Nephele
Nephele's name is the Greek word for cloud, and in Latin she is nebula. She appears in Greek and Roman mythology not once but twice. Two figures share that name and that connection to clouds, yet figure in entirely different stories. One belongs to the myth of a man named Ixion, who commits an act of violence against Zeus's own household. The other is the wife of Athamas, a king whose lineage stretched back to Hellen, the progenitor of all the Greek people. What both stories have in common is that Nephele has no say in what happens to her. And yet both times, she leaves something behind that outlasts her.
Zeus brought the first Nephele into being through a process the myths call parthenogenesis and apotheosis. She was a minor goddess of clouds and rain, sculpted from vapor in the exact form of Hera.
Ixion had been welcomed into Zeus's household as a guest, protected by the sacred law the Greeks called Xenia. He violated that welcome by attempting to force himself on Hera. Hera reported the attempt to Zeus.
Rather than act against Ixion at once, Zeus crafted the cloud goddess in Hera's exact image. He placed her before his guest, waiting to see what Ixion would do. Ixion assaulted her. Zeus then punished him.
As an immortal creation of an immortal being, Nephele could not simply be dissolved. The assault had left her pregnant. She gave birth to a monstrous son and raised him herself, naming him Centaurus.
Athamas had two children with Nephele: a son named Phrixus and a daughter named Helle. When Athamas later took a second wife, the lives of both children came under threat.
That second wife was Ino, the daughter of Cadmus, who had founded Thebes. Ino devised a scheme to eliminate Phrixus and Helle. She secretly roasted all the region's crop seeds before planting season, ensuring nothing would grow. Famine followed.
The farmers, frightened by the famine, turned to a nearby oracle for help. Ino had prepared for this. She bribed the men sent to consult the oracle and told them what to report back. They returned with a false answer: the oracle required the sacrifice of Phrixus to end the suffering. The only thing Ino had not counted on was Nephele.
Hermes had given Nephele a flying golden ram. Before the sacrifice could happen, Nephele placed Phrixus and Helle on its back and sent them east, toward the kingdom of Colchis.
Over the sea, Helle lost her grip on the ram and fell. She drowned in the water below. That stretch of sea took her name from that point on: the Hellespont, meaning the Sea of Helle. Phrixus held on and reached Colchis alive.
King Aeetes of Colchis received Phrixus kindly and gave him his daughter Chalciope in marriage. In return, Phrixus presented the king with the Golden Fleece, the skin of the ram that had carried him across the world.
Aeetes hung the Golden Fleece in a tree inside his kingdom. Phrixus had given away the skin of the ram that saved him. What he left in that tree drew Jason and the Argonauts to Colchis.
Common questions
What does the name Nephele mean in Greek mythology?
Nephele means cloud in Greek; her Latin equivalent is nebula. She appears in two separate myths, both connected to clouds, but involving entirely different figures and stories.
Why did Zeus create Nephele from a cloud?
Zeus created Nephele from clouds in the exact form of Hera to test the mortal Ixion. Ixion had violated the sacred law of hospitality, Xenia, by attempting to force himself on Hera. When placed before Ixion, the cloud goddess was assaulted, confirming his guilt, and Zeus punished him.
Who were the children of Nephele and Athamas in Greek mythology?
Nephele and Athamas had two children: a son named Phrixus and a daughter named Helle. Both children were later threatened by Ino, Athamas's second wife and daughter of Cadmus, who conspired to have Phrixus sacrificed.
Why is the Hellespont named after Helle in the myth of Nephele?
Helle fell from the back of a flying golden ram while crossing the sea with her brother Phrixus and drowned in the waters below. The strait was named the Hellespont in her memory, meaning the Sea of Helle.
What is the connection between Nephele and the Golden Fleece?
Nephele received a flying golden ram from Hermes and used it to rescue her children Phrixus and Helle. Phrixus survived to Colchis, where he gave the ram's fleece to King Aeetes as a gift. Aeetes hung it in a tree in his kingdom, where it became the Golden Fleece later sought by Jason and the Argonauts.
How did Ino plot against Nephele's children Phrixus and Helle?
Ino, the second wife of Athamas, secretly roasted the region's crop seeds before planting season to cause a famine. She then bribed the men sent to consult a nearby oracle, telling them to falsely report that Phrixus must be sacrificed to end the suffering.
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