Phrontis was one of four (or five) sons of
PhrixusIn Greek mythology, Phrixus or Frixos or Phryxus was the son of Athamas, king of Boiotia, and Nephele . His twin sister Helle and he were hated by their stepmother, Ino. Ino hatched a devious plot to get rid of the twins, roasting all of Boeotia's crop seeds so they would not grow. The local...
and
ChalciopeChalciope , in Greek mythology, is a name that may refer to several characters.* Chalciope, daughter of King Aeetes of Colchis, sister of Medea and wife of Phrixus, by whom she had four sons: Argus, Phrontis, Melas and Cytisorus...
. He was also a grandson of King
AeëtesIn Greek mythology, Aeëtes , , , was a King of Colchis , son of the sun-god Helios and the Oceanid Perseis , brother of Circe and Pasiphae, and father of Medea, Chalciope and Apsyrtus...
of
ColchisIn ancient geography, Colchis or Kolkhis was an ancient Georgian state kingdom and region in Western Georgia, which played an important role in the ethnic and cultural formation of the Georgian nation.The Kingdom of Colchis contributed significantly to the development of medieval Georgian...
.
Phrontis and his brothers were raised in Colchis, but after their father died, he and his brothers set out to avenge their father’s ill treatment in the hands of king
AthamasThe king of Orchomenus in Greek mythology, Athamas , was married first to the goddess Nephele with whom he had the twins Phrixus or Frixos and Helle. He later divorced Nephele and married Ino, daughter of Cadmus. With Ino, he had two children: Learches and Melicertes...
of Orchomenus and were stranded on the Island of
AresAres is the Greek god of war. He is one of the Twelve Olympians, and the son of Zeus and Hera. In Greek literature, he often represents the physical or violent aspect of war, in contrast to the armored Athena, whose functions as a goddess of intelligence include military strategy and...
the War God in the
Black SeaThe Black Sea is bounded by Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus and is ultimately connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Mediterranean and the Aegean seas and various straits. The Bosphorus strait connects it to the Sea of Marmara, and the strait of the Dardanelles connects that sea to the Aegean...
until they were rescued from the island by the
JasonJason was a late ancient Greek mythological hero from the late 10th Century BC, famous as the leader of the Argonauts and their quest for the Golden Fleece. He was the son of Aeson, the rightful king of Iolcus...
and the
ArgonautsThe Argonauts ) were a band of heroes in Greek mythology who, in the years before the Trojan War, accompanied Jason to Colchis in his quest to find the Golden Fleece. Their name comes from their ship, the Argo, which was named after its builder, Argus. "Argonauts", therefore, literally means...
. Once Jason received discovered that Phrontis and his brothers were grandsons of King Aeëtes of Colchis, Jason convinced Phrontis and his brothers to return with him to Colchis and help him to obtain the
Golden FleeceIn Greek mythology, the Golden Fleece is the fleece of the gold-haired winged ram, which can be procured in Colchis. It figures in the tale of Jason and his band of Argonauts, who set out on a quest by order of King Pelias for the fleece in order to place Jason rightfully on the throne of Iolcus...
. Jason also questioned Phrontis and his brothers on the layout and security of the land. After the Fleece was retrieved from Colchis, Phrontis and his brothers returned with the Argo's crew to
GreeceGreece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
. His brothers were Cytissorus,
ArgusARGUS, all capitalized, may refer to:* ARGUS , a particle physics experiment that ran at DESY* ARGUS distribution, a function used in particle physics named after the above experiment...
and Melas, and, according to some accounts, Presbon was another one of his brothers.
Another story of Phrontis transpired many years after the Argonautical travels and involves Phrontis' brother Melas as a traveling merchant who was apprehended and kept in captivity by the oppressive king Talycrates (Ταλυκρατης) of the city of Ionetrea (Ιονητρεια) in the
CaucasusThe Caucasus, also Caucas or Caucasia , is a geopolitical region at the border of Europe and Asia, and situated between the Black and the Caspian sea...
along the
Cyrus RiverKura is a river, also known from the Greek as the Cyrus in the Caucasus Mountains. Starting in north-eastern Turkey, it flows through Turkey to Georgia, then to Azerbaijan, where it receives the Aras River as a right tributary, and enters the Caspian Sea...
. Many other traveling merchants who journeyed through the Caucasus were held in captivity as well. Talycrates hoped that, by holding captive as many merchants from Greece and
AnatoliaAnatolia is a geographic and historical term denoting the westernmost protrusion of Asia, comprising the majority of the Republic of Turkey...
as possible, he could economically weaken the wealthy
city-stateA city-state is an independent or autonomous entity whose territory consists of a city which is not administered as a part of another local government.-Historical city-states:...
s in those regions, giving him a great advantage of conquest. Once Phrontis received word of his brother's captivity, he felt compelled to travel the long journey to rescue his brother. Phrontis prayed to Zeus for help and Zeus gave Phrontis' horse Tempestris the wings of an eagle (Zeus' sacred animal), enabling the horse to fly over the high Caucasus Mountains and carry Phrontis safely to Ionetrea. After arriving at Ionetrea, Phrontis freed his brother Melas, and many other Greek and Anatolian traveling merchants, from prison bonds. Afterward he helped the inhabitants of Ionetrea to revolt and to overthrow and kill Talycrates, thus liberating the Ionetreans from his tyrannical oppression. An Ionetrean maiden named Lystra joined Phrontis and Melas on the journey back to Greece, and Phrontis married Lystra in Greece.
Other uses
- Phrontis was wife of Panthous and mother of Euphorbus
Euphorbus , the son of Panthous and Phrontis, was a Trojan hero during the Trojan War. He wounded Patroclus before Patroclus was killed by Hector. In the fight for Patroclus' body, Euphorbus was killed by Menelaus. He was apparently one of Troy's finest warriors. Menelaus later took Euphorbus'...
and Hyperenor
- Phrontis was the helmsman of Menelaus
Menelaus may refer to;*Menelaus, one of the two most known Atrides, a king of Sparta and son of Atreus and Aerope*Menelaus on the Moon, named after Menelaus of Alexandria.*Menelaus , brother of Ptolemy I Soter...