Helle’s Family Tree

About Helle →

Family

• Athamas(parent),Nephele(parent),Phrixus(sibling)— Marriage

  King Athamas of Orchomenus married the cloud nymph Nephele, and they had two children: Phrixus and Helle. Nephele later departed, and Athamas took Ino as his second wife.

Guarded by

• Nephele

  Nephele sent the golden ram Chrysomallus to rescue her children Helle and Phrixus from sacrifice. Though the ram saved Phrixus, Helle fell from its back during the flight over the sea.

Enemy of

• Ino

  Ino, Athamas's second wife, plotted to have her stepchildren Phrixus and Helle sacrificed by secretly parching the seed grain and bribing the Delphic oracle. Nephele sent the golden ram to rescue them before Ino's scheme could succeed.

Associated with

• Chrysomallus

  Chrysomallus carried Helle alongside her brother Phrixus, but she lost her grip and fell into the strait that thereafter bore her name, the Hellespont.

• Golden Fleece

  Helle rode the golden ram Chrysomallus with her brother Phrixus but fell into the sea during the flight, giving the Hellespont its name. Her death was the first tragedy connected to the Golden Fleece.

• Phrixus

  Helle and her brother Phrixus fled together on the golden ram Chrysomallus sent by their mother Nephele. Phrixus held on and reached Colchis, but Helle fell from the ram into the strait below.

• Voyage of the Argo

  Helle's fall from the golden ram into the sea gave the Hellespont its name. The loss of Helle was the first casualty of the chain of events that led to the quest for the Golden Fleece and the Voyage of the Argo.