"Phaethon"

Being the son of a god is not such a sunny thing. In the retelling of the Greek myth "Phaethon," Bernard Evslin shows how this can lead a boy to pride and bad choices.

Here are all the word lists to support the reading of Grade 7 Unit 1's texts from SpringBoard's Common Core ELA series: The Road Not Taken, Choices, Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes, Dust Tracks on a Road, Bad Boy, Why Couldn't I Have Been Named Ashley?, Phaethon, Daedalus and Icarus, Arachne, The Lion, the Fox, and the Stag, A Note from the Author, creation myths
25 words 1699 learners

Learn words with Flashcards and other activities

Definition First
Print Flashcards

Other learning activities

Answer a few questions about each word. Use this to prep for your next quiz! Compete with other teams in real time to see who answers the most questions correctly! Test your spelling acumen. Read the definition, listen to the word and try spelling it!

Teaching tools

Create and assign quizzes to your students to test their vocabulary. Assign learning activities including Practice, Vocabulary Jams and Spelling Bees to your students, and monitor their progress in real-time.

Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. Zeus
    the supreme god of ancient Greek mythology
    "You think you're pretty good," he said. "But you're not so much. My father is Zeus."
  2. Phaethon
    son of Helios
    "My father is Apollo," said the yellow-haired boy, whose name was Phaethon.
  3. Olympus
    a mountain peak in northeast Greece near the Aegean coast
    I sit on Olympus with him, and he teaches me things and gives me presents.
  4. descend
    come from
    People like to say they're descended from the gods, of course.
  5. boast
    talk about oneself with excessive pride or self-regard
    He was so stung by the words of his friend, and the boasting and lying he had been forced to do
  6. zodiac
    a circular diagram representing the 12 constellations
    And it was then, at this hour, that Apollo sat on his throne, wearing a purple cloak embroidered with the golden sign of the zodiac.
  7. unconscious
    lacking awareness and the capacity for sensory perception
    They flew down among the howling of wolves, among burning eyes set in a circle about the unconscious boy.
  8. revive
    cause to regain consciousness
    The cold wind of his going revived him, and he sat up.
  9. sentry
    a person employed to keep watch for some anticipated event
    He saw sentries in flashing golden armor, carrying golden spears.
  10. resemblance
    similarity in appearance or external or superficial details
    "Yes, you may well be my son. I seem to see a resemblance. Which one did you say?"
  11. courteous
    exhibiting politeness and good manners
    Do you not know that it is courteous to await an invitation before visiting a god--even if he is in the family?
  12. taunt
    harass with persistent criticism or carping
    I was taunted by a son of Zeus, Epaphus.
  13. resolve
    reach a decision
    And I would have flung him over the cliff and myself after him if I had not resolved to make my lies come true.
  14. affront
    a deliberately offensive act
    Well, you're my son, all right. Proud, rash, accepting no affront, refusing no adventure.
  15. Styx
    a river in Hades across which Charon carried dead souls
    I swear by the river Styx, an oath sacred to the gods.
  16. asbestos
    a fibrous substance that does not burn
    They were being harnessed by a Titan, a cousin of the gods, tall as the tree, dressed in asbestos armor with a helmet of tinted crystal against the glare.
  17. char
    burn to charcoal
    Or you will fire the air about you where you stand, charring the earth and blistering the sky.
  18. glorious
    characterized by grandeur
    I'll come home tomorrow after this glorious journey and tell him what I did and he will laugh at me and tell me I'm lying, as he did before.
  19. resume
    take up or begin anew
    After he recognizes me, I'll whip up the horses and resume the path of the day.
  20. feeble
    pathetically lacking in force or effectiveness
    Now the horses, wild with change, maddened by the feeble hand on the reins, swung around and dived toward earth again.
  21. billowing
    characterized by great swelling waves or surges
    Now the water began to steam--great billowing clouds of steam as the water boiled.
  22. bewildered
    extremely confused and uncertain what to do
    And the people who were left alive were bewildered by the light and darkness following each other so swiftly.
  23. clamor
    loud and persistent outcry from many people
    Up high on Olympus, the gods in their cool garden heard a clamor of grief from below.
  24. hurtle
    move with or as if with a rushing sound
    He saw the runaway horses of the sun and the hurtling chariot.
  25. grieve
    feel intense sorrow, especially due to a loss
    Phaethon's yellow-haired sisters grieved for the beautiful boy.
Created on Fri Aug 22 17:42:07 EDT 2014 (updated Fri Aug 22 22:45:12 EDT 2014)

Sign up now (it’s free!)

Whether you’re a teacher or a learner, Vocabulary.com can put you or your class on the path to systematic vocabulary improvement.