King Athamas and Nefeli

In Orchomeno of Boeotia, there was a king in the old days, Athamas. He had a wife, Nefeli, and they lived happily with their two children, Frixos and Ellie. However, misfortune knocked at their door when Nefeli became gravely ill and died.

The Ino

Athamas, in deep sorrow, remarried Ino, daughter of the king of Thebes. But the new queen was a bad stepmother. She was jealous of Athamas' love for the children of the previous marriage and tormented them. She kept thinking of how to put them to death.

The Plan of Inos

So he gave an order to all the women of the kingdom: If they want the fields to bear fruit, they must roast the seeds before they sow them. The women believed Ino and began to sow, but nothing grew.

The King's Decision

Famine struck the kingdom, and the people suffered. King Athamas decided to ask the Oracle of Delphi about the misfortune that befell them.

The attitude of Ino

But Ino gave many minutes to the envoys, and when they returned, they said: "Pythia has commanded that you should sacrifice the two children of Nephel to Zeus, that the earth may again bear fruit."

The Nefeli Intervention

But in the night Nefeli, their dead mother, came to them in their dream and said:

- My little children, tomorrow you are to be sacrificed to the gods, because your evil stepmother, Ino, has willed it. Just don't lose time. When you see a ram at the time of the sacrifice, get on the back of the ram and go.

The Flight

And so it was. The next day when they put Frisos on the altar, his mother Nefeli sent a golden ram, which took Frisos and Ellie on its back and flew away to the East.

Ellespontos 

The ram flew over the Aegean Sea. When they approached the narrow sea that separates Thrace from Asia Minor, Ellie bent down to look, but she was dizzy, slipped and fell into the sea, which covered her forever. This strait has been called Ellespontos ever since.

Arrival in Colchis

But the ram was flying, and Frixus was overwhelmed. At last he felt that they began to descend and soon they were on the ground. They were in a distant country, Colchis, near the Caucasus.

Reception by the Aeetes

The king there was Aeetes, who welcomed Frixo. In fact, when he heard of his suffering, he kept him in his palace.

Sacrifice of the Ramses

Frixos sacrificed the ram to the gods and gave its skin, the golden fleece, to Aeetes.

And he hung it on a tall oak tree in the forest, where a sleepless dragon guarded it and no one dared to approach it.