw your request—allow me to preserve my honor without
destroying the earth? Ask me anything else and I will grant it. Do not ask me this.”
53 “I have asked, sire, and you have promised. And the hour for dawn comes, and the horses are unharnessed. The sun will rise late today, confusing the wise.”
54 “They will be more than confused when this day is done,” said Apollo. “Come.”
55 Apollo took Phaethon to the stable of the sun, and there the boy saw the giant
fire-white horses being harnessed to the golden chariot. Huge they were. Fire-white with golden manes and golden hooves and hot yellow eyes. When they neighed,
the trumpet call of it rolled across the sky — and their breath was flame. They were being harnessed by a Titan, a cousin of the gods, tall as the tree, dressed in asbestos8
6 Clymene [klī men ē´]
7 Styx [stiks]: In Greek myths, a river that led to Hades or Hell
8 asbestos [as bes’ tәs]: A mineral that does not burn or conduct heat
50 SpringBoard® English Language Arts Grade 7
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