The Legend of the Celestial Ram and the Birth of Aries

The Story of Phrixus and Helle

In Greek mythology, King Athamas of Boeotia had two children, Phrixus and Helle, with his first wife, Nephele. However, Athamas later married Ino, who became jealous of her stepchildren and devised a plan to get rid of them.

Ino manipulated a famine in the kingdom by convincing the women to roast all the crop seeds, preventing them from sprouting. When the desperate Athamas sent messengers to consult the Oracle at Delphi, Ino intercepted them and bribed them to deliver a false prophecy. The altered message claimed that the famine would only end if Phrixus and Helle were sacrificed to the gods.

Nephele, the children's mother, learned of this plan and intervened. She sent a magnificent golden-fleeced ram, a gift from the god Hermes, to rescue her children. The ram could fly, and Nephele instructed Phrixus and Helle to climb onto its back.

As they flew over the sea, Helle tragically lost her grip and fell into the waters below, which were thereafter named the Hellespont (now the Dardanelles) in her memory. Phrixus, however, safely reached the land of Colchis on the eastern coast of the Black Sea.

In Colchis, Phrixus was welcomed by King Aeëtes, the ruler of the land. In gratitude for his hospitality and to honor the gods, Phrixus sacrificed the golden ram to Zeus. He then presented the fleece of the ram to King Aeëtes, who hung it in a sacred grove guarded by a fierce dragon.

To commemorate the ram's heroic act of rescue and its sacrifice, Zeus placed the image of the golden ram in the night sky, creating the constellation Aries. The constellation represents the ram with the golden fleece and serves as a reminder of the divine intervention and the dramatic rescue of Phrixus.

The Aries Constellation

The constellation Aries, which means "ram" in Latin, is depicted as a ram with a prominent set of horns. This constellation is associated with the spring equinox and symbolizes new beginnings and renewal.

In astrology, Aries is the first sign of the zodiac, representing the start of the astrological year. People born under this sign are often associated with traits such as courage, initiative, and leadership, much like the brave and adventurous spirit of the golden ram.

The story of the Golden Ram and the creation of the Aries constellation is a rich tale of mythological heroism, divine aid, and the enduring legacy of the characters and creatures from ancient Greek mythology.