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In Greek mythology, Phrixus (also Phryxus) was the son of Athamus, king of Boiotia,
Boeotia

Boeotia, Beotia, or B?otia , formerly Cadmeis, was a region of ancient Greece, north of the eastern part of the Gulf of Corinth. It was bounded on the south by Megaris and the Kithairon mountain range that forms a natural barrier with Attica, on the north by Opuntian Locris and the Euripus Strait at the Gulf of Euboea, and on the...
 and Nephele
Nephele

In Greek mythology, Nephele was a cloud nymph who figured prominently in the story of Phrixus and Helle .Greek myth also has it that Nephele is the cloud whom Zeus created in the image of Hera to trick Ixion, since he tried to rape the goddess....
 (a goddess of Clouds). His twin sister Helle
Helle (mythology)

In Greek mythology, Helle figured prominently in the story of Jason and the Argonauts. Phrixus, son of Athamus and Nephele, along with his twin sister, Helle, were hated by their stepmother, Ino....
 and him were hated by their stepmother, Ino
Ino

*In Greek mythology, Ino was a Queen consort of Thebes .*173 Ino is an asteroid.*Ino is a trademark of the small Swedish loudspeaker maker Ino Audio....
. Ino hatched a devious plot to get rid of the twins, roasting all of Boiotia
Boeotia

Boeotia, Beotia, or B?otia , formerly Cadmeis, was a region of ancient Greece, north of the eastern part of the Gulf of Corinth. It was bounded on the south by Megaris and the Kithairon mountain range that forms a natural barrier with Attica, on the north by Opuntian Locris and the Euripus Strait at the Gulf of Euboea, and on the...
's crop seeds so they would not grow. The local farmers, frightened of famine, asked a nearby oracle
Oracle

An oracle is a person or agency considered to be a source of wise counsel or prophecy opinion; an infallible authority, usually Spirituality in nature....
 for assistance. Ino bribed the men sent to the oracle to lie and tell the others that the oracle required the sacrifice of Phrixus and Helle.






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In Greek mythology, Phrixus (also Phryxus) was the son of Athamus, king of Boiotia,
Boeotia

Boeotia, Beotia, or B?otia , formerly Cadmeis, was a region of ancient Greece, north of the eastern part of the Gulf of Corinth. It was bounded on the south by Megaris and the Kithairon mountain range that forms a natural barrier with Attica, on the north by Opuntian Locris and the Euripus Strait at the Gulf of Euboea, and on the...
 and Nephele
Nephele

In Greek mythology, Nephele was a cloud nymph who figured prominently in the story of Phrixus and Helle .Greek myth also has it that Nephele is the cloud whom Zeus created in the image of Hera to trick Ixion, since he tried to rape the goddess....
 (a goddess of Clouds). His twin sister Helle
Helle (mythology)

In Greek mythology, Helle figured prominently in the story of Jason and the Argonauts. Phrixus, son of Athamus and Nephele, along with his twin sister, Helle, were hated by their stepmother, Ino....
 and him were hated by their stepmother, Ino
Ino

*In Greek mythology, Ino was a Queen consort of Thebes .*173 Ino is an asteroid.*Ino is a trademark of the small Swedish loudspeaker maker Ino Audio....
. Ino hatched a devious plot to get rid of the twins, roasting all of Boiotia
Boeotia

Boeotia, Beotia, or B?otia , formerly Cadmeis, was a region of ancient Greece, north of the eastern part of the Gulf of Corinth. It was bounded on the south by Megaris and the Kithairon mountain range that forms a natural barrier with Attica, on the north by Opuntian Locris and the Euripus Strait at the Gulf of Euboea, and on the...
's crop seeds so they would not grow. The local farmers, frightened of famine, asked a nearby oracle
Oracle

An oracle is a person or agency considered to be a source of wise counsel or prophecy opinion; an infallible authority, usually Spirituality in nature....
 for assistance. Ino bribed the men sent to the oracle to lie and tell the others that the oracle required the sacrifice of Phrixus and Helle. Before they were killed, though, Phrixus and Helle were rescued by a flying, or swimming, ram with golden wool sent by Nephele
Nephele

In Greek mythology, Nephele was a cloud nymph who figured prominently in the story of Phrixus and Helle .Greek myth also has it that Nephele is the cloud whom Zeus created in the image of Hera to trick Ixion, since he tried to rape the goddess....
, their natural mother; their starting point is variously recorded as Halos
Halos

Halos was a settlement in Ancient Greece, in the region of Thessaly. It was destroyed by an earthquake and abandoned....
 in Thessaly and Orchomenus
Orchomenus

Orchomenus is a name attributed to the following:...
 in Boeotia
Boeotia

Boeotia, Beotia, or B?otia , formerly Cadmeis, was a region of ancient Greece, north of the eastern part of the Gulf of Corinth. It was bounded on the south by Megaris and the Kithairon mountain range that forms a natural barrier with Attica, on the north by Opuntian Locris and the Euripus Strait at the Gulf of Euboea, and on the...
. During their flight Helle swooned, fell off the ram and drowned in the Dardanelles
Dardanelles

.The Dardanelles , formerly known as the Hellespont, is a narrow strait in northwestern Turkey connecting the Aegean Sea to the Sea of Marmara....
, renamed the Hellespont (sea of Helle), but Phrixus survived all the way to Colchis
Colchis

In ancient geography, Colchis or Kolkhis was an ancient Georgia , state monarchy and region in the Western Georgia , which played an important role in the ethnic and cultural formation of the Georgians and its subgroups....
, where King Aeëtes
Aeëtes

In Greek mythology, Ae?tes was a son of the king-god Helios and the nymph Perseis , brother of Circe and Pasiphae, and father of Medea, Chalciope and Apsyrtus....
, the son of the sun god Helios
Helios

Helios is the god of sun.In Greek mythology the sun was personified as Helios . Homer often calls him simply Titan or Hyperion , while Hesiod and the Homeric Hymn separate him as a son of the Titans Hyperion and Theia or Euryphaessa and brother of the goddesses Selene, the moon, and Eos, the dawn....
, took him in and treated him kindly, giving Phrixus his daughter, Chalciope
Chalciope

Chalciope was a princess in Greek mythology, daughter of King Aeetes of Colchis, sister of Medea and wife of Phrixus. Phrixus, son of Athamus and Nephele, along with his twin Helle , were hated by their stepmother, Ino....
, in marriage. In gratitude, Phrixus sacrificed the ram to Zeus
Zeus

Zeus in Greek mythology is the king of the gods, the ruler of Mount Olympus and the god of the sky father and List of thunder gods. His symbols are the thunderbolt, eagle, bull , and oak....
 and gave the king the golden fleece
Golden Fleece

In Greek mythology, the Golden Fleece is the fleece of the winged ram Chrysomallos . It figures in the tale of Jason and his band of Argonauts, who set out on a quest for the fleece in order to place Jason rightfully on the throne of Iolcus in Thessaly....
 of the ram, which Aeëtes hung in a tree in the holy grove of Ares
Ares

In Greek mythology, Ares is the son of Zeus and Hera. Though often referred to as the Twelve Olympians God of warfare, he is more accurately the god of bloodlust, or slaughter personified: "Ares is apparently an ancient abstract noun meaning throng of battle, war."...
 in his kingdom, guarded by a dragon that never slept.

Phrixus and Chalciope had four sons, who later joined forces with the Argonauts
Argonauts

In Greek mythology, the Argonauts were a band of heroes who, in the years before the Trojan War, accompanied Jason to Colchis in his quest to find the Golden Fleece....
. The oldest was Argos.

Testimonia


  • Apollonius Rhodius, passim
  • Apollodorus,
  • pseudo-Eratosthenes Catasterismi 14, 19
  • Hyginus 1-3, 12, 21, 22, 188
  • Ovid. Metamorphoses 12.8ff, Fasti 3.867ff
  • Valerius Flaccus, 1.281ff
  • Palaephatus 30