Travelers across the desert encountered a harsh world, one of blinding sandstorms, racing whirlwinds, and suffocating heat. People who lived in desert lands needed gods to protect them while crossing the desert and spirits to help them cope with demons that seemed to materialize before their eyes. Some desert myths explained how those barren expanses of land got there in the first place, as did the Greek myth of Phaethon who parched these areas when he steered the sun's chariot off course. But most desert myths involved images of what people thought they saw-castles glittering in the distance, pooles of water that appeared and disappeared, and horrifying demons masquerading as gigantic whirls of sand.