Written by the Ancient named Ovid.


"Phaethon was adamant. When the day came, the fierce horses that drew the chariot felt that it was empty because of the lack of the sun-god's weight, and went out of control. Terrified, Phaethon dropped the reins. The horses veered from their course, scorching the earth, burning the vegetation, bringing the blood of the Ethiopians to the surface of their skin and so turning it black, changing much of Africa into desert, drying up rivers and lakes and shrinking the sea. Earth cried out to Jupiter, who was forced to intervene by striking Phaethon with a lightning bolt. Like a falling star, Phaethon plunged blazing into the river Eridanos.

The epitaph on his tomb was quite to the point:

Here Phaethon lies who in the sun-god's chariot fared.And though greatly he failed, more greatly he dared.

Phoebus, stricken with grief at his son's death, at first refused to resume his work of driving his chariot, but at the appeal of the other gods, including Jupiter, returned to his task."

I can interpret this myth as the pole shifting from a massive cme that hit earth or some large passing body that was hit by an electrical discharge from the planet Jupiter. Scorching the widest part, around the equator and causing and extreme wobble. followed by the rotation of earth stopping for a few days.