Phrixus

The priest was ready to sacrifice Phrixus when Nephele snatched him and his sister Helle away from the altar. Athamas, their father, ruled in Boeotia. His second wife, Ino, had caused the wheat grain to be parched before sowing, so the earth produced no crop. When Athamas sent messengers to Delphi, Ino persuaded them to report that the famine would end only if Phrixus were sacrificed to Zeus. The people forced Athamas to bring him to the altar.

Nephele gave the children a ram with a golden fleece, which she had received from Hermes. In another account, a winged golden ram came from Olympus at Hera’s order, or from Zeus himself. It carried Phrixus and Helle eastwards over land and sea towards Colchis. At the Thracian Chersonese, Helle became dizzy and fell into the sea. The straits were therefore called the Hellespont after her. The ram continued north-east across the sea now called the Black Sea, or Euxine, and reached Colchis on the steep Circassian coast.

There Phrixus married Chalciope, the daughter of King Aeetes. He sacrificed the ram and gave its fleece to Aeetes. The fleece was then nailed to a beech in the grove of Ares. Another account says that Phrixus was instructed to sacrifice the ram to Ares and hung the fleece in a temple of that god. The ram’s fleece remained in Colchis.

Phrixus later died and was buried there. His spirit had no rest because he lay far from his native land and the hills of Hellas. He appeared in dreams to the heroes of the Minuai and called on them to set his spirit free, so that he could return to his fathers.

Ino persuaded the women to parch the wheat grain, and the earth produced no crop when the grain was sown. Athamas, who ruled in Boeotia, sent messengers to Delphi to ask how the famine could end. Ino persuaded the messengers to report that the famine would end only if Phrixus, Athamas’s son by Nephele, was sacrificed to Zeus. Athamas was forced by the people to bring Phrixus to the altar. Nephele snatched him away with his sister Helle and gave them a ram with a golden fleece that she had received from Hermes.

The ram carried the children over land and sea. Helle fell into the sea at the Thracian Chersonese, and the straits took the name Hellespont after her. The ram carried Phrixus onwards across the sea that Greeks called Euxine, until it reached Colchis on the steep Circassian coast. Phrixus married Chalciope, the daughter of Aeetes, king of Colchis. He sacrificed the ram, and Aeetes kept its fleece. One telling placed it on a beech in the grove of Ares. Another placed it in a temple of Ares.

Phrixus later died far from his native land and was buried in Colchis. His spirit had no rest because he lay far from the hills of Hellas. He appeared in dreams to the heroes of the Minuai and called to them to free him, so that he could return to his ancestors. A later telling gave his death another cause: Aeetes feared an oracle concerning the descendants of Aeolus, so he killed Phrixus after Phrixus had arrived in Colchis and married Chalciope.

In another telling, Phrixus and Helle were children of Nephele and Ixion rather than Athamas. Nephele led them to a golden ram and told them to ride to Colchis, sacrifice it to Ares, and hang up its fleece. Phrixus followed her instructions, sacrificed the ram, and hung up the golden fleece.