The river Eridano is the symbol of the Po and its story is connected to that
one of Fetonte, son of Elio and Climene. A day the boy, wanted to try
to guide the cart of the sun, weat up on the biga of his father and began
the usually turn of the sun in sky. After a little the flaming horses
recognized that the hand that guided them was not that one of theirs
usually master and therefore they were scared; Fetonte was
attacked from the terror and he did not succeed to remedy; in their
crowds run the horses brought the sun too much near to the earth
provoking many fires. For put end to this devastation Zeus killed the inexpert
coachman and his body fell in the river Eridano, where found it the Eliadi,
his sisters and they cried it long time. Moved to compassion, Zeus
changed them in poplars and it gave to the river a celestial place.
It was narrated also that the Milky Way is a burn of the sky
left from the passage of the heated cart.