Helius could not dissuade the boy, and Phaethon could not control the horses and drove to his death. A phaeton has come into English as a four-wheeled chariot drawn by two horses or an earlier type of convertible automobile. Priapus was the ithyphallic son of Aphrodite. He is most often depicted with an enormous and fully erect penis. Priapic is an adjective referring to priapian characteristics.
Priapism is a pathological condition in which the penis is persistently erect.
He would make unwitting travelers lie down on a bed. If they did not fit it exactly, he would either cut them down or stretch them out to size. The adjective procrustean refers to someone or something that aims at conformity through extreme methods. A procrustean bed decribes a terrible, arbitrary standard against which things are measured. He bestowed upon mortals many gifts that lifted them from savagery to civilization.