| Aries Athamas, a king in the land of Croneus, had a son, Phrixus, and a daughter, Helle, by his first wife, Nephele. Eventually he grew tired of his first wife, as kings often did and still do. He sent Nephele away and married Ino, the daughter of Cadmus, King of Thebes. Ino also bore two children to the king, and over time she grew hideously jealous of Nephele's children. She wanted the kingdom for her own sons and decided to use treachery and deceit to get it. Corn was the major crop of the kingdom at the time, and a good corn harvest meant that the people and animals of the kingdom would be well fed in the months to come. Knowing this, Ino convinced the women of the kingdom to roast the seeds of corn before the men planted them in the field. She managed to hide what she had done from the men. Naturally, when the ruined corn failed to grow, no one thought to blame her. As was the custom at the time, the king decided to consult an oracle to see what he could do to appease the gods and bring back the crops. He sent messengers to the oracle, and the devious Ino paid off the messengers, bribing them into lying about its advice. According to the messenger, Phrixus and Helle were the cause of the famine. They would have to be sacrificed to the gods before the kingdom would have corn again. Of course, although the king was in despair, he did not want to disobey the gods and cause his kingdom to starve, so he decided to follow what he thought was the oracle's advice. Luckily, Nephele was fearful for her children's safety, and had sent a protector into the castle walls to watch over them. This protector was not a person, but was a ram with fleece made out of gold. The ram had been given to Nephele as a present from Zeus, and was faithful to the former queen and her children. As the day of the sacrifice dawned, the ram approached the children. It spoke to them, telling them that they must flee the kingdom immediately. It told them to climb on its back, which they did. It warned them to hold on tight, and then the ram sprang into the air and flew away, across the ocean. Helle, who was weaker than her brother, fell off the ram's back and to her death in the sea. The place where she fell is called Hellesponte. Phrixus survived, and ended up marrying into the royal family of Colchis, thus maintaining his noble status. In thanks to Zeus, he sacrificed the golden ram that had carried out the god's wishes on earth. Phrixus hung the ram's fleece in a special spot in Colchis, where it would be the theme of legends to come. Zeus hung the ram's likeness in the sky to commemorate its bravery, and it shines there to this very day. |
